Hannah Hampton
No sporting occasion in 2025 gripped England fairly like the Lionesses’ Euros success and that euphoria wouldn’t have occurred with out Hannah Hampton’s saves. Long earlier than Hampton dived the right approach to cease two Spain penalties in the closing, together with one from the world’s finest participant Aitana Bonmatí, she had produced heroics, with out which the group would have flown residence disappointingly early.
Hampton expertly prevented England from falling 3-0 down in opposition to Sweden in the quarter-final and went on to make two shootout saves. In the semi-final, moments earlier than England snatched their late equaliser against Italy, Hampton had stored them in the competitors – once more – with an important double save. In the group stage she had sprayed the go of the event upfield, going viral on social media, to assist kickstart Sarina Wiegman’s group’s marketing campaign throughout their thumping victory in opposition to the Netherlands. In the closing she helped thwart the most potent attacking power in the sport.
Winning two shootouts in a serious event with England, in the area of 10 days, is the stuff of legend, and unheard of in English soccer. If that weren’t sufficient, she additionally helped Chelsea win a domestic treble unbeaten and was the joint winner of the WSL’s golden glove, preserving 13 clear sheets in 22 league fixtures. She has achieved all this regardless of being born with a severe eye situation which impacts her depth notion and meant medical doctors warned her she wouldn’t be capable of play soccer. At the age of 25 she has stuffed the sizeable gloves of England’s earlier No 1, Mary Earps, and never solely coped with the stress that introduced, however thrived. Tom Garry
Chloe Kelly
You might argue that Chloe Kelly has not performed sufficient soccer for membership or nation to win a serious particular person award however her place on this shortlist is suitable reward for a 12 months of gamechanging affect.
The 27-year-old’s hop, skip, bounce and strike from the penalty spot to seal a European title for the Lionesses, for the second time, as the group grew to become the first senior England facet to win a serious event away from residence, was most likely sufficient.
However, in a 12 months which started in turmoil with Kelly considering quitting soccer after being frozen out at Manchester City, her journey has been exceptional. Going public along with her frustrations and deteriorating psychological well being, as her profession stalled and a spot in England’s Euros squad regarded more and more in danger after one begin in the first half of the season, pressured City to permit her to maneuver to Arsenal on mortgage. Returned to the membership she left in 2018, Kelly settled then thrived, making a big contribution to Arsenal’s historic Champions League win earlier than replicating her 2022 Euros closing heroics in 2025.
Critically, she did all of it with an unmatched swagger epitomised by her wry smile at Sweden’s goalkeeper Jennifer Falk earlier than she scored her penalty in the quarter-final shootout and her feedback in the press convention after the closing when she stated: “Tough times don’t last – just around the corner was a Champions League final. I won that. Now a Euros final, I’ve won that. So, thank you to everyone that wrote me off. I’m grateful.”
Geoff Hurst scored a hat-trick in the World Cup closing for the males’s group in 1966, and Martin Peters additionally scored in that closing. They wrote their names into the historical past books for the eternal affect they’d on soccer in England. Kelly didn’t want 90 minutes week-in week-out or all through the Euros to ship on the greatest of phases, twice. She deserves her flowers. Suzanne Wrack
Ellie Kildunne
Ellie Kildunne’s nomination for Sports Personality of the Year is as unsurprising as it’s deserved. She has had a glowing 12 months as half of a formidable Red Roses group during which all gamers contributed to adominant 2025 culminating in winning the Rugby World Cup.
England’s squad is full of proficient and expert gamers however there is no such thing as a questioning that Kildunne has turn out to be one of the faces of the squad. That is especially due to her fashion of play and scoring tries when the group wants a raise.
In 2025 Kildunne scored 9 tries throughout the Six Nations and the World Cup. As properly as that she has solely grown as a role model. The Harlequins star was made right into a Barbie, spoke overtly about psychological well being, and amplified the picture that now signifies the Red Roses: the cowboy hat. It is her, Jess Breach and Meg Jones’s attempt celebration that has taken the sport by storm.
But Kildunne is rather more than her stats. It’s her reference to followers that basically stands out whenever you watch her play. There is nothing fairly like how a crowd reacts to the full-back. As quickly as she receives the ball the stadium catches fireplace with pleasure and anticipation. Supporters get to their toes to see what magic the 26-year-old will produce and he or she greater than delivered for them, one spotlight being her scorching solo effort in the World Cup closing.
