Irish rugby great Willie John McBride says he is "absolutely thrilled" to receive a CBE in the New Year Honours.
Also honoured is former Manchester United goalkeeper and Northern Ireland international Harry Gregg who will receive OBE.
Gregg made 210 appearances for United and survived the Munich Air Disaster.
Northern Ireland footballer Gareth McAuley and former IRFU President Andy Crawford have become MBEs.
McBride - the most decorated player in British and Irish Lions history - has been recognised for services to rugby.
The 78-year-old ex-Lions and Ireland skipper was awarded an MBE 47 years ago.
McBride, whose charity work sees him serve as president of the Wooden Spoon Society in Ulster and as vice-president of Riding for the Disabled, lives in County Antrim.
"I am absolutely thrilled," he said.
"I was very fortunate that I played in an era when there were some wonderful players around like Barry John, Mike Gibson, Phil Bennett, JJ Williams, Gareth Edwards. All the great names of the past."
McBride won 63 caps for Ireland, including 11 as skipper, but it was the Lions that defined his career.
The second-row forward was a Lions tourist on five occasions from 1962 to 1974, helping the Lions beat New Zealand in 1971 and captaining them on an unbeaten South Africa tour three years later, winning 21 games and drawing one.
"I played in a wonderful era of rugby in the four home countries," he added.
"1971 in New Zealand was exceptional. We had a magnificent back-line which absolutely bamboozled the All Blacks.
"And in 1974, it was a wonderful bunch of men who made life very easy for me as captain."
McBride played in a record 17 Lions Tests, which is eight more than the closest current player - Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones - and he feels it is a mark unlikely to be matched.
"I really can't see it because rugby players today only play three (Lions) Tests, and we played four," he said.
"But not only that, rugby seems to physically be demanding a heck of a lot from players, and I don't know if anyone can be around long enough to play that number of Lions Tests."
McBride retired from playing in 1975, and was Lions manager on the tour to New Zealand eight years later. In 1997 he was an inaugural inductee into the International Rugby Hall of Fame.
Former England cricket captain Alastair Cook and ex-England rugby skipper Bill Beaumont head an illustrious sporting list by receiving knighthoods in the New Year Honours.
And England's achievement in reaching the soccer World Cup semi-finals in Russia earlier this year is recognised with an OBE for manager Gareth Southgate, while captain and the 2018 tournament's top goal-scorer Harry Kane gets an MBE.
Southgate is joined as an OBE recipient by cyclist Geraint Thomas, who won the Tour de France in July and was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year earlier this month.
Four-time Ashes winner Cook, 34, is the first England cricketer to be knighted since Ian Botham in 2007.
He retired from international cricket this summer, scoring a 33rd Test century on his final England appearance against India at The Oval. He has compiled more Test centuries and runs - 12,472 - than any other England player during a record 161 Test matches.
"I am hugely honoured and proud to be receiving a knighthood," said Cook.
"Many people have helped me during my career and without them and fantastic team-mates and coaches it would not have been possible to achieve all that I have.
"I want to thank all those who have been involved and supported me and my family. I will continue to be involved with cricket and intend to try and show what a positive effect sport can have on everyone's lives."
England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Colin Graves, in a statement released to Press Association Sport, said: "Alastair Cook has given so much to English cricket and I'm delighted that he has received this honour.
"It's a fitting tribute to a man who has led with distinction on and off the pitch ever since he made his England debut."
While Cook is honoured for services to cricket, 66-year-old Beaumont is recognised for services to rugby.
He led England to a Five Nations Grand Slam in 1980 and also captained the British and Irish Lions. He is a former Rugby Football Union chairman and was elected chairman of World Rugby in 2016.
Beaumont said: "I was very proud when I got the envelope three or four weeks ago saying I was being recommended for a knighthood.
"I just thought 'wow!' To think that I would be mentioned alongside the great sports people who have been knighted was very humbling."
Southgate said: "I'm an incredibly proud Englishman so having had the opportunity to have represented my country as a player more than 50 times and then to manage the team at a World Cup has been an absolute privilege."
Kane, reflecting on his award, told Spurs TV: "It's quite surreal, really. It's been a great year for club and country."
Premier League executive chairman Richard Scudamore, who has headed the organisation for almost 20 years and will shortly step down from his role, has been awarded a CBE.
World Curling Federation president Kate Caithness, meanwhile, receives a CBE for services to sport, and her fellow Scot - Commonwealth Games Federation president Louise Martin - is made a Dame.
The diplomatic service and overseas list, meanwhile, includes a CBE for England netball star Geva Mentor, who was part of the memorable Commonwealth Games gold medal triumph on the Gold Coast earlier this year and currently plays for Melbourne outfit Collingwood Magpies in the Suncorp Super Netball league.
There is an OBE for ex-Scotland rugby union international Doddie Weir, founder of the My Name'5 Doddie Foundation who is battling motor neurone disease, for services to rugby, motor neurone disease research and to the Scottish Borders community.
Richard Johnson, who became champion jump jockey in 2016 after being runner-up on multiple occasions to AP McCoy, gets an OBE.
Tottenham striker Kane is joined on an extensive MBE list by the likes of former Arsenal and Football Association vice-chairman David Dein, who is honoured for services to football and voluntary work in schools and prisons, three-time world darts champion John Lowe and Welsh triathlete Helen Jenkins.
Leroy Rosenior, vice-president of Show Racism The Red Card, receives an MBE for services to tackling discrimination in sport, and Women's Sport Trust co-founder Joanna Bostock is honoured for services to gender equality in sport.
There are MBEs for British Rowing's three-time Olympic silver medallist Frances Houghton for services to rowing and former England cricketer Matthew Maynard for services to charity and sport.
Elsewhere, MBE recipients include former England cricketer Enid Bakewell, British Athletics team manager Lorna Boothe, former Great Britain hockey player Karen Brown, British curling director and British Olympic Association board member Hew Chalmers, Scottish volleyball coach Thomas Dowens and UK Athletics Paralympics head coach Paula Dunn.
