Simon Burnton’s review of the evening:
Summing up
Well we can expect some manufactured talking points, sound and fury after all that lot, but it’s only an awards show. It doesn’t signify that much – an overblown spectacle in a sporting culture that loves overblown spectacles. It did give some less heralded sportspeople some moments of deserved recognition, for all that, though isn’t generally the best platform for us to see them being good at sport. But congrats to Mo Farah, England’s women cricketers, Jessica Ennis-Hill, Benke Blomkvist, Stephen Maguire and Christian Malcolm, and Roger Federer, and thanks for reading and emailing. We, as a nation, will all be back this time next year to argue the toss about it all once more. Bye
Some reaction on the Twitters:
At (conservative) odds of tens of thousands to one, that #SPOTY 1-2-3 was several thousand times less likely, in betting terms, than alien life being proved in 2018.
— Nick Harris (@sportingintel) December 17, 2017
Assume the live feed to Mo Farah cut out because the BBC lost the rights to that as well
— Adam Hurrey (@FootballCliches) December 17, 2017
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Well that was quite the surprise. Farah has been there or thereabouts for a few years now, but 2012 or 2015 always felt like his best shots, but maybe his failure to win on those occasions nudged people in the direction of voting for him this time. A double-double in the world championships and Olympics is not to be sniffed at though. Jonathan Rea’s second place is testament to the strong and loyal following his sport has, particularly in his native Northern Ireland, as well as his often-unsung achievements, while Jonnie Peacock’s third place reflect how he’s cemented his position as one of the country’s most popular personalities and sportspeople. Though the Strictly vote will have helped– these are people used to spending their weekend evenings on the sofa voting for people on the telly, after all. It’s less of a surprise that Froome and Hamilton didn’t figure, for all their triumphs, given recent stories, but Joshua deserved a place in the top three. He can return to focusing on the mere consolations of hoovering up more world titles.
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Mo Farah wins Sports Personality of the Year award 2017!
Farah wins at last! No place in the top three for Joshua! They cut back to Mo in London, ready for interview – and the screen cuts out. Maybe it’s his kid larking about again. So Michael Johnson has to step in to pay tribute, praising the way he delivered in his home championships against the team efforts of Ethiopia and Kenya.
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In second place – Jonathan Rea
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In third place – Jonnie Peacock
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Results time!
Drumroll, OTT orchestrals, yet more montages … and on stage to present it is Kenny Dalglish. We’ll get there …
Obit section now: the farewell to notable figures who’ve died this year, soundtracked by Rag and Bone Man: I won’t list all those named but included are Graham Taylor, Ugo Ehiogu, Germaine Mason, Sharon Laws, Peter Walwyn, Arthur Bunting, Doug Insole, Rachel Hayhoe-Flint, Jana Novotna, Betty Cuthbert, Cheick Tioté, Tommy Gemell, Jamie Hodson, Colin Meades, Ronnie Moran, Michele Scarponi, Tommy Carberryt, Errol Christie, Jake La Motta and John Surtees.
We’re nearly there, but before we are, we have a few minutes of montaged Usain Bolt-love to say farewell to a legend.
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Team of the year: England women's cricket
From a field of the British & Irish Lions, Celtic, Team Sky (yes indeed), England’s women cricketers, GB para-athletics, Chelsea, the England U17s and the relay men, Big Sam Allardyce opens the envelope and reveals that Heather Knight’s World Cup winners are worthy recipients.
Coaches of the year award
With 10 minutes to go, we finally get a brief look at all these contenders, and the winners are Benke Blomkvist, Stephen Maguire and Christian Malcolm, coaches of the GB 4x100m relay team’s stunning triumph at London in August. They might have deserved a little more airtime than having this tacked on right at the end.
Overseas sports personality: Roger Federer
No surprise here, since the Beeb themselves trailed this earlier this afternoon, but not much of a debate either.
The cricket segment is introduced by the retiring but not shy Henry Blofeld, who muses back over the Champions Trophy, happier times in the summer for Joe Root, Moeen Ali and Jimmy Anderson and then the current unfolding mauling in Australia. Blowers signs off by raising a glass of wine to his “dear old things” on camera, in character to the last.
