BBC Sports Personality of the Year
Encyclopedia
The BBC Sports Personality of the Year is an awards ceremony that takes place annually in December. Devised by Paul Fox in 1954, it originally consisted of one titular award
. Several new awards have been introduced, and , eight awards are presented. The oldest of these are the Team of the Year and Overseas Personality awards, which were introduced in 1960. A Lifetime Achievement Award
was first given in 1995 and again in 1996, and has been presented annually since 2001. In 1999, three more awards were introduced: the Helen Rollason Award
, the Coach Award
, and the Newcomer Award, which was renamed to Young Sports Personality of the Year in 2001. The newest is the Unsung Hero Award
, first presented in 2003. In 2003, the 50th anniversary of the show was marked by a five-part series on BBC One
called Simply The Best – Sports Personality. It was presented by Gary Lineker
and formed part of a public vote to determine a special Golden Sports Personality of the Year. That year Steve Rider
and Martyn Smith
wrote a book reflecting on the 50-year history of the award and the programme. The event was held outside London for the first time in 2006, when tickets were made available to the public.
The trophy for the main award is a silver-plated four-turret lens camera
, and for the other awards smaller imitations of the main trophy are used. All of the BBC local regions
hold their own independent award ceremonies, which take place before the main ceremony and are used to compile a shortlist for the BBC Sports Unsung Hero Award
.
Other awards have been presented in the past. Special Achievement Awards have been presented on five occasions: to jockey Lester Piggott
in 1984 and 1994, disabled marathon runner Dennis Moore in 1981, comedian David Walliams
in 2006, and comedian Eddie Izzard
in 2009. Sebastian Coe picked up a Special Gold Award in 2005 for his work in helping Britain obtain the right to host the 2012 Olympics.
Five awards have been presented once: Manager of the Year in 1969, a Special Team Award in 1986, Good Sport Awards in 1990, an International Team Award in 1983, and the Sports Personality of the Century Award in 1999. In 2003, to celebrate fifty years of Sports Personality of the Year, two special anniversary awards were created to recognise the best team and Sports Personality from the previous fifty years. Rower Steve Redgrave
was voted BBC Golden Sports Personality of the Year and England's 1966 World Cup
-winning football team was chosen as Team of the Decades.
The BBC
's Sports Personality of the Year was created by Paul Fox, who came up with the idea while he was editor of the magazine show Sportsview. The first award ceremony took place in 1954 as part of Sportsview, and was presented by Peter Dimmock
. Held at the Savoy Hotel
on 30 December 1954, the show lasted 45 minutes. It consisted of one titular award
for the sportsperson judged by the public to have achieved the most that year. Voting was by postcard, and rules presented in a Radio Times
article stipulated that nominations were restricted to athletes who had featured on the Sportsview programme since April. For the inaugural BBC Sportsperson of the Year award, 14,517 votes were cast and Christopher Chataway
beat fellow athlete Roger Bannister
. The following year the show was renamed Sports Review of the Year and given a longer duration of 75 minutes.
In 1960 Dimmock presented the show, and introduced two new awards: the Team of the Year
award and the Overseas Personality award, won by the Cooper Car Company
and athlete Herb Elliott
respectively. David Coleman
joined the show the following year and remained a co-presenter until 1983. Swimmer Anita Lonsbrough became the first female recipient of the main award in 1962; females won it in the following two years as well. Frank Bough
took over as presenter in 1964 and presented Sports Review for 18 years. In 1969, a new Manager of the Year award was given to Don Revie
for his achievements with Leeds United, the only occasion it was presented. In the following year boxer Henry Cooper
became the first person to win the main award twice, having already won in 1967.
During the 1970s Bough and Coleman presided over the ceremony alongside Jimmy Hill
, Cliff Morgan
, Kenneth Wolstenholme
, and Harry Carpenter
, who also went on to present the show for much of the 1980s. Des Lynam
presented from 1983, and presided over figure skating duo Torvill and Dean
's win the following year, when they became the first non-individual winners of the main award. Steve Rider
co-presented the 1986 show with Lynam, at which a Special Team Award was presented to Great Britain men's 4 x 400 m relay team. In the 1980s, Steve Davis
finished in the top three on five occasions, including one win in 1988. In 1991, angler Bob Nudd
received the most votes following a campaign in the Angling Times
. However the BBC deemed this to be against the rules and "discarded all the ballots cast on forms printed in the Angling Times", allowing athlete Liz McColgan
to win the award. The following year racing driver Nigel Mansell
became the second person to win the main award twice, having won his first in 1986. Sue Barker
presented the show for the first time in 1994, at which racing driver Damon Hill
won the first of his two awards, the second coming two years later. Boxer Frank Bruno
was the inaugural winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award
in 1996, and as of 2008 there have been ten recipients of the award.
In 1999 the show was renamed Sports Personality of the Year, and Gary Lineker
joined the show as a co-presenter alongside Barker. Barker and Lineker were supported by John Inverdale
and Clare Balding
that year. The ceremony introduced a further three regular awards: Coach of the Year
, Newcomer of the Year, and a Helen Rollason Award
for "outstanding courage and achievement in the face of adversity". In a one-off award, boxer Muhammad Ali
was voted as the Sports Personality of the Century. On 2003, BBC Books
published "BBC Sports Personality of the Year 50th Anniversary" (ISBN 0-563-48747-X), written by Steve Rider
and Martyn Smith
, to mark the golden anniversary of the show. Leading up to the anniversary show on 2003, a series of five half-hour special programmes, entitled Simply The Best – Sports Personality, were broadcast. Hosted by Gary Lineker
, the episodes were shown on BBC One
for five consecutive nights during 8–12 December 2008; each covered one decade of Sports Personality history. At the beginning of each special programme the public could vote for a past winner. The five most popular winners were announced at the start of the anniversary ceremony as a shortlist for one of two special 50th Anniversary awards. From the shortlist, rower Steve Redgrave
was voted Golden Sports Personality of the Year by the public. The England
World Cup–winning team of 1966 won a Team of the Decades award, voted for by representatives from all previous Teams of the Year.
