BBC Sports Team of the Year Award


The BBC Sports Team of the Year Award is an award given annually as part of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony each December. Currently, the award is given "or the team in an individual sport or sporting discipline that has achieved the most notable performance in the calendar year to date. The team should have significant UK interest or involvement". From 2012 the award's recipient is decided by an expert panel selected by the BBC. For some years before 2012 a panel of over 30 sporting journalists, each of whom voted for their top two choices and followed a defined set of voting criteria. Before that, the winner of the Team of the Year Award has been chosen by public vote and picked by listeners of Radio 5 Live.
The Team of the Year Award was first presented in 1960, six years after the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award was introduced. The first recipient of the award was the Cooper Formula One Racing team. The England national rugby union team and the Ryder Cup team have won the award the most times; both teams have won five times and have shared the award on one of those occasions. Liverpool F.C. have won the award three times. The award has been shared on two occasions—by the British women's 4 x 400 m relay team and the British Ryder Cup team in 1969, and by the England national rugby union team and the British men's 4 x 400 m relay team in 1991. Teams have varied greatly in size. The smallest winning team has been two members; the figure skating duo of Torvill and Dean in 1982 and 1983, and the Olympic men's coxless rowing pair of Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent in 1992 and 1996. The largest winning team was in 2012; the British representatives at the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Six nations have been represented by the award winning team. Teams representing Great Britain have won the award the most times, having had twenty-three recipients, three of which shared the award. Excluding the 2000 British Olympic and Paralympic teams, which fielded competitors in many Paralympic and Olympic sports, the remainder of the winning teams have represented 15 sporting disciplines. Although dominated by teams from England or representing Great Britain, the award has been won twice by Scottish teams; Celtic in 1967, after they became the first British football club to win the European Cup, and the 1990 Grand Slam winning Scotland rugby union squad.
Football has had the highest representation among the winners, with 13 recipients. The most recent award was presented in 2018 to the England national netball team.

By year

YearNationWinnerSportNote
1960EnglandMotor racing
1961EnglandFootball
1962EnglandMotor racing
1963West IndiesCricket
1964EnglandFootball
1965EnglandFootball
1966EnglandFootball
1967ScotlandFootball
1968EnglandFootball
1969United KingdomAthletics
1969United KingdomGolf
1970CanadaHorse racing
1971United KingdomRugby union
1972United KingdomEquestrianism
1973EnglandFootball
1974United KingdomRugby union
1975United KingdomSwimming
1976United KingdomAthletics
1977EnglandFootball
1978United KingdomTennis
1979United KingdomEquestrianism
1980EnglandRugby union
1981EnglandHorse racing
1982United KingdomFigure skating
1983United KingdomFigure skating
1984United KingdomEquestrianism
1985EuropeGolf
1986EnglandFootball
1987EuropeGolf
1988United KingdomHockey
1989United KingdomAthletics
1990ScotlandRugby union
1991EnglandRugby union
1991United KingdomAthletics
1992United KingdomRowing
1993EnglandRugby union
1994EnglandRugby league
1995EuropeGolf
1996United KingdomRowing
1997United Kingdom
Republic of Ireland		Rugby union
1998EnglandFootball
1999EnglandFootball
2000United Kingdom—
2001EnglandFootball
2002EuropeGolf
2003EnglandRugby union
2004United KingdomRowing
2005EnglandCricket
2006EnglandRugby league
2007EnglandRugby union
2008United KingdomCycling
2009EnglandCricket
2010EuropeGolf
2011EnglandCricket
2012United Kingdom—
2013United Kingdom
Republic of Ireland		British and Irish Lions squadRugby Union
2014EnglandRugby union
2015United KingdomTennis
2016EnglandFootball
2017EnglandCricket
2018EnglandNetball
2019EnglandCricket

By nation

This table lists the total number of awards won by nations that the teams have represented.
NationNumber of wins.
England
United Kingdom
5
Scotland2
Republic of Ireland2
Canada1
1

By sport

This table lists the total number of awards won by the teams sporting discipline.
Sporting professionNumber of wins
Football13
Rugby union11
Golf6
Cricket7
Athletics4
Equestrianism3
Rowing3
Figure skating2
Horse racing2
Motor racing2
Rugby league2
Tennis2
Cycling1
Hockey1
Netball1
Swimming1