Real Madrid and England midfielder Jude Bellingham finds himself among the six nominees in with a chance of being named 2024 BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
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 titles.
The Englishman scored 23 goals in total and it was only the fifth time ever Madrid have been crowned both Spanish and European champions in the same campaign – a slightly remarkable feat considering it’s now 51 all-time wins across both competitions.
On the international stage, Bellingham was part of an England side that reached the final at Euro 2024. Along the way, he scored a stunning overhead kick in stoppage time to prevent what looked like it was about to be an embarrassing last 16 exit to Slovakia.
In October, Bellingham placed third at the Ballon d’Or behind Rodri and Vinicius Junior, the first English player to break the top three since Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard were second and third respectively in 2005, but didn’t attend the ceremony due to a Real Madrid boycott.
The BBC SPOTY award has been handed to a footballer on seven occasions since it was created by the UK’s public service broadcaster in 1954. The first was in 1966 when it was presented to Bobby Moore in the wake of England’s World Cup win, while the latter two have come as recently as 2022 and 2023 to recognise the achievements of Beth Mead and 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.
Plenty of other players, including George Best, Jordan Henderson, Bobby Charlton, Harry Kane and Gary Lineker have finished in the top three without winning the overall prize.
In total, football has had 24 top three finishers. However, athletics has dominated over the last seven decades, with more winners (18), second places (14) and third places (21), and therefore more accumulated top three finishes (54), than any other sport.
In 2024’s public vote, Bellingham is up against Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson, teenage darts sensation Luke Littler, England’s new all-time leading test run scorer Joe Root, double 2024 Paralympic cycling champion Sarah Storey and Olympic triathlon champion Alex Yee.
|
Year |
Player |
Notable achievement |
|---|---|---|
|
1966 |
Bobby Moore |
England’s 1966 World Cup winning-captain |
|
1990 |
Paul Gascoigne |
England’s star player at 1990 World Cup |
|
1998 |
Michael Owen |
Joint Premier League Golden Boot winner |
|
2001 |
David Beckham |
Captained England to 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 |
2023 Best FIFA Goalkeeper & World Cup Golden Glove |