In 2006, for the first time in its 53-year history, the event was held outside London, in Birmingham
's National Exhibition Centre
(NEC). For the first time, tickets for the event were made available to the public, and 3,000 were sold in the first hour. That year, Adrian Chiles
joined the show and co-presented alongside Barker and Lineker for two years. The 2007 ceremony was the first of a two-year sponsorship deal with Britvic
's brand Robinsons, and the capacity of the NEC was increased from 5,000 to 8,000. The event sold out, but the sponsorship deal was shortened to one year after complaints by ITV
and RadioCentre caused the BBC Trust
to rule in that "Editorial Guidelines were breached and the editorial integrity of the BBC compromised by giving the impression to licence fee payers via Sports Personality of the Year that part of a BBC service had been sponsored." They decided that the 2008 awards should not be broadcast as a sponsored event, and no new sponsorship deal was negotiated after the Britvic deal expired. In , the BBC announced that the 2008 Sports Personality of the Year event would be held at the Echo Arena
, Liverpool
. One reason for the move to Liverpool was to allow greater numbers to view the show live, as the 10,600-seater venue in Liverpool had a bigger capacity than the NEC. That year Jake Humphrey
replaced Chiles as co-presenter. The 2009 show was rumoured to be held in either Cardiff or Glasgow. However, it was announced on 2009 that the show would be staged at the Sheffield Arena. In , it was announced that the 2010 ceremony
would be held in Birmingham's LG Arena and will seat approximately 12,000 guests. However the 2011 ceremony is overshadowed by a media furore and claims of sexism due to no women being nominated for Sports Personality of the Year, despite some excellent achievements from women in 2011 including: taekwondo world champion Sarah Stevenson, four-time triathlon world champion Chrissie Wellington, world champion rower Kath Grainger and world champion swimmers Keri-Anne Payne and Rebecca Adlington, leading to calls for a boycott of the event.
was created in the 1950s and cost about £1,000. It was first presented to the inaugural winner, Christopher Chataway
, in 1954. It is a silver-plated four-turret lens camera
, with the name of each winner engraved on individual shields attached to a plinth underneath the camera. The trophy originally had one plinth, but two more were added to create room for more shields. A replica trophy was made in 1981 and sent to India in case Ian Botham
won the award while playing cricket there—which he did. The original trophy is still used for the ceremony, and is engraved after the show before being given to the winner, who keeps it for eight or nine months. The trophies for second and third place, and for the other awards, are smaller imitations of the main trophy, but have in the past been silver salver
s. For the two special awards celebrating the 50th Anniversary, and for the Sports Personality of the Century award, similar miniature trophies were presented but they were gold in colour.
, BBC Scotland
and BBC Northern Ireland
each hold individual sports personality awards. Respectively, they are BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year
, BBC Scotland Sports Personality of the Year
, and BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year
. The 12 local BBC English Regions
also have their own award ceremonies, which are held locally in the region, before the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony. Fifteen regional winners comprise the nominees for the BBC Sports Unsung Hero Award
.
was presented with a Manager of the Year award for his achievements while in charge of Leeds United A.F.C.
Leeds became champions of the Football League First Division
that season, having "lost only two games" and scored a "record number of points".
, Dennis Moore received a Special Achievement Award for completing the inaugural London Marathon
despite being sightless
since birth. Lester Piggott
won an award in 1984 for his achievements, including winning the St. Leger Stakes
on Commanche Run
that year, Piggott's record-breaking 28th British classic win. In 1994, Piggott won the award again for his "services to racing". Comedian David Walliams
received the award in 2006 "for his outstanding achievement of swimming the English Channel for charity", which raised over £1 million for Sport Relief
. Fellow comedian Eddie Izzard
was presented with the award in 2009 after running 43 marathons in 51 days for Sport Relief
.
America's Cup
. The American defender Liberty had taken a 3–1 lead in races
, but Australia II came back to win 4–3 and take the America's Cup, ending a 132-year winning streak by the New York Yacht Club
. It was the first time the competition had gone to a seventh and final race.
, Kriss Akabusi
, Brian Whittle
, Roger Black
, Todd Bennett
, and Phil Brown
, who won gold at the European Championships
. Akabusi, Black, Bennett and Brown also won gold for England in the 4 x 400 m at the Commonwealth Games
that year.
, Martin Donnelly, Louise Aitken-Walker
and Tina Thörner, who were all involved in motor racing accidents that year. Warwick survived a high speed crash at Monza
; Donnelly crashed during a practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix
—the injuries he received ended his Formula One career; Aitken-Walker and co-driver Thörner crashed off a cliff into a lake in Portugal when competing in the women's World Rally Championship, which they went on to win that year.
accumulated more votes from BBC viewers than the combined total of George Best
, Pelé
, Donald Bradman
, Jack Nicklaus
, and Jesse Owens
.
's winning bid for the 2012 Olympics. London defeated the favourites Paris
54–50 in the final round of voting.
As part of the 50th Anniversary of BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2003, two additional awards were presented. In the lead up to the anniversary show on 2003, a series of five half-hour special programmes, entitled Simply The Best – Sports Personality, were broadcast. Hosted by Gary Lineker
, the episodes were shown on BBC One
for five consecutive nights from 8 to 2008 and each covered one decade of Sports Personality.
of the last 49 years. A shortlist of five was planned to contain one winner from each decade of the award; however, the actual shortlist contained two winners from the most recent decade—rower Steve Redgrave
, who won the award, and footballer David Beckham
. The other members of the shortlist were footballer Bobby Moore
, cricketer Ian Botham
and ice skating duo Torvill and Dean
.
's squad won a poll to select a Team of the Decade for the 50th anniversary show. Representatives from each of the past winners of the Team of the Year award voted for their outstanding team of the last 50 years. Bobby Robson
presented the award to Bobby Charlton
, who collected the award on behalf of the late Bobby Moore
's team.
BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award
The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award is the titular award of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony, which takes place each December. The winner is the sportsperson, adjudged by a public vote, to have achieved the most that year. The recipient must either be British or reside and...
. Several new awards have been introduced, and , eight awards are presented. The oldest of these are the Team of the Year and Overseas Personality awards, which were introduced in 1960. A Lifetime Achievement Award
BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award
The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award is an award given annually as part of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony each December. The award is given to a sportsperson "who has made a major impact on the world of sport during their lifetime". The winner is...
was first given in 1995 and again in 1996, and has been presented annually since 2001. In 1999, three more awards were introduced: the Helen Rollason Award
BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award
The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award is an award given annually as part of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony each December. The award is given "for outstanding achievement in the face of adversity", and the winner is selected by BBC Sport...
, the Coach Award
BBC Sports Personality of the Year Coach Award
The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Coach Award is an award given annually as part of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony each December. The award is given to the coach who was considered to have made the most substantative contribution to British sport in that year. The award is...
, and the Newcomer Award, which was renamed to Young Sports Personality of the Year in 2001. The newest is the Unsung Hero Award
BBC Sports Unsung Hero Award
The BBC Sports Unsung Hero Award is an award given annually as part of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony each December. The award is given to the sportsperson who has made a substantive, yet unrecognised contribution to sport. Sportspeople are nominated by the public, and must be aged...
