Five reasons Arsenal’s Beth Mead deserved to win BBC Sports Personality of the Year

The 27-year-old from Whitby, Yorkshire, was a relatively unknown figure before 2022.

But she played a crucial part in England’s triumph at Euro 2022, scoring six goals and providing five assists.

On Wednesday she won the BBC award ahead of cricket hero Ben Stokes and Olympic curling champion Eve Muirhead.

Here are five reasons why Mead deserves it:

Winner

The Lionesses’ victory in Euro 2022 put women’s football on the world stage, and Mead was at the heart of that team.

The England Women’s team delighted the nation when they won at home this summer in front of a record-breaking Wembley crowd for both a men’s and women’s Euros competition. 87,192 people turned up to watch the thrilling finale dominated by the England team.

Golden

Mead won both the Golden Boot and Player of the Tournament at the Euros, showing just how important she was to the triumph.

Comeback

Mead fought back from being dropped from the Olympics team in 2020. She has said that not being included in the 2020 Olympics team led her to fight back and “play angry” for Arsenal, which she believes led to her getting the nod from coach Sarina Wiegman.

Inclusivity

Mead has said that she “wants to be front and centre” in a push for greater diversity in the Women’s Super League (WSL). 

Arsenal’s success

Since signing for Arsenal from Sunderland in 2017, Mead has become one of the club’s all-time greats. But there is a tough patch ahead. She attended Wednesday’s award ceremony with a ruptured ACL, and it is looking like she will be ruled out for the rest of the season.