The BBC Sports Personality of the Year (SPOTY) award divides British sports fans like no other.
Athletes are judged each December based on their sporting achievements and how they reflect on the country on the international stage, as well as their impact on the sport as a whole. England and Arsenal Women’s footballer Beth Mead was the last person to claim the prize.
Mead played a crucial role in the Lionesses winning Euro 2022, becoming the first ever female footballer to pick up the BBC award. And hoping to follow her achievement on Tuesday (December 19) night are a list of illustrious names.
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They include England goalkeeper Mary Earps, Ashes hero Stuart Broad, heptathlon champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson, veteran jockey Frankie Dettori, Europe’s Ryder Cup star Rory McIlroy and wheelchair tennis No.1 Alfie Hewett.
There will certainly be some who are deemed more deserving of the award than others by the public, with a social media debate expected in its conclusion. But Daily Star Sport will now take a look back at seven sportspeople from the past who could genuinely be viewed as undeserving of it.
Ryan Giggs
The Manchester United winger played in the Premier League for an astonishing 23 seasons. But the most decorated player in English football history was bafflingly only nominated at the latter end of his career in 2009.
Giggs was 36 when he picked up the award with his best years arguably behind him. He won the Premier League and reached the Champions League final with the Red Devils that year, but only made 32 appearances in all competitions.
Zara Phillips
Who is the worst SPOTY winner of all time? Let us know in the comments section.
Phillips, daughter of Princess Anne, caused a stir when she was picked as SPOTY winner in 2006 – 35 years after her mother received the same accolade. She held both the world and European equestrian titles at the time but many deemed her to have received preferential treatment.
There were arguably more deserving sportspeople nominated, such as undefeated boxer Joe Calzaghe. The Welshman had won IBF and WBC super-middleweight title fights against Jeff Lacy and Sakio Bika that year.
Nigel Mansell
The awards sparked fury when Formula One star Mansell got the nod over England football legend Gary Lineker in 1986. Mansell had clinched a victory at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone but only finished second in the driver’s championship in ‘86 behind Alain Prost.
Meanwhile, Lineker scored six goals at the World Cup in Mexico as England bowed out thanks to Diego Maradona’s craftiness, but not before picking up the Golden Boot award. Our favourite Match of the Day host did not even make the top three and never went on to claim a much-deserved SPOTY.
David Beckham
At the height of Beckham’s fame in 2001, the Manchester United icon added a SPOTY award to his already-impressive trophy cabinet. That was in no small part thanks to his sensational last-minute free-kick goal against Greece to seal England’s place at the World Cup, as well as United's third successive league title.
He was indeed a perfect global ambassador for the UK as one of the most instantly-recognisable and adored athletes on the planet. But on a pure sporting achievement point of view, sailor Ellen MacArthur trumped the winger when she sailed around the world in just 94 days earlier that year.
Damon Hill
The likes of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button have been snubbed in the past despite their marvellous feats in winning a F1 world championship. Yet Hill was handed the award in 1994 despite finishing as runner-up to Michael Schumacher.
The Williams driver was taken out by Schumacher in the final race in Australia, handing the German the title by a single point. Athletics sensation Sally Gunnell was overlooked in favour of Hill in one of her three failed attempts at winning SPOTY.
Sir Mo Farah
Farah is undoubtedly among the pantheon of great athletes produced in the UK. But his SPOTY award win in 2017 came five years after his London Olympics heroics and a year after his two gold medals in Rio de Janeiro.
The long-distance king was so surprised at winning the award that he had failed to prepare a speech. He pipped Superbikes champion Jonathan Rea by a few thousand votes while Anthony Joshua, who beat Wladimir Klitschko in a dramatic world title fight in 2017, came fourth.
Greg Rusedski
Before we were spoiled with Andy Murray’s three Grand Slams, the state of British tennis was dire to say the least. And so fans were delighted when Rusedski made it to the US open final in 1997, becoming the first Brit to reach a Grand Slam final in 20 years.
Rusedski lost out to Australian Pat Rafter in four sets. Yet he was still able to pick up his SPOTY in one of the least competitive years in the award’s history.
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