, first presented in 2003. In 2003, the 50th anniversary of the show was marked by a five-part series on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
called Simply The Best – Sports Personality. It was presented by Gary Lineker
Gary Lineker
Gary Winston Lineker, OBE , is a former English footballer, who played as a striker. He is a sports broadcaster for the BBC, Al Jazeera Sports and Eredivisie Live...
and formed part of a public vote to determine a special Golden Sports Personality of the Year. That year Steve Rider
Steve Rider
Stephen Rider is an English sports presenter, and was the anchorman of ITV's football coverage, which included the Champions League, England Internationals, the FA Cup and the 2006 World Cup. He anchored ITV's Formula One coverage from 2006 to 2008, and football coverage from 2006 to April 2010...
and Martyn Smith
Martyn Smith
Martyn Smith is an award winning British television producer noted for creating the original UK series of the hit BBC series Dragons' Den based on the original Japanese format.-Dragon's den:...
wrote a book reflecting on the 50-year history of the award and the programme. The event was held outside London for the first time in 2006, when tickets were made available to the public.
The trophy for the main award is a silver-plated four-turret lens camera
Movie camera
The movie camera is a type of photographic camera which takes a rapid sequence of photographs on strips of film which was very popular for private use in the last century until its successor, the video camera, replaced it...
, and for the other awards smaller imitations of the main trophy are used. All of the BBC local regions
BBC English Regions
BBC English Regions is the division of the BBC responsible for local television, radio, web and teletext services in England. It is one of the BBC's four 'Nations' - the others being BBC Scotland, BBC Wales and BBC Northern Ireland....
hold their own independent award ceremonies, which take place before the main ceremony and are used to compile a shortlist for the BBC Sports Unsung Hero Award
BBC Sports Unsung Hero Award
The BBC Sports Unsung Hero Award is an award given annually as part of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony each December. The award is given to the sportsperson who has made a substantive, yet unrecognised contribution to sport. Sportspeople are nominated by the public, and must be aged...
.
Other awards have been presented in the past. Special Achievement Awards have been presented on five occasions: to jockey Lester Piggott
Lester Piggott
Lester Keith Piggott is a retired English professional jockey, popularly known as "The Long Fellow". With 4,493 career wins, including nine Epsom Derby victories, he is one of the most well-known English flat racing jockeys of all time....
in 1984 and 1994, disabled marathon runner Dennis Moore in 1981, comedian David Walliams
David Walliams
David Edward Walliams is an English comedian, writer and actor, known for his partnership with Matt Lucas on the TV sketch show Little Britain and its predecessor Rock Profile...
in 2006, and comedian Eddie Izzard
Eddie Izzard
Edward John "Eddie" Izzard is a British stand-up comedian and actor. His comedy style takes the form of rambling, whimsical monologue and self-referential pantomime...
in 2009. Sebastian Coe picked up a Special Gold Award in 2005 for his work in helping Britain obtain the right to host the 2012 Olympics.
Five awards have been presented once: Manager of the Year in 1969, a Special Team Award in 1986, Good Sport Awards in 1990, an International Team Award in 1983, and the Sports Personality of the Century Award in 1999. In 2003, to celebrate fifty years of Sports Personality of the Year, two special anniversary awards were created to recognise the best team and Sports Personality from the previous fifty years. Rower Steve Redgrave
Steve Redgrave
Sir Steven Geoffrey Redgrave CBE is an English rower who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000. He has also won three Commonwealth Games gold medals and nine World Rowing Championships gold medals...
was voted BBC Golden Sports Personality of the Year and England's 1966 World Cup
1966 FIFA World Cup
The 1966 FIFA World Cup, the eighth staging of the World Cup, was held in England from 11 July to 30 July. England beat West Germany 4–2 in the final, winning the World Cup for the first time, so becoming the first host to win the tournament since Italy in 1934.-Host selection:England was chosen as...
-winning football team was chosen as Team of the Decades.
Current awards
| Award | Created | Description | Current holder |
|---|---|---|---|
| BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award is the titular award of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony, which takes place each December. The winner is the sportsperson, adjudged by a public vote, to have achieved the most that year. The recipient must either be British or reside and... |
1954 | Awarded to the sportsperson "whose actions have most captured the public's imagination" | Tony McCoy Tony McCoy Anthony Peter McCoy OBE , commonly known as A. P. McCoy or Tony McCoy, is a Northern Irish horse racing jockey.... |
| BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year | 1960 | Awarded to the sportsperson "who has made the greatest impression in the world of sport" | Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals... |
| BBC Sports Personality Team of the Year Award | 1960 | Awarded to the team with the most notable achievement in British sport. | European Ryder Cup team 2010 Ryder Cup The 38th Ryder Cup matches were held 2010 at the Celtic Manor Resort in the city of Newport, Wales. It was the first time the competition was staged in Wales. With the USA as the defending Cup holder the event was played on the newly-constructed Twenty 10 course, specifically designed for the... |
| BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award is an award given annually as part of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony each December. The award is given to a sportsperson "who has made a major impact on the world of sport during their lifetime". The winner is... |
1996 | Awarded to a sportsperson "who has made a major impact on the world of sport during their lifetime" | David Beckham David Beckham David Robert Joseph Beckham, OBE is an English footballer who plays midfield for Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer, having previously played for Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, and A.C... |
| BBC Sports Personality of the Year Coach Award BBC Sports Personality of the Year Coach Award The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Coach Award is an award given annually as part of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony each December. The award is given to the coach who was considered to have made the most substantative contribution to British sport in that year. The award is... |
1999 | Awarded to the coach who is adjudged to have made the most impact on British sport | Colin Montgomerie Colin Montgomerie Colin Stuart Montgomerie, OBE is a Scottish professional golfer, often referred to by one of his nicknames 'Monty'. He has had one of the finest careers in European Tour history, having won a record eight Order of Merit titles, including a streak of seven consecutively from 1993 to 1999, and 31... |
| BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award is an award given annually as part of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony each December. The award is given "for outstanding achievement in the face of adversity", and the winner is selected by BBC Sport... |
1999 | Awarded to someone who has shown "outstanding achievement in the face of adversity" | Sir Frank Williams |
| BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year | 1999 | Awarded to a young sportsperson who has made an outstanding contribution to British sport | Tom Daley Tom Daley (diver) Thomas Robert "Tom" Daley is an English diver who specialises in the 10 metre platform event and was the 2009 FINA World Champion in the individual event at the age of 15. He started diving at the age of seven and is a member of Plymouth Diving Club. He has made an impact in national and... |
| BBC Sports Unsung Hero Award BBC Sports Unsung Hero Award The BBC Sports Unsung Hero Award is an award given annually as part of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony each December. The award is given to the sportsperson who has made a substantive, yet unrecognised contribution to sport. Sportspeople are nominated by the public, and must be aged... |
2003 | Award to someone who "has given their time and talents for free to enable others to participate in sport" | Lance Haggith |
History
| Year(s) | Venue |
|---|---|
| 1954–1956 | |
| 1956–1958 | |
| 1959 | |
| 1960–1964 | |
| 1965–1976 | |
| 1977 | |
| 1978–1988 | |
| 1989–1998 | |
| 1999–2005 | |
| 2006–2007 | |
| 2008 | |
| 2009 | |
| 2010 2010 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award The 2010 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award, held on 19 December, was the 57th presentation of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards. Awarded annually by the British Broadcasting Corporation , the main titular award honours an individual's British sporting achievement over the past... |
|
| 2011 | |
The BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Sports Personality of the Year was created by Paul Fox, who came up with the idea while he was editor of the magazine show Sportsview. The first award ceremony took place in 1954 as part of Sportsview, and was presented by Peter Dimmock
Peter Dimmock
Peter Harold Dimmock CBE, CVO is a pioneering former sports broadcaster of British television during its formative years in the 1950s. He was the first host of the BBC's long-running Grandstand and also the first host of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards.-Early life and career:Dimmock...
