Key events
Time to sign off, I’ll leave you with Sean Ingle’s report. Thanks for joining me.
All tonight’s award winners
Sports Personality of the Year: Rory McIlroy
Runners-up: Ellie Kildunne, Lando Norris
Team of the Year: Europe’s Ryder Cup team
Coach of the Year: Sarina Wiegman
Young Sports Personality: Michelle Agyemang
World Sport Star: Armand Duplantis
Lifetime Achievement Award: Thierry Henry
Helen Rollason Award: Sergio Aguiar and David Stancombe
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A reminder of Rory McIlroy’s golden year:
And with that, the ticker tape flies and Balding, Logan and Scott bid us farewell. That was a very watchable ceremony with plenty of insights – it was also emotional, even fraught, at times. But it ends with an athlete in formal attire, holding a trophy and looking slightly awkward. Some things never change.
“It’s such a honour just to be in this room with all of these incredible people,” says McIlroy. “2025 is the year I made my dreams come true, the year dreams are made of, from Augusta to the Ryder Cup and everything in between.”
He thanks the public first, then “my family – my mum and dad, if you’re watching, thank you – my wife Erica, my daughter Poppy, they’re what holds me together. They couldn’t be here tonight, but I can’t wait to see them and celebrate with them.”
“I remember growing up, looking forward to watching this event every year. I’m very honoured to get my hands on this trophy. Hopefully I can challenge for it again next year!”
Rory McIlroy wins Sports Personality of the Year!
It’s Rory! A huge cheer goes up. Another elusive trophy is bagged, and for all the incredible achievements across the year, he feels like the right winner.
Ellie Kildunne is runner-up!
She looks a little stunned, and has to be nudged by her teammates to go up on stage. We now go straight to the winner announcement – it’s McIlroy or Norris.
Here we go, then – the big one. Sports Personality of the Year 2025, to be presented by Keely Hodgkinson and Thierry Henry. The top three: Ellie Kildunne, Rory McIlroy and Lando Norris.
Europe’s Ryder Cup team win Team of the Year!
Well. I’d say that looks like good news for McIlroy’s hopes. He starts by paying tribute to the Red Roses and Lionesses’ achievements. “We’re up here as the 12 players, but we couldn’t have done what we did at Bethpage without the captain and all the backroom team,” he adds, while Tommy Fleetwood manages to escape without saying a word.
Photograph: David Davies/PA
Now the team of the year award – why do they pack so many prizes into the final 10 minutes? Hannah Cockroft and AP McCoy are presenting this one. It goes to …
Michelle Agyemang wins Young Sports Personality!
It goes to the young England striker whose penchant for late heroics captivated the nation (and Seb Hutchinson) this summer. She takes to the stage on crutches, having sustained an ACL injury in October.
“Wow. Thank you so much,” she says. “To all my team mates, coaches, I am so grateful. To my family, who have supported me throughout my career – even if it hasn’t been that long! I love you. A big thank you to God for this opportunity. I’m so thankful.”
Nitro and Lucy Bronze? Name a more iconic duo, etc. They’re on stage to announce the Young Sports Personality prize, which Harry Aikines-Aryeetey (to use his actual name) won in 2005. The winner is …
Eddie Hearn reacts to the year in boxing and MMA, and the vote is now closed. The team of the year and the main Spoty award should be announced in the next five to 10 minutes. We hope.
It’s a Sports Personality tradition: the year in rugby league! There’s a romantic tale here though, as Hull Kingston Rovers won the Super League grand final to complete a treble.
Billy Bonds, Robin Smith, Ray French, Denis Law, Dickie Bird, Eddie Jordan, George Foreman … so many sporting greats. But it’s the younger faces in the gallery that hit a little harder. Ethan McLeod, Billy Vigar, Michael O’Sullivan, Matt Beard, Ricky Hatton – and Diogo Jota and his brother, André Silva.
Now it’s time to remember those we lost from the sporting world this year, while a Bradford City choir performes. They were formed to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Valley Parade fire – the BBC documentary on that is a worthwhile, if difficult, watch.
While Big Zhu runs us through the year in domestic football, I’ve just been trying to think of a football coach who has been more transformational than Sarina Wiegman. Her predecessor as England manager was Phil Neville.
