French's last years brought well-merited honours.
They would have merited a win to honour the memory of Cyrille Regis, the subject of resounding applause from both sets of fans before kick-off, but with one defeat in six they are moving in the right direction.
In 2001 Jansch received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, and on 5 June 2006, he received the MOJO Merit Award at the Mojo Honours List ceremony, based on "an expanded career that still continues to be inspirational".
In 2003 he received one of Japan's highest honours, the Person of Cultural Merit award.
As a result, Dörflein became a minor celebrity in Germany and was awarded Berlin's Medal of Merit in honour of his continuous care for the cub.
Based in California since the 1970s, Silver was granted various honours by the US state and, in 2005, received a President's Merit award at the Grammy Salute to Jazz ceremony.
Gordy was honoured for lifetime achievement at the American Music Awards in 1975, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, and received the President's Merit Award from the Recording Academy in 2008.
July 2010: Accepts a national merit award from South Africa, hours after the South African presidency's official website mistakenly copies a vandalised Wikipedia entry and pays tribute to "Joseph Sepp Bellend Blatter": "I am touched by this honour.
He left his politest gesture till last, remembering to congratulate Labour's Anne McGuire on her DBE in the New Year honours list even though he, like everyone else, couldn't quite recall what she had done to merit it.
In the end, I would not want to have a room decorated with laminated certificates of merit, plaques of honour and gold cups of achievement.
In June 1911, as part of the celebrations surrounding the coronation of King George V, Elgar was appointed to the Order of Merit, an exclusive honour limited to twenty-four holders at any time.