. Held at the Savoy Hotel
Savoy Hotel
The Savoy Hotel is a hotel located on the Strand, in the City of Westminster in central London. Built by impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan operas, the hotel opened on 6 August 1889. It was the first in the Savoy group of hotels and restaurants owned by...
on 30 December 1954, the show lasted 45 minutes. It consisted of one titular award
BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award
The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award is the titular award of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony, which takes place each December. The winner is the sportsperson, adjudged by a public vote, to have achieved the most that year. The recipient must either be British or reside and...
for the sportsperson judged by the public to have achieved the most that year. Voting was by postcard, and rules presented in a Radio Times
Radio Times
Radio Times is a UK weekly television and radio programme listings magazine, owned by the BBC. It has been published since 1923 by BBC Magazines, which also provides an on-line listings service under the same title...
article stipulated that nominations were restricted to athletes who had featured on the Sportsview programme since April. For the inaugural BBC Sportsperson of the Year award, 14,517 votes were cast and Christopher Chataway
Christopher Chataway
Sir Christopher John Chataway is a British former middle- and long-distance runner, television news broadcaster, and a Conservative politician...
beat fellow athlete Roger Bannister
Roger Bannister
Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister, CBE is an English former athlete best known for running the first recorded mile in less than 4 minutes...
. The following year the show was renamed Sports Review of the Year and given a longer duration of 75 minutes.
In 1960 Dimmock presented the show, and introduced two new awards: the Team of the Year
BBC Sports Personality of the Year Team Award
The BBC Sports Personality Team of the Year Award is an award given annually as part of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony each December. Currently, the award is given to the British team that "has achieved the most notable performance in British sport". The award's recipient is...
award and the Overseas Personality award, won by the Cooper Car Company
Cooper Car Company
The Cooper Car Company was founded in 1946 by Charles Cooper and his son John Cooper. Together with John's boyhood friend, Eric Brandon, they began by building racing cars in Charles' small garage in Surbiton, Surrey, England in 1946...
and athlete Herb Elliott
Herb Elliott
Herbert James "Herb" Elliott AC MBE is a former Australian athlete, one of the world's greatest middle distance runners...
respectively. David Coleman
David Coleman
David Coleman, OBE is an English former sports commentator and TV presenter who worked for the BBC for almost fifty years. In 2000, he was awarded the Olympic Order, the highest honour of the Olympic movement....
joined the show the following year and remained a co-presenter until 1983. Swimmer Anita Lonsbrough became the first female recipient of the main award in 1962; females won it in the following two years as well. Frank Bough
Frank Bough
Frank Bough is a retired British television presenter who is best known as the former host of BBC sports and current affairs shows including Grandstand, Nationwide and Breakfast Time, which he fronted alongside Selina Scott.-Early life:...
took over as presenter in 1964 and presented Sports Review for 18 years. In 1969, a new Manager of the Year award was given to Don Revie
Don Revie
Donald George 'Don' Revie, OBE, , was an English footballer who played for Leicester City, Hull City, Sunderland, Manchester City and Leeds United as a deep-lying centre forward. After managing Leeds United he managed England from 1974 until 1977...
for his achievements with Leeds United, the only occasion it was presented. In the following year boxer Henry Cooper
Henry Cooper (boxer)
Sir Henry Cooper OBE KSG was an English heavyweight boxer known for the effectiveness of his left hook, "Enry's 'Ammer", and his knockdown of the young Muhammad Ali...
became the first person to win the main award twice, having already won in 1967.
During the 1970s Bough and Coleman presided over the ceremony alongside Jimmy Hill
Jimmy Hill
James William Thomas "Jimmy" Hill OBE is an English association football personality. His career has taken in virtually every role in football, including player, union leader, coach, manager, director, chairman, television executive, presenter, analyst and match official.-Early life:Hill was born...
, Cliff Morgan
Cliff Morgan
Cliff Morgan is a former Welsh rugby union player who played for Cardiff RFC and earned 29 caps for Wales between 1951 and 1958.-Rugby career:...
, Kenneth Wolstenholme
Kenneth Wolstenholme
Kenneth Wolstenholme DFC & Bar was the football commentator for BBC television in the 1950s and 1960s, most notable for his commentary during the 1966 FIFA World Cup which included the famous phrase "some people are on the pitch...they think it's all over....it is now!", as Geoff Hurst scored...
, and Harry Carpenter
Harry Carpenter
Harry Leonard Carpenter OBE was a British BBC sports commentator broadcasting from the early 1950s until his retirement in 1994. His speciality was boxing...
, who also went on to present the show for much of the 1980s. Des Lynam
Des Lynam
Desmond Michael "Des" Lynam, OBE is an Irish television and radio presenter based in the UK.He has hosted television coverage of high profile events for many years...
presented from 1983, and presided over figure skating duo Torvill and Dean
Torvill and Dean
Torvill and Dean are British ice dancers and former British-, European-, Olympic- and World champions...
's win the following year, when they became the first non-individual winners of the main award. Steve Rider
Steve Rider
Stephen Rider is an English sports presenter, and was the anchorman of ITV's football coverage, which included the Champions League, England Internationals, the FA Cup and the 2006 World Cup. He anchored ITV's Formula One coverage from 2006 to 2008, and football coverage from 2006 to April 2010...
co-presented the 1986 show with Lynam, at which a Special Team Award was presented to Great Britain men's 4 x 400 m relay team. In the 1980s, Steve Davis
Steve Davis
Steve Davis, OBE is an English professional snooker player. He has won more professional titles in the sport than any other player, including six World Championships during the 1980s, when he was the world number one for seven years and became the sport's first millionaire...
finished in the top three on five occasions, including one win in 1988. In 1991, angler Bob Nudd
Bob Nudd
Bob Nudd was the first English angler to win four individual world angling championships:*1990 ,*1991 ,*1994 *1999 ....
received the most votes following a campaign in the Angling Times
Angling Times
The Angling Times is the UK's largest angling newspaper. They also publish Angling Times Advanced and Improve Your Coarse Fishing.Angling Times has advice from nationally known names in the sport, such as Steve Cole, Steve Ringer, Keith Arthur, John Wilson and Bob Nudd.The price of the publication...