Her nomination alone is groundbreaking as she is the first girls’s rugby participant to be on the shortlist for the accolade. Because of that, together with all of her achievements this 12 months, profitable Spoty could be the cherry on prime of Kildunne’s sundae. Sarah Rendell
Luke Littler
Even Luke Littler doesn’t assume Luke Littler should win this 12 months: he’s already acknowledged that he received’t be turning up at the ceremony, and his endorsement has gone to Lando Norris. That stated, it’s onerous to assume what extra he might have finished: world champion, world No 1, World Matchplay and World Grand Prix champion, UK Open and Grand Slam champion, Players Championships winner and architect of the most scary reign of dominance the sport has seen since Phil Taylor. Not solely that, however his emergence has totally reworked the panorama of skilled darts, slicing by the snobbery and condescension that usually accompanies it. It is largely right down to the Littler impact that the prize cash for this 12 months’s world champion has been doubled to £1m.
Still, no Sports Personality voter was moved to choose up the cellphone by an uplift in event prize funds. And maybe Littler’s most important obstacle – in each this and future years – shall be timing. The world championship closing, the crowning achievement of the darting 12 months, is available in January, a full 11 months earlier than voting begins. Beyond these few weeks, darts stays a distinct segment sport in the media and the wider nationwide dialog, and the relative absence of darts on terrestrial tv doesn’t assist both.
The curse of repeated excellence is that after some time, everybody will get used to it. Perhaps Littler’s finest likelihood – as with Taylor in 2010, when he completed a shocking second place to AP McCoy – is to attend for a quieter 12 months, accumulate a groundswell of campaigning momentum and triumph by sheer unanswerable weight of valuable metallic. That is, if he’s bothered about Sports Personality in the slightest. Which he could properly not be. Jonathan Liew
Rory McIlroy
The second of this sporting 12 months was delivered by Rory McIlroy. It was not merely that he won the Masters in April – a formidable sufficient feat – however the theatric circumstances by which McIlroy grew to become simply the sixth man in historical past to complete a Grand Slam of majors turned heads means past golf. Elton John known as him as much as provide reward, for goodness sake.
McIlroy has delivered classes in persistence, in chasing a dream that regarded so more likely to escape him and in rising from such humble roots to the very summit of his sport. True to McIlroy type, he did it dramatically. Masters success confirmed he’s the UK’s most interesting golfer of all time. The clear sweep of majors proves a golfer who can deal with any examination.
It we’re being true to the title of this award, McIlroy wins arms down. He has persona in abundance. He displayed it not solely at Augusta National however in New York, the place he was entrance and centre for Europe’s famous Ryder Cup triumph. Separate wins on both facet of the Atlantic in 2025 and one other European order of benefit title means this ranks as the most interesting spell of his profession. Throughout all of it, McIlroy remained relatable.
There is a reputable argument that McIlroy has not obtained the credit score he deserves at residence. He should have claimed the Spoty title in 2014. Now 36, he has lengthy since been a world celebrity. This is the time to correctly recognise McIlroy’s brilliance. Ewan Murray
Lando Norris
British F1 world champions are amongst the nation’s most treasured sporting figures, and Lando Norris’s title sees the younger English driver chisel his identify on a pantheon that bears the imprints of Lewis Hamilton, Mike Hawthorn, Graham Hill, Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Nigel Mansell, John Surtees, James Hunt, Damon Hill and Jenson Button. Names that also resonate down the years.
Seven seasons into his F1 profession, Norris grew to become the eleventh identify on that feted record and after a compelling climax to the season, his triumph arrived with a third-place end in Abu Dhabi, the margin of championship victory to a hard-charging Max Verstappen simply two factors.
With Verstappen and his personal teammate, Oscar Piastri, looming ever bigger in his rearview mirrors – after an preliminary McLaren procession this season become an exhilarating three-way rivalry – Norris did the sudden. He didn’t activate Piastri – their relationship stays cordial – and shrugged off McLaren’s leanings for instigating group orders to see him over the line.
Yes, he’s been behind the wheel of a profitable automobile – McLaren won the constructors’ title with six races to spare. But there have been wobbles – bungled qualifying in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, the indignant tussle with Verstappen in Miami, the group’s disqualification in Las Vegas. Such bumps in the street would have derailed lesser drivers. “I just won it my way, I’m happy I could go out and be myself,” was Norris’ usually understated verdict.
After all the clamour that’s heaped on an F1 valedictorian, subsequent season Norris will return to McLaren and not using a strutting ego, only a calm resolve to start out once more on stage phrases together with his teammate. This will not be your typical grand prix narrative of petulant paddock backstabbing, which is why Norris and his 2025 world championship should be cherished. A Spoty crown to prime all of it feels proper. Andy Martin