Is Sports Personality of the Year still relevant in 2023?
YES
CHRIS FLANAGAN
SENIOR STAFF WRITER
@CFlanaganFFT
In each month of the year, there are always traditions. In April, Arsenal throw a season of great promise out of a window. In May, Manchester City win the league, and people celebrate by chasing a lump of cheese down a steep hill in Gloucestershire.
In December, since 1954, people have gathered around the TV and decided the best sportsperson of the year. The same sports are still carrying on, so why is the award any less relevant?
OK, the viewing figures aren’t the same as the olden days, but neither are TV viewing figures in general. Millions still tune in. OK, the BBC also confused the issue from the start by calling it Sports Personality of the Year, letting some people wilfully misunderstand the concept and complain that the best ‘personality’ didn’t win. Yes, they’re probably right. And yes, I am rolling my eyes at people still saying that in 2023.
True, only six footballers have ever won it. When Denis Law bagged the Ballon d’Or in 1964, he missed out on Sports Personality’s top three to Mary Rand, Ann Packer and speedway’s Barry Briggs, from New Zealand. When Bobby Charlton took the Ballon d’Or and the World Cup in 1966, the pesky biker pipped him, too – Bobby Moore won it, with Briggs second and Geoff Hurst finishing third.
George Best, Kevin Keegan and Stanley Matthews never triumphed, and Michael Owen, the last British Ballon d’Or winner, was third to David Beckham and sailor Ellen MacArthur nine days earlier.
But Becks had been England’s hero against Greece that year, and Sports Personality has always been a popularity contest. That’s why Owen won it in 1998 and why Gazza won it 1990. It’s even why Ryan Giggs won it in 2009 – different times…
It’s also why the award is still relevant. There was no better illustration of the rise of women’s football than Beth Mead winning it last year. For the first time, it was undeniable evidence that a female footballer was the most popular sportsperson in Great Britain.
As a football fan, shouldn’t that make the award more relevant than ever?
NO
JAMES ANDREW
EDITOR
@JamesAndrew_
If the bookies are to be believed, England goalkeeper Mary Earps will be crowned Sports Personality of the Year this month – and in doing so she will become the second Lioness to win the award in successive years, after Beth Mead in 2022.
L