. However the BBC deemed this to be against the rules and "discarded all the ballots cast on forms printed in the Angling Times", allowing athlete Liz McColgan
Liz McColgan
Elizabeth McColgan MBE is a Scottish former middle-distance and long-distance track and road-running athlete. She won the gold medal for the 10,000 metres at the 1991 World Championships, and a silver medal over the same distance at the 1988 Olympic Games...
to win the award. The following year racing driver Nigel Mansell
Nigel Mansell
Nigel Ernest James Mansell OBE is a British racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the CART Indy Car World Series...
became the second person to win the main award twice, having won his first in 1986. Sue Barker
Sue Barker
Susan Barker, MBE is an English television presenter and former professional tennis player. During her tennis career, she won the women's singles title at the French Open and reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 3...
presented the show for the first time in 1994, at which racing driver Damon Hill
Damon Hill
Damon Graham Devereux Hill OBE is a retired British racing driver. In 1996 Hill won the Formula One World Championship. As the son of the late Graham Hill, he is the only son of a world champion to win the title...
won the first of his two awards, the second coming two years later. Boxer Frank Bruno
Frank Bruno
Franklin Roy Bruno MBE is an English former boxer whose career highlight was winning the WBC Heavyweight championship in 1995. Altogether, he won 40 of his 45 contests...
was the inaugural winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award
BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award
The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award is an award given annually as part of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony each December. The award is given to a sportsperson "who has made a major impact on the world of sport during their lifetime". The winner is...
in 1996, and as of 2008 there have been ten recipients of the award.
In 1999 the show was renamed Sports Personality of the Year, and Gary Lineker
Gary Lineker
Gary Winston Lineker, OBE , is a former English footballer, who played as a striker. He is a sports broadcaster for the BBC, Al Jazeera Sports and Eredivisie Live...
joined the show as a co-presenter alongside Barker. Barker and Lineker were supported by John Inverdale
John Inverdale
John Inverdale , is an English radio and television broadcaster who works for the BBC, mainly covering sporting events.-Biography:...
and Clare Balding
Clare Balding
Clare Balding is a BBC sports presenter, journalist and jockey.-Early life:In 1989 and 1990, Balding was a leading amateur flat jockey and Champion Lady Rider in 1990....
that year. The ceremony introduced a further three regular awards: Coach of the Year
BBC Sports Personality of the Year Coach Award
The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Coach Award is an award given annually as part of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony each December. The award is given to the coach who was considered to have made the most substantative contribution to British sport in that year. The award is...
, Newcomer of the Year, and a Helen Rollason Award
BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award
The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award is an award given annually as part of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony each December. The award is given "for outstanding achievement in the face of adversity", and the winner is selected by BBC Sport...
for "outstanding courage and achievement in the face of adversity". In a one-off award, boxer Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
was voted as the Sports Personality of the Century. On 2003, BBC Books
BBC Books
BBC Books is an imprint majority owned and managed by Random House. The minority shareholder is BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation...
published "BBC Sports Personality of the Year 50th Anniversary" (ISBN 0-563-48747-X), written by Steve Rider
Steve Rider
Stephen Rider is an English sports presenter, and was the anchorman of ITV's football coverage, which included the Champions League, England Internationals, the FA Cup and the 2006 World Cup. He anchored ITV's Formula One coverage from 2006 to 2008, and football coverage from 2006 to April 2010...
and Martyn Smith
Martyn Smith
Martyn Smith is an award winning British television producer noted for creating the original UK series of the hit BBC series Dragons' Den based on the original Japanese format.-Dragon's den:...
, to mark the golden anniversary of the show. Leading up to the anniversary show on 2003, a series of five half-hour special programmes, entitled Simply The Best – Sports Personality, were broadcast. Hosted by Gary Lineker
Gary Lineker
Gary Winston Lineker, OBE , is a former English footballer, who played as a striker. He is a sports broadcaster for the BBC, Al Jazeera Sports and Eredivisie Live...
, the episodes were shown on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
for five consecutive nights during 8–12 December 2008; each covered one decade of Sports Personality history. At the beginning of each special programme the public could vote for a past winner. The five most popular winners were announced at the start of the anniversary ceremony as a shortlist for one of two special 50th Anniversary awards. From the shortlist, rower Steve Redgrave
Steve Redgrave
Sir Steven Geoffrey Redgrave CBE is an English rower who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000. He has also won three Commonwealth Games gold medals and nine World Rowing Championships gold medals...
was voted Golden Sports Personality of the Year by the public. The England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
World Cup–winning team of 1966 won a Team of the Decades award, voted for by representatives from all previous Teams of the Year.
In 2006, for the first time in its 53-year history, the event was held outside London, in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
's National Exhibition Centre
National Exhibition Centre
The National Exhibition Centre is an exhibition centre in Birmingham, England. It is near junction 6 of the M42 motorway, and is adjacent to Birmingham International Airport and Birmingham International railway station. It has 20 interconnected halls, set in grounds of 628 acres making it the...
(NEC). For the first time, tickets for the event were made available to the public, and 3,000 were sold in the first hour. That year, Adrian Chiles
Adrian Chiles
Adrian Chiles is a British television and radio presenter, currently working for ITV Sport presenting football coverage....
joined the show and co-presented alongside Barker and Lineker for two years. The 2007 ceremony was the first of a two-year sponsorship deal with Britvic
Britvic
Britvic plc is a British producer of soft drinks. It is the number two soft drinks producer in the UK. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index...
's brand Robinsons, and the capacity of the NEC was increased from 5,000 to 8,000. The event sold out, but the sponsorship deal was shortened to one year after complaints by ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
and RadioCentre caused the BBC Trust
BBC Trust
The BBC Trust is the governing body of the British Broadcasting Corporation. It is operationally independent of BBC management and external bodies, and aims to act in the best interests of licence fee payers....
to rule in that "Editorial Guidelines were breached and the editorial integrity of the BBC compromised by giving the impression to licence fee payers via Sports Personality of the Year that part of a BBC service had been sponsored." They decided that the 2008 awards should not be broadcast as a sponsored event, and no new sponsorship deal was negotiated after the Britvic deal expired. In , the BBC announced that the 2008 Sports Personality of the Year event would be held at the Echo Arena
Liverpool Echo Arena
Echo Arena Liverpool is the arena half of ACC Liverpool located on the former King's Dock in Liverpool, England, United Kingdom. The BT Convention Centre forms the other half of the complex...
, Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
. One reason for the move to Liverpool was to allow greater numbers to view the show live, as the 10,600-seater venue in Liverpool had a bigger capacity than the NEC. That year Jake Humphrey
Jake Humphrey
Jacob John "Jake" Humphrey is an English television presenter, currently best known for his work with BBC Sport, being the youngest ever presenter to host Football Focus, Match of the Day and Final Score. He currently presents the BBC's Formula One coverage and BBC Sports Personality of the Year...
replaced Chiles as co-presenter. The 2009 show was rumoured to be held in either Cardiff or Glasgow. However, it was announced on 2009 that the show would be staged at the Sheffield Arena. In , it was announced that the 2010 ceremony
2010 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award
The 2010 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award, held on 19 December, was the 57th presentation of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards. Awarded annually by the British Broadcasting Corporation , the main titular award honours an individual's British sporting achievement over the past...
would be held in Birmingham's LG Arena and will seat approximately 12,000 guests. However the 2011 ceremony is overshadowed by a media furore and claims of sexism due to no women being nominated for Sports Personality of the Year, despite some excellent achievements from women in 2011 including: taekwondo world champion Sarah Stevenson, four-time triathlon world champion Chrissie Wellington, world champion rower Kath Grainger and world champion swimmers Keri-Anne Payne and Rebecca Adlington, leading to calls for a boycott of the event.
Trophy
The trophy for the main awardBBC Sports Personality of the Year Award
The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award is the titular award of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony, which takes place each December. The winner is the sportsperson, adjudged by a public vote, to have achieved the most that year. The recipient must either be British or reside and...
was created in the 1950s and cost about £1,000. It was first presented to the inaugural winner, Christopher Chataway
Christopher Chataway
Sir Christopher John Chataway is a British former middle- and long-distance runner, television news broadcaster, and a Conservative politician...
, in 1954. It is a silver-plated four-turret lens camera
Movie camera
The movie camera is a type of photographic camera which takes a rapid sequence of photographs on strips of film which was very popular for private use in the last century until its successor, the video camera, replaced it...
, with the name of each winner engraved on individual shields attached to a plinth underneath the camera. The trophy originally had one plinth, but two more were added to create room for more shields. A replica trophy was made in 1981 and sent to India in case Ian Botham
Ian Botham
Sir Ian Terence Botham OBE is a former England Test cricketer and Test team captain, and current cricket commentator. He was a genuine all-rounder with 14 centuries and 383 wickets in Test cricket, and remains well-known by his nickname "Beefy"...
won the award while playing cricket there—which he did. The original trophy is still used for the ceremony, and is engraved after the show before being given to the winner, who keeps it for eight or nine months. The trophies for second and third place, and for the other awards, are smaller imitations of the main trophy, but have in the past been silver salver
Salver
A salver is a flat tray of silver or other metal used for carrying or serving glasses, cups and dishes at table or for the presenting of a letter or card by a servant...
s. For the two special awards celebrating the 50th Anniversary, and for the Sports Personality of the Century award, similar miniature trophies were presented but they were gold in colour.
Regional awards
The three BBC national regions of BBC WalesBBC Wales
BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the British Broadcasting Corporation for Wales. Based at Broadcasting House in the Llandaff area of Cardiff, it directly employs over 1200 people, and produces a broad range of television, radio and online services in both the Welsh and English languages.Outside...
, BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It is, in effect, the national broadcaster for Scotland, having a considerable amount of autonomy from the BBC's London headquarters, and is run by the BBC Trust, who...
and BBC Northern Ireland
BBC Northern Ireland
BBC Northern Ireland is the main public service broadcaster in Northern Ireland.The organisation is one of the three national regions of the BBC, together with BBC Scotland and BBC Wales. Based at Broadcasting House, Belfast, it provides television, radio, online and interactive television content...
each hold individual sports personality awards. Respectively, they are BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year
BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year
The BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality of the Year is a televised sporting competition, broadcast on BBC Two every year; and the most prestigious annual sport award in Wales. It was first awarded in 1954, and is currently organised by BBC Cymru Wales...
, BBC Scotland Sports Personality of the Year
BBC Scotland Sports Personality of the Year
The BBC Scotland Sports Personality of the Year is the most prestigious annual sport award in Scotland. It is organised by BBC Scotland.-Winners:-External links:* BBC Sport Scotland, December 2003...
, and BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year
BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year
The BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year is an annual sports award organised by BBC Northern Ireland.- Winners :The BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year is an annual sports award organised by BBC Northern Ireland....
. The 12 local BBC English Regions
BBC English Regions
BBC English Regions is the division of the BBC responsible for local television, radio, web and teletext services in England. It is one of the BBC's four 'Nations' - the others being BBC Scotland, BBC Wales and BBC Northern Ireland....
also have their own award ceremonies, which are held locally in the region, before the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony. Fifteen regional winners comprise the nominees for the BBC Sports Unsung Hero Award
BBC Sports Unsung Hero Award
The BBC Sports Unsung Hero Award is an award given annually as part of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony each December. The award is given to the sportsperson who has made a substantive, yet unrecognised contribution to sport. Sportspeople are nominated by the public, and must be aged...
.
Intermittent awards
Manager of the Year
In 1969, Don RevieDon Revie
Donald George 'Don' Revie, OBE, , was an English footballer who played for Leicester City, Hull City, Sunderland, Manchester City and Leeds United as a deep-lying centre forward. After managing Leeds United he managed England from 1974 until 1977...
was presented with a Manager of the Year award for his achievements while in charge of Leeds United A.F.C.
Leeds United A.F.C.
Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...
Leeds became champions of the Football League First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
that season, having "lost only two games" and scored a "record number of points".
| Year | Nat. | Winner | Team | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 |  England |
Don Revie Don Revie Donald George 'Don' Revie, OBE, , was an English footballer who played for Leicester City, Hull City, Sunderland, Manchester City and Leeds United as a deep-lying centre forward. After managing Leeds United he managed England from 1974 until 1977... |
Leeds United A.F.C. Leeds United A.F.C. Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system... |
Special Achievement Award
In 1981, to recognise the year of the disabledInternational Year of Disabled Persons
The year 1981 was proclaimed the International Year of Disabled Persons by the United Nations. It called for a plan of action with an emphasis on equalization of opportunities, rehabilitation and prevention of disabilities...