Sarina Wiegman wins coach of the year
The pace keeps cranking up, as we race on to the Coach of the Year award, which goes to … Sarina Wiegman! “I’m part of a tremendous team of players and staff,” she says, adding that she’s sorry for putting England fans through it. She thanks her husband, Martin, for his support. Her final message goes to “every female coach, or future female coach … you really can make a difference and we need more female coaches.”
That’s interesting – not too far off bookies’ predictions, but Ellie Kildunne takes a top-three place ahead of Chloe Kelly. Perhaps having two Lionesses in the top six did split the vote.
The top three are announced
In no particular order, remember – they are: Ellie Kildunne, Rory McIlroy and Lando Norris!
We’re now on to autumn’s great sporting moments, which, while undeniably dramatic, only happened a few weeks ago. Still, Kenny McLean, eh? Iain Stirling is up on stage for a slightly embarrassing tribute to Scotland securing a World Cup place, complete with a “Yes Sir, I Can Boogie” backing track. Although he’s surely the first person to ever say “Morocco’s getting pumped” on live TV.
World Sport Star of the Year: No surprises here, it’s Armand Duplantis, who retains his title. The pole vault superstar is more superhero than athlete at this point, so far ahead of his rivals that they cheer him on as he tries to keep breaking his own world record. Which he’s done 14 times.
A look back at Wimbledon, where Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek emerged victorious, in a clip narrated breathlessly by Richard E Grant. As good a reason as any to post this:
Finally, we hear from Ellie Kildunne, the sixth nominee for tonight’s big award. “The impact that the whole team, the whole World Cup has had, it’s something you can only dream of. It’ll go down in history … not just for women’s rugby, but for women in sport.”
Yes, it’s the Women’s Rugby World Cup – an entirely joyous occasion where the favourites were utterly dominant, while still remaining inherently likeable. We hear from captain Zoe Aldcroft – “It was about keeping calm, keeping emotion out of it” – and Sadia Kabeya, the player of the final. “It’s great the competition we have in the team, it pushes all to get better.”
In previous years, Sports Personality has fallen into the “Question of Sport” zone – ie. a bit boring, even if you like sport – but there’s so much to pack in this year. Eighty minutes in, and we’ve only just got to a World Cup on home soil …
Alex Scott goes straight in, asking Hampton about her grandfather, who died just before the Euros. “He was my rock, the one who helped me make the dream happen,” she says. “Everything I’ve achieved is down to my parents pushing me, my coaches who kept me going.” On that penalty shootout with Spain: “It was my time to give back to the team, the girls who had run about for 120 minutes. I tried not to think about anything else.”
Now, we move on to Kelly’s teammate, England’s other penalty maestro – goalkeeper Hannah Hampton. In a VT, she talks tearfully about being left out of the squad in 2022. “The only thing that kept me going was my mum,” she says. “I felt like I’d let her down, [but] I’m so glad I didn’t give up.” Hers is another remarkable sporting story in a year full of them.
Chloe Kelly is out for an interview, and gets a big reception. “To score goals at Wembley and play for your country is a huge honour – you’ve always got to take any chance you get with both hands.” What got her through the tough times earlier this year? “Falling back in love with the game when Arsenal came calling. I’m grateful to Sarina too, and the players out on the pitch with me.”
Chloe Kelly is recounting her year from the confines of a concrete five-a-side pitch – the kind of place where she would play against boys growing up. Sarina Wiegman praises her as “ruthless … she’s got something in her that she wants to prove people wrong.” Alessia Russo adds: “whatever’s going on for her, when she steps on the pitch she puts it all aside.”
Some news from elsewhere, regarding a former Spoty nominee – Charlotte Dujardin, who has returned to competition after a one-year ban.
Now to the Lionesses’ Euro 2025 triumph – an extraordinary feat of resolve, team spirit and simply never knowing when they were beaten. All the highlights are there: Agyemaaaang, Hampton’s saves, Russo’s header, Chloe Kelly’s prancing penalty kick. But there’s also an important word of support from Jill Scott for Jess Carter, and a message: “Stick to football? We’re better than that.”
Luke Littler is here for a video chat – he’s at his practice space in St Helens, quashing rumours he’s skipped the awards for a night on the Xbox. He’s excited to try and defend his world title, and enjoyed returning to Ally Pally as world No 1. There are some “darts fans” in the crowd who look suspiciously like people who were persuaded to put foam dartboards on their heads. It’s an unnecessary touch.