SJA British Sports Awards

Stuart Broad, Mary Earps and Manchester City FC men were named Sportsman, Sportswoman and Team of the Year respectively at the SJA British Sports Awards 2023 gala lunch; other winners at the 75th anniversary edition of the awards included Emma Finucane, Zharnel Hughes and Dele Alli…

The Sportsman, Sportswoman and Team of the Year awards are voted for by the SJA membership.

England Ashes hero Broad’s exploits at The Kia Oval lifted the entire nation in the summer and with the 37-year-old having taken 600 Test wickets before retiring from cricket, he receives the SJA’s highest sporting honour.

World 1,500m champion Josh Kerr was runner-up, while racing legend Frankie Dettori finished third in the vote.

‘Queen of Stops’ Earps, who claimed the Golden Glove after the FIFA Women’s World Cup final in August, got her hands on the SJA’s number one award as successor to last year’s winner, her Lionesses team-mate Beth Mead.

The England goalkeeper saw off the challenge of heptathlon world champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Ashes double-centurion Tammy Beaumont.

The victorious European Ryder Cup team and the Women’s World Cup runners-up England were in the running for Team of the Year, but just as they did in the 2022/23 campaign, Manchester City swept their rivals aside to add this trophy to their Treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League.

The SJA British Sports Awards were first staged in 1949 and are the oldest sports awards in Britain. Sponsored by The National Lottery, the 2023 event – staged in December at The Kia Oval – was attended by more than 300 guests from sport, politics and the media.

It was the 75th anniversary edition and present in the room were many previous award winners, including legends of their sport, along with rising stars.