BBC Sports Personality of the Year Coach Award


The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Coach Award is an award given annually as part of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony each December. The award is given to the coach who was considered to have made the most substantive contribution to British sport in that year.

History

The first recipient of the award was Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson in 1999. The award has been presented to a football manager on ten occasions. It has been awarded to nine Britons, and eleven of the other fourteen winners were European. Daniel Anderson, the only winner from the Southern Hemisphere, was in his native Australia at the time of the awards, so the then St. Helens captain, Paul Sculthorpe, collected it on his behalf. In 2007, Enzo Calzaghe was the first recipient of the award who had coached an individual and not a team. The most recent award was presented in 2024 to athlete Keely Hodgkinson's coaches Jenny Meadows and Trevor Painter.

Nomination procedure

The award is decided by a panel of over 30 sporting journalists. Each panellist votes for their top two choices; their first preference is awarded two points, and their second preference is awarded one point. The winning coach is the one with the largest points total. In the case of a points tie, the person chosen as first preference by the most panellists is the winner. If this is also a tie the award is shared.

Winners

By year

YearNat.WinnerSportCoach ofRationaleRef.
1999Scotlandsortname|Alex|Ferguson

By nationality

This table lists the total number of awards won by coaches of each nationality based on the principle of jus soli.
NationalityNumber of wins
5
3
3
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Republic of IrelandNZLPORZIMESP

By sport

This table lists the total number of awards won by coaches' sporting profession.
Sporting professionNumber of wins
Football12
Athletics3
Cycling2
Golf2
Rugby Union2
Boxing1
Cricket1
Rowing1
Rugby league1