Lifetime achievement award …
… goes to Jessica Ennis-Hill, who should really have won the main gong at some point when she was still competing. The never knowingly understated introduction role is given to Michael Johnson, talking in rather hackneyed terms about how her “golden smile lit up the whole world”. Her brilliant athletic feats kind of helped with that lighting-up process too, which to be fair is then chronicled in reasonable detail. She’s serenaded by Rebecca Ferguson onto the stage with “I can see your halo”, where she’s surrounded by previous female Spoty winners. “I’m completely overwhelmed,” she says. It’s well deserved.
While we wait, here’s some emailed thoughts thundered in from Angela Cross:
This is without question the worst spoty I have ever seen. It’s absolutely dire. Embarrassing to be honest. 4 of the nominees couldn’t be bothered to turn up. Two of them wouldn’t even drive from London. Why the hell would you vote for them. What in God’s name is konta nominated for? Doing quite well at Wimbledon. Bradley Lowery is the winner that no one could disagree with.
Just a reminder:
Voting is still open for #SPOTY.
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) December 17, 2017
Here's everything you need to know ➡️ https://t.co/jKXL3cqMpE pic.twitter.com/ctlWdyHq4Q
Rugby league now, not Super League, which has never been on terrestrial, but a World Cup which did capture imaginations: Fiji’s upsets, Tonga’s challenge, England’s progress, and at the end of it all Australia obviously winning.
Up now it’s the Unsung Hero award, for sterling sporting work in the community, which goes to Denise Larrod. An Olympic torch-carrier at the 2012 Games, the 55-year-old warehouse worker helps lead walking, orienteering, running and fitness classes for children, families and the elderly in her community. She’s genuinely overcome as she gets her award.
And now – the moment we’ve all been promised, and we’ve all been waiting for … Noel Gallagher’s band again! They’re riffing through All You Need is Love, in front an unresponsive smartly-dressed all-seated crowd. The video package is all very uplifting and everything, but this is all just “keep the show going with something, anything, while we count up the votes” filler. Just show us some unmediated highlights of sport, damnit.
Lineker attempt to big it up at the end, and grabs a quick word with Noel: “What about high-flying City?” “Greatest team on the planet,” replies the monobrowed one. “Can’t say more than that,” says Lineker. Yes indeed. We can’t and needn’t.
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In the meantime, a review of the autumn’s action: international football – England’s unremarkable progress, Irish, Welsh and Scottish heartache – the women’s Ashes, Max Whitlock’s gymnastics gold, the autumn rugby internationals, more snooker – before Doddie Weir, the former Scotland rugby international suffering motor neurone disease, is introduced to the crowd.
Which tees up the rugby segment, and a chance at last to hear Eddie Butler’s dulcet tones: England’s Six Nations win, the utterly engrossing Lions tour (from whom NO nominations were forthcoming for Spoty this year, remarkably)
“Evening Tom,” writes Matt Brown, “I find the SPOTY candidate mini-films painful to watch and listen to. Its a trend (or disease) affecting all the BBC major sports events, they must love it for some reason. I have to turn the volume down to avoid the puke-inducing voice-overs and music, I’m struggling to even write this thinking about it. Anyone else?! Do you have some appropriate words to describe this ‘genre’?” Not sure I’d dignify it with the term “genre” for a kick-off.
And then swiftly onto nomination No12, Anthony Joshua. Our man talks us through the Klitschko fight. “Wherever I get to now is so much better than wherever I started in the first place,” he says. He and Walkden are introduced onto the stage at the same time.
Walkden talks of her “no matter what happens I’ll die trying” philosophy, and her Dad’s “no mercy” texts before her fights, and of her battles with injury. “Everything I’ve been through’s been so hard, which is why I give everything I get – blood, sweat and tears – and because I’m a scouser I fight so hard for everything.” Such gallery-playing goes down well, invevitably.
Joshua pays tribute to Klitschko – “we both came together and it gelled well”– as well as his promoter and training team, and explains his spurning of trash talk. “I kind of tried to change the angle,” he says, “there’s kids watching and so forth, but you need that gutsiness to show in the fight but outside of it you need a calm side.” Who’s his next opponent, asks Lineker? Tony Bellew in the audience shakes his head when Lineker suggests him. “Joseph Parker’s realistic in terms of when he’s going to fight,” says Joshua, ideally in the spring.
