England’s Lionesses are up against their rugby union counterparts, the Red Roses, and Europe’s winning Ryder Cup side on the shortlist for team of the year at the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award.
For the first time the BBC have swerved having to make the call themselves by making the team award a public vote, with the winners to be announced live at the ceremony on 18 December.
It will be a battle that pits history-makers against game-changers and a team that conquered America and a relentlessly hostile crowd.
Sarina Wiegman’s England will have their supporters having become only the second country to retain the Euros after a penalty shootout victory over the world champions, Spain. The victory also meant the Lionesses became the first senior England team to win a trophy abroad.
The England women’s rugby union team, meanwhile, were overwhelming favourites to take the World Cup on home soil, and did so with a 33-13 win over Canada in front of a record crowd of 81,885 at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium.
It was England’s first world title for 11 years as they stretched their own record for consecutive victories, taking their sequence to 33 matches. But the sight of packed crowds across the country - and the sense of a sport crashing into the mainstream - will also linger in the memory.
“To be recognised in this way is something very special for our team,” the head coach, John Mitchell, said after the shortlist was announced. “We hope 27 September 2025 will be remembered with pride and joy for years to come; not just as a moment we celebrated, but as a spark that inspires a movement for thousands of young girls and boys to dream big and begin their own rugby journey.
“If we’ve helped change what’s possible for the next generation, that is truly the greatest win of all.”
A Rory McIlroy-inspired Europe clinched a nail-biting win to retain the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, only their fifth win in the United States and the first since the Miracle of Medinah in 2012.
Europe fended off a dramatic US fightback in the singles - having gone into the final day with a seven-point lead, they held on to win 15-13.
