Real Madrid and England midfielder Jude Bellingham is among six nominees with a chance of being named BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2024.
Bellingham enjoyed double success with Real Madrid at the end of last season, playing a pivotal role as the club secured both La Liga and the Champions League.
The Englishman scored 23 goals in total and it was only the fifth time Madrid they have been crowned champions of Spain and Europe in the same campaign, a somewhat remarkable feat considering they are now 51 all-time wins in both competitions.
On the international stage, Bellingham was part of an England side that reached the final of Euro 2024. Along the way, he scored a stunning overhead kick in stoppage time to prevent what looked set for an embarrassing round of 16 exit in Slovakia. .
In October, Bellingham came third in the Ballon d’Or behind Rodri and Vinicius Junior, the first English player to crack the top three since Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard were second and third respectively in 2005, but did not attend the ceremony in cause of one Boycott of Real Madrid.
The BBC SPOTY Award has been presented to a footballer seven times since it was created by the UK public service broadcaster in 1954. The first was in 1966 when it was presented to Bobby Moore following the England’s World Cup victory, while the second. two have come as recently as 2022 and 2023 to recognize the achievements of Beth Mead i Mary Earps.
Paul Gascoigne, Michael Owen, David Beckham and Ryan Giggs each won during a more concentrated period of success for footballers between 1990 and 2009.
Many other players, including George Best, Jordan Henderson, Bobby Charlton, Harry Kane and Gary Lineker have finished in the top three without winning the overall award.
In total, football has had 24 top three finishes. However, athletics has dominated over the past seven decades, with more winners (18), second places (14) and third places (21), and thus more cumulative top three finishes (54), than any other sport
In the 2024 public vote, Bellingham faces Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson, teenage darts sensation Luke Littler, England’s new all-time leading Test scorer Joe Root, two-time cycling champion 2024 Paralympian Sarah Storey and Olympic triathlon champion Alex Yee.
|
year |
player |
Remarkable achievement |
|---|---|---|
|
1966 |
Bobby Moore |
England’s 1966 World Cup winning captain |
|
1990 |
Paul Gascoigne |
England’s star player at the 1990 World Cup |
|
1998 |
Michael Owen |
Joint Premier League Golden Boot winner |
|
2001 |
David Beckham |
England captain at the 2002 World Cup |
|
2009 |
Ryan Giggs |
Won an 11th Premier League title |
|
2022 |
Beth Mead |
Euro 2022 winner, best player and joint top scorer |
|
2023 |
Mary Earps |
Best Golden Glove of the World Cup and the best goalkeeper of FIFA 2023 |
