It’s that time of year again, the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year (SPOTY) award is back, allowing us time to reflect on a great 12 months and recognise the work of some of the country’s finest sportspeople. Last year saw Lewis Hamilton pick up the most recent edition of the trophy for his work throughout the Formula 1 calendar, although the event was held behind closed doors due to the coronavirus pandemic.
This year a full crowd is expected to be back in attendance, with plenty to take in after a frantic year of entertainment. Tyson Fury took most the headlines last year when he asked his fans to not vote for him, but who else has missed out on an award they probably deserved?
Read on, as we discuss the great athletes to never win the SPOTY award.
1. Ronnie O’Sullivan – 2012
A legend of the snooker game, it seems strange that Ronnie O’Sullivan has never really been in the discussion for the personal accolade. He has been at the top of his game for a while now, with peak of his powers perhaps coming in 2012 when he won a fourth world title and dominated the world rankings. But The Rocket still earnt very little recognition in the sports personality of the year odds. It took until 2020 for him to be nominated, but Hamilton picked up first place.
2. Jermain Defoe – 2017
Perhaps a feature on this list more for his act of pure selflessness than anything, the work Jermain Defoe did for Bradley Lowery, a six-year-old boy who suffered from terminal cancer, should always be recognised. Defoe ensured the last months of the boy’s life were memorable, bringing him out as a mascot for games and forming a special connection with the family whilst Lowrey was in hospital.
All this, whilst he still scored goals for Sunderland despite them struggling on the pitch. Even when the Black Cats were relegated, and Defoe moved to Bournemouth days before Lowrey died, he ensured the family was looked after and raised plenty of money for charity.
3. Ricky Hatton – 2007
Imagine if Ricky Hatton had never taken the Floyd Mayweather fight — we would probably be sitting here talking about one of the best British boxers of all time and how he won the 2007 SPOTY award, instead it controversially went to Joe Calzaghe.
The loss to Mayweather really spoilt his chances of winning any individual merits, and whilst Hatton is clear of Calzaghe in terms of boxing ability, the Welshman finishing his career unbeaten, with the recent bias of his November win over Mikkel Kessler, just a month before the ceremony arguably having a massive influence over proceedings. Hatton was perhaps past his best at that stage in his career but having been unbeaten until that fateful trip to Las Vegas, he could have gone out as one of the greats.
4. Jessica Ennis-Hill – 2009
It’s still tough to call who wins the BBC sports personality of the year 2021, with some very talented sportspeople in contention, but in the world of athletics, Jessica Ennis never really stood a chance, despite consecutive third place finishes at the end of the 2000s. Very few women have actually won SPOTY, with Zara Phillips the last coming back in 2006, but Ennis’ best work, coming at either the 2009 World Finals for the heptathlon or the 2012 Olympics for winning the gold medal. We’ll go for 2009 considering she had just fought back from a lengthy metatarsal injury.
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