And now the lines are open for voting!
Next up, it’s Bianca Walkden: “Our Bianca’s” progress to Rio bronze through to 2017 world champion is narrated by Sue Johnston. “You can never keep a good scouser down, and that’s all you need to know,” apparently.
The brief chronological review continues – US Open, the County Championship, rowing – before we move on to athletics, and a brief reminder of the fun and frolics of the World Championships: Bolt’s beaten bow-out and Britain’s gold, and all the rest. Before Logan moves on to “the greatest British athlete of all time”, and contender No10: Mo Farah. His video package gets a rather maudlin soundtrack, Johnny Cash’s magnificent reworking of In My Life. He is actually still competing as an athlete.
He’s not in Liverpool either, but down at St Mary’s College London, where a track’s been named after him (and where Konta also was earlier, in front of that fancy fireplace). His young son Hussein is playing up deliciously and not letting him hear Logan’s questions. When he does speak, there’s all manner of interference because his mic’s fallen onto his lap. On the subject of his conversion to road racing only, he says: “I’m trying to get my body used to doing longer distance, I’m enjoying it, but it’s not a walk in the park.” No, it’s a rather long run in one.
Here’s that Chris Froome interview in full:
Young sportsperson of the year: Phil Foden
The Manchester City prodigy takes the award, which is neatly timed, what with the talented midfielder getting a substitute’s appearance in the Premier League yesterday
And now onto a hip-hop soundtracked tribute to the achievements of England’s U20s and U17 footballers – Foden, Calvert-Lewin et al – before the victorious squads are brought on. Rhian Brewster is asked by Lineker whether we have a new golden generation coming through, assuming of course that there ever was an old one. He thinks so, nonetheless. Brewster talks of the “amazing feeling” that came with that victory over Spain. “We kept our heads and well, we scored five goals in a final,” Brewster deadpans. “Give ‘em a game, Premier League managers!” implores Lineker.
Which leads us to the next award …
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And now a brief hailing of Celtic and their historic unbeaten domestic run which, typically, ended today in a drubbing at Hearts. When they lose, they lose big.
The next vignette is of the women’s rugby world cup, and England’s near-miss defeat to New Zealand in the final, before onto a women’s team that won their final. England’s cricketers, and some brief highlights of that tense and wonderful final at Lord’s in July. Which brings us to Anya Shrubsole, contender No9: Shrubsole’s final-wicket roar at the sky at the end was one of the most iconic celebratory images of the year - “It always gives you goosebumps every time you watch it,” she tells Gaby Logan – though one wonders if recent Ashes disappointment might count against her in the voting.
Froome speaks
Hamilton’s stellar achievements in 2017 are spotlighted, with highlights of his triumphs to the fore, and then, confusingly, it’s back to Froome. Who’s not in the studio but on satellite link. “It’s been a brutal season, the Tour de France is the pinnacle of the calendar, it’s the closest and hardest fought battle of my career.
And then comes the question on this week’s news and the drugs test: “I do completely get it, I know how some poeple might look at our sport, that’s a responsibility that I take really seriously. I am an asthmatic and have been since I was a child. I’ve never taken more puffs than I’m allowed. We’re working as hard as we can to try and get down to the bottom of this.
“We’re currently on a training camp, before getting stuck into preparing for next year’s Giro d’Italia – my first goal – before my biggest challenge, winning the Tour de France for the fifth time.” Though there’s a few more bridges to cross before then … This one’s got a way to go yet
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It’s contender No 7, Chris Froome. So how are they going to play this? The promo package is the standard-issue homage to the endurance and power needed, “unflappable, untouchable, unbeatable … taming the pain all the way to Paris. The greatest Briton to ever ride a road bike, no ego here, no celebrity,” roars Steven Graham.