, Dennis Moore received a Special Achievement Award for completing the inaugural London Marathon
London Marathon
The London Marathon is one of the biggest running events in the world, and one of the five top world marathons that make up the World Marathon Majors competition, which has a $1 million prize purse. It has been held each spring in London since 1981. The race is currently sponsored by Virgin Money,...
despite being sightless
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
since birth. Lester Piggott
Lester Piggott
Lester Keith Piggott is a retired English professional jockey, popularly known as "The Long Fellow". With 4,493 career wins, including nine Epsom Derby victories, he is one of the most well-known English flat racing jockeys of all time....
won an award in 1984 for his achievements, including winning the St. Leger Stakes
St. Leger Stakes
The St. Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 1 mile, 6 furlongs and 132 yards , and it is scheduled to take place each year in September.Established in 1776, the St. Leger...
on Commanche Run
Commanche Run
Commanche Run was a British Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred in England, he was out of the mare, Volley. His sire was Run the Gantlet, an American multiple Grade I winner and successful sire...
that year, Piggott's record-breaking 28th British classic win. In 1994, Piggott won the award again for his "services to racing". Comedian David Walliams
David Walliams
David Edward Walliams is an English comedian, writer and actor, known for his partnership with Matt Lucas on the TV sketch show Little Britain and its predecessor Rock Profile...
received the award in 2006 "for his outstanding achievement of swimming the English Channel for charity", which raised over £1 million for Sport Relief
Sport Relief
Sport Relief is a biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, which brings together the worlds of sport and entertainment to raise money to help vulnerable people in both the UK and the world's poorest countries...
. Fellow comedian Eddie Izzard
Eddie Izzard
Edward John "Eddie" Izzard is a British stand-up comedian and actor. His comedy style takes the form of rambling, whimsical monologue and self-referential pantomime...
was presented with the award in 2009 after running 43 marathons in 51 days for Sport Relief
Sport Relief
Sport Relief is a biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, which brings together the worlds of sport and entertainment to raise money to help vulnerable people in both the UK and the world's poorest countries...
.
| Year | Nat. | Winner | Sport | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | England |
Athletics | ||
| 1984 | England |
Horse racing Horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC... |
||
| 1994 | England |
Horse racing Horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC... |
||
| 2006 | England |
Swimming Swimming (sport) Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native... |
||
| 2009 | England |
Athletics | ||
International Team Award
In 1983, the team of Australia II received an International Team Award in recognition of their victory in the 19831983 America's Cup
The 1983 America's Cup was the occasion of the first winning challenge to the New York Yacht Club who had successfully defended the cup over a period of 132 years...
America's Cup
America's Cup
The America’s Cup is a trophy awarded to the winner of the America's Cup match races between two yachts. One yacht, known as the defender, represents the yacht club that currently holds the America's Cup and the second yacht, known as the challenger, represents the yacht club that is challenging...
. The American defender Liberty had taken a 3–1 lead in races
Match race
A match race is a race between two competitors, going head-to-head.The term may be best known as a race between two sailing boats racing around a course...
, but Australia II came back to win 4–3 and take the America's Cup, ending a 132-year winning streak by the New York Yacht Club
New York Yacht Club
The New York Yacht Club is a private social club and yacht club based in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1844 by nine prominent sportsmen. The members have contributed to the sport of yachting and yacht design. The organization has over 3,000 members as of 2011. ...
. It was the first time the competition had gone to a seventh and final race.
| Year | Nat. | Winner | Sport | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 |  Australia |
Alan Bond Alan Bond (businessman) Alan Bond is an Australian businessman noted for his criminal convictions and high-profile business dealings, including what was at the time the biggest corporate collapse in Australian history. Bond was born in the Hammersmith district of London, England, and emigrated to Australia with his... and the crew of Australia II |
Sailing Sailing Sailing is the propulsion of a vehicle and the control of its movement with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to move the boat relative to its surrounding medium and... |
Special Team Award
In 1986, a Special Team Award was presented to the British 4 x 400m squad of Derek RedmondDerek Redmond
Derek Anthony Redmond is a retired British athlete. During his career, he held the British record for the 400 metres sprint, and won gold medals in the 4x400 metres relay at the World Championships, European Championships and Commonwealth Games.However his career was blighted by a series of...
, Kriss Akabusi
Kriss Akabusi
Kriss Kezie Uche Chukwu Duru Akabusi MBE is a former sprint and hurdling athlete from the United Kingdom. During his career, he won the gold medal in the 400 metres hurdles at the 1990 European Championships, a gold in the 4 x 400 metres relay at the 1991 World Championships, and a silver medal in...
, Brian Whittle
Brian Whittle
Brian Whittle is a British athlete who won the gold medal in the 4 x 400 metres relay at both the 1986 European Championships in Athletics and 1994 European Championships in Athletics. He also competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul...
, Roger Black
Roger Black
Roger Anthony Black MBE is a retired British athlete. During his athletics career, he won individual silver medals in the 400 metres sprint at both the Olympic Games and World Championships, two individual gold medals at the European Championships, and 4x400 metres relay gold medals at both the...
, Todd Bennett
Todd Bennett
Todd Anthony Bennett was a British athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres.He competed for Great Britain in the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles, United States in the 4 x 400 metre relay where he won the Silver medal with his team mates Kriss Akabusi, Garry Cook and Philip...
, and Phil Brown
Phil Brown (athlete)
Philip Andrew Brown was a British athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres. In the individual 400m his results were not outstanding; however, he was an exceptional anchor leg relay runner, anchoring the British team to a number of medals.Brown competed for Great Britain in the 1984 Summer...
, who won gold at the European Championships
1986 European Championships in Athletics
The 14th European Athletics Championships were held from 26 to 31 August 1986 at the Neckarstadion in Stuttgart, a city in West Germany.-Track:1978 | 1982 | 1986 | 1990 | 1994-Field:1978 | 1982 | 1986 | 1990 | 1994-Track:...
. Akabusi, Black, Bennett and Brown also won gold for England in the 4 x 400 m at the Commonwealth Games
1986 Commonwealth Games
The 1986 Commonwealth Games were held in Edinburgh, Scotland for the second time. The Games were held from 24 July-2 August 1986.-Organisation and Controversy:...
that year.
| Year | Nat. | Winner | Sport | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 |  United Kingdom |
Men's 4 x 400 metres relay 4 x 400 metres relay The 4 x 400 meters relay or long relay is an athletics track event in which teams comprise four runners who each complete 400 meters or one lap. It is traditionally the final event of a track meet. At top class events, the first 500 meters is run in lanes... team |
Athletics 4 x 400 metres relay The 4 x 400 meters relay or long relay is an athletics track event in which teams comprise four runners who each complete 400 meters or one lap. It is traditionally the final event of a track meet. At top class events, the first 500 meters is run in lanes... |
Good Sport Awards
In 1990, Good Sport Awards were presented for courage and good sportsmanship to Derek WarwickDerek Warwick
Derek Stanley Arthur Warwick is a British former racing driver from England. He raced for many years in Formula One, but never won a Grand Prix. During the early 1980s he was thought more likely to achieve World Championship success than his contemporary Nigel Mansell, but a series of wrong...
, Martin Donnelly, Louise Aitken-Walker
Louise Aitken-Walker
Louise Aitken-Walker MBE is a British rally and saloon car racing driver. Aitken-Walker entered competition in 1979 and finished 19th in her first Rally GB two years later...
and Tina Thörner, who were all involved in motor racing accidents that year. Warwick survived a high speed crash at Monza
1990 Italian Grand Prix
The 1990 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 9 September 1990 at Monza. It was the twelfth race of the 1990 Formula One season...