And then it’s onto Contender No8, Lewis Hamilton …
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The blink-and-you-miss-it chronological review now continues – boat race, domestic rugby, the Champions League, the Derby, world snooker, the men’s and women’s FA Cup, Garcia’s Masters and George Groves’s title. Before …
First award: the Helen Rollason award
And it goes to Bradley Lowery, the six year old Sunderland fan who died of cancer whose battle with illness genuinely captured the nation’s hearts. Probably not a dry eye in the house, with some touching contributions from his mum Gemma and Jermain Defoe, of course. “When you talk about having a best friend, someone you love and trust, then yeah it was a real friendship,” says the striker. His parents Gemma and Carl receive the award on the stage.
“I’m slightly overwhelmed but absolutely honoured to receive this,” says Gemma. “He raised so much awareness of childhood cancer it was unbelievable. We’ve set up the Bradley Lowery foundation to continue the good work he’s done, and just hope people can carry on helping.”
This year we lost a young boy who touched the lives of millions.
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) December 17, 2017
The sporting world will never forget him and the work done by his family to raise awareness of neuroblastoma has been invaluable.
Cancer has no colours. One Bradley Lowery. ❤️#SPOTY https://t.co/uAuN7saVw7 pic.twitter.com/du7Z8HSeGs
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Onto women’s football now, with a brief resume of the Women’s Euros, showing Jodie Taylor’s sharp-shooting and Holland’s triumph. But not for long.
Back to tennis now, and a review of Wimbledon, which tees up the introduction of contender No6, Johanna Konta. Virginia Wade, the previous British woman to make the semis at the All England Club 39 years earlier, tees this one up. Konta’s not in the studio though – she’s down in some incredibly posh-looking venue in London, in front of an ornate fireplace. “I’m dealing with situations better as time goes, and I’ve been fortunate to have these moments this season, and these incredibly memories.” In true Spoty style, Konta’s rather trickier second half of the year isn’t mentioned, not by Clare Balding anyway, though Konta alludes to it by saying: “I’m looking forward to getting started again – it finished a little too early this season.”
Fifth contender, Jonathan Rea: the northern Irishman’s video package features some fine Ulster coast scenery porn interspersed with scrapes and triumphs on the track. And, oh yes, they’ve got him riding into the arena and up to the stage on his bike, revving theatrically as he goes, which smacks a little bit of treating his sport as a novelty. The three-time world champion thanks his team, sponsors, wife, family, about whom he’s particularly appreciative, as he says all people in a high-octane sport such as his are.
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Up next, Elise Christie, who talks fairly candidly about her fightback form the lows of Sochi in 2014. “Being disqualified in Sochi hurt, but not as much as the death threats that followed.I thought about never skating again. It made me tougher than I thought I could be, and I thought I can do this and I will do this.” Before her triple world championship gold-medal winning feats of this year are reshown. Up on stage, she also talks with similar candour about being bullied at school, and thinking “that’ll show them”. She certainly has done that. And it’s the Winter Olympics next.
And now we jump in the pool, after a Kane interview was promised later – not quite sure of this schedule’s logic, to be honest – and the third contender, Adam Peaty. His promo sequence involves a lion being dragged poolside to follow Peaty as he practises, for whatever reason (I trust his agent got him a decent whack).
Back to Kane in the arena, and he’s inevitably asked about England in the World Cup last summer “We’ve got to go there with a clear mind, be free, we’ve got an amazing team and manager, … we’ll see what happens.”
Peaty, also on stage, explains why he gave away his medal to a young girl in the crowd last night. It’s about inspiring people, he says, and “she’ll remember that for the rest of her life.” Aw.
Second contender: Harry Kane. “I was born with a hunger inside, I guess. Apart from the birth of my daughter, nothing comes close to scoring goals,” says Walthamstow’s finest. Alan Shearer, a similar though by no means identical, type of striker to Kane, leads the cheerleading here.
We go chronological now, a winter-spring jaunt through the Australian Open tennis, skeleton, the women’s Six Nations, the darts (the other one), Haye v Bellew, Lincoln knocking Burnley out of the FA Cup, Sizing John at Cheltenham. Lots of stuff, covered in about a minute.
First in the spotlight: athletics and Jonnie Peacock, starting with the world Para-athletic championships, reminding us of an enjoyable few weeks when the London Stadium was put to its proper use – Georgina Hermitage, Richard Whitehead, Hannah Cockroft and the rest, as GB’s 39 golds are recalled.