; Donnelly crashed during a practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix
1990 Spanish Grand Prix
The 1990 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 30 September, 1990 at Jerez. It was the 31st Spanish Grand Prix and the fifth and last time the Grand Prix would be held at the Jerez circuit in Valencia before moving to a new larger facility near Barcelona in Catalonia, though it...
—the injuries he received ended his Formula One career; Aitken-Walker and co-driver Thörner crashed off a cliff into a lake in Portugal when competing in the women's World Rally Championship, which they went on to win that year.
| Year | Nat. | Winner | Sport | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | England Northern Ireland Scotland Sweden |
Derek Warwick Derek Warwick Derek Stanley Arthur Warwick is a British former racing driver from England. He raced for many years in Formula One, but never won a Grand Prix. During the early 1980s he was thought more likely to achieve World Championship success than his contemporary Nigel Mansell, but a series of wrong... Martin Donnelly Louise Aitken-Walker Louise Aitken-Walker Louise Aitken-Walker MBE is a British rally and saloon car racing driver. Aitken-Walker entered competition in 1979 and finished 19th in her first Rally GB two years later... Tina Thörner |
Motor sport |
Sports Personality of the Century Award
In 1999, a one-off award voted for by the British public selected a Sports Personality of the Century. Muhammad AliMuhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
accumulated more votes from BBC viewers than the combined total of George Best
George Best
George Best was a professional footballer from Northern Ireland, who played for Manchester United and the Northern Ireland national team. He was a winger whose game combined pace, acceleration, balance, two-footedness, goalscoring and the ability to beat defenders...
, Pelé
Pelé
However, Pelé has always maintained that those are mistakes, that he was actually named Edson and that he was born on 23 October 1940.), best known by his nickname Pelé , is a retired Brazilian footballer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time...
, Donald Bradman
Donald Bradman
Sir Donald George Bradman, AC , often referred to as "The Don", was an Australian cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time...
, Jack Nicklaus
Jack Nicklaus
Jack William Nicklaus , nicknamed "The Golden Bear", is an American professional golfer. He won 18 career major championships on the PGA Tour over a span of 25 years and is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional golfers of all time. In addition to his 18 Majors, he was runner-up a...
, and Jesse Owens
Jesse Owens
James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens was an American track and field athlete who specialized in the sprints and the long jump. He participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, where he achieved international fame by winning four gold medals: one each in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the...
.
| Year | Nat. | Winner | Sport | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 |  United States |
Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist... |
Boxing Boxing Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds... |
Special Gold Award
In 2005, Sebastian Coe received a Special Gold Award for chairing LondonLondon 2012 Olympic bid
London 2012 was the successful bid for the 2012 Summer Games, to be held in London with most events taking place in Stratford, Newham. The British Olympic Association had been working on the bid since 1997...
's winning bid for the 2012 Olympics. London defeated the favourites Paris
Paris 2012 Olympic bid
Paris 2012 was an unsuccessful bid for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games to be held in Paris. The bidding race was eventually won by the London 2012 bid after a 54-50 vote of the International Olympic Committee on 6 July 2005...
54–50 in the final round of voting.
| Year | Nat. | Winner | Rationale | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | England |
Sebastian Coe | "in recognition of his role in leading the winning London 2012 Olympic bid London 2012 Olympic bid London 2012 was the successful bid for the 2012 Summer Games, to be held in London with most events taking place in Stratford, Newham. The British Olympic Association had been working on the bid since 1997... ." |
50th Anniversary awards
Gary Lineker
Gary Winston Lineker, OBE , is a former English footballer, who played as a striker. He is a sports broadcaster for the BBC, Al Jazeera Sports and Eredivisie Live...
, the episodes were shown on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
for five consecutive nights from 8 to 2008 and each covered one decade of Sports Personality.
Golden Sports Personality of the Year
To celebrate the golden anniversary of the show, a special award was voted for by the public to recognise an all-time Golden Sports Personality from the previous winnersBBC Sports Personality of the Year Award
The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award is the titular award of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony, which takes place each December. The winner is the sportsperson, adjudged by a public vote, to have achieved the most that year. The recipient must either be British or reside and...
of the last 49 years. A shortlist of five was planned to contain one winner from each decade of the award; however, the actual shortlist contained two winners from the most recent decade—rower Steve Redgrave
Steve Redgrave
Sir Steven Geoffrey Redgrave CBE is an English rower who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000. He has also won three Commonwealth Games gold medals and nine World Rowing Championships gold medals...
, who won the award, and footballer David Beckham
David Beckham
David Robert Joseph Beckham, OBE is an English footballer who plays midfield for Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer, having previously played for Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, and A.C...
. The other members of the shortlist were footballer Bobby Moore
Bobby Moore
Robert Frederick Chelsea "Bobby" Moore, OBE was an English footballer. He captained West Ham United for more than ten years and was captain of the England team that won the 1966 World Cup...
, cricketer Ian Botham
Ian Botham
Sir Ian Terence Botham OBE is a former England Test cricketer and Test team captain, and current cricket commentator. He was a genuine all-rounder with 14 centuries and 383 wickets in Test cricket, and remains well-known by his nickname "Beefy"...
and ice skating duo Torvill and Dean
Torvill and Dean
Torvill and Dean are British ice dancers and former British-, European-, Olympic- and World champions...
.
| Year | Nat. | Winner | Sport | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | England |
Steve Redgrave Steve Redgrave Sir Steven Geoffrey Redgrave CBE is an English rower who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000. He has also won three Commonwealth Games gold medals and nine World Rowing Championships gold medals... |
Rowing Rowing (sport) Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water... |
Team of the Decades
Alf RamseyAlf Ramsey
Sir Alfred Ernest "Alf" Ramsey was an English footballer and manager of the English national football team from 1963 to 1974. His greatest achievement was winning the 1966 World Cup with England on 30 July 1966...
's squad won a poll to select a Team of the Decade for the 50th anniversary show. Representatives from each of the past winners of the Team of the Year award voted for their outstanding team of the last 50 years. Bobby Robson
Bobby Robson
Sir Robert William "Bobby" Robson, CBE was an English footballer and manager, who coached seven European clubs and the England national team during his career....
presented the award to Bobby Charlton
Bobby Charlton
Sir Robert "Bobby" Charlton CBE is an English former professional football player, a member of the England team who won the World Cup and Ballon d'Or for European Footballer of the Year in 1966...
, who collected the award on behalf of the late Bobby Moore
Bobby Moore
Robert Frederick Chelsea "Bobby" Moore, OBE was an English footballer. He captained West Ham United for more than ten years and was captain of the England team that won the 1966 World Cup...
's team.
| Year | Nat. | Winner | Sport | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | England |
1966 World Cup-winning football team | Football |