Peacock, reflecting, says, “Stepping back onto that track where it all started in 2012 and doing it all again has been incredible.” Inevitably, his Strictly adventure is acknowledged with Claudia Winkelman among the talking heads paying tribute. Luck and coaches are the secrets to his success, he tells Gaby Logan, modestly, before he’s asked, inevitably, about his recent Saturday evenings in the BBC spotlight. He speaks eloquently too about the importance and growth of Paralympic sport. He’s a thoroughly likeable.
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And onto that set come our hosts, Gaby Logan, Clare Balding and Gary Lineker. “Hello Liverpool,” roars the latter to the packed and massive arena. Ominously, Lineker promises another musical tribute from Gallagher’s High Flying Birds later in the evening. DON’T GO ANYWHERE.
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And we're underway!
All Liverpool cultural signifiers ticked in the opening credits as we zoom in on the Echo Arena – Beatles, Ferry Across the Mersey, Wayne Rooney, the Liver Building. Before the somewhat less Scouse Noel Gallagher gets things underway with some so-so pub rock. Obviously.
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But of course we’re not just here for the nice things in life – here’s the anti-Spoty awards, courtesy of Simon Burnton:
Some pre-ceremony reading for you. Sound instantly authoritative on the sofa by perusing this lot:
Donald McRae’s interview with Jonathan Rea:
Vithushan Ehantharajah on Anya Shrubsole:
Andrew Anthony on Anthony Joshua:
And Jacob Steinberg on the team of the year contenders:
Preamble
Evening everyone. Time was when Sports Review of the Year, as it was then known, was a weighty yet prosaic affair. A chance to rewatch oodles of soberly presented highlights of the year’s key sporting moments, topped off with some gong-giving at the end. But yer modern Spoty is light years from that, shaped by two immutable realities of contemporary broadcasting – that terrestrial TV has had its roster of events that it can actuall screen picked apart by paid-for corporations, and that anything that involves awards has to be glammed up and hammed up to the max. Hence the dinner suits and glitz and portentous voiceovers that await us tonight.
Yet sport is at its heart about portentousness and sentimentality anyway, so we mustn’t get too grouchy, and we can expect a fair few lump-in-the-throat moments as the past 12 months are picked over. But there are controversies and Thorny Issues aplenty too – Chris Froome, winner of the Tour de France for a staggering fourth time, should have all the credentials to take the award but this week’s revelations about his failed drugs test at the Vuelta leave a cloud over a sportsman who’s never fully been embraced by the Great British Public. The BBC will have to depart from the usual upbeat script to ask some probing questions. My colleague Sean Ingle, who helped break the story, explains eloquently here why those questions should be asked. In F1, Lewis Hamilton’s ongoing excellence on the track is beyond question unlike his tax affairs, while Mo Farah, who lit up the London Stadium track once again with his 5,000m/10,000m double, still sometimes bristles at the odd tricky question about Alberto Salazar.
And it’s no surprise that the comprehensively likeable Anthony Joshua is the bookies’ favourite. His epic victory over Wladimir Klitschko back in the spring was an uncomplicated and thrilling 2017 highpoint. Another was provided by Anya Shrubsole, whose decisive wicket-taking burst in the World Cup final against India was comfortably the best thing to happen to English cricket this year.
We can expect an inevitable bias towards the bigger names in the voting, but that doesn’t mean the taekwondo world champion Bianca Walkden, speed skater Elise Christie and motorcyclist Jonathan Rea aren’t worthy of your consideration, while the swimmer Adam Peaty burnished his credentials further just yesterday with a European Championship gold in the 100m breaststroke.
So anyway, here are your runners and riders, in no particular order (to borrow a phrase from Jonnie Peacock’s beloved Strictly):
- Harry Kane
- Mo Farah
- Bianca Walkden
- Adam Peaty
- Johanna Konta
- Chris Froome
- Lewis Hamilton
- Anya Shrubsole
- Jonathan Rea
- Elise Christie
- Anthony Joshua
- Jonnie Peacock
An evening of arguing the toss, fond and not so fond reminiscence, emotion and perhaps the odd awkward question awaits. Sit back and enjoy.
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Preamble
Here you go
