Jenson Button failed to win this year’s BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award – having gone into the competition as favourite.
He finished runner-up to footballer Ryan Giggs.
It’s the third year in a row an F1 driver has missed out on the prize. Button’s new team mate Lewis Hamilton was runner-up for the award in 2007 and 2008.
Still it’s not all bad for Button – he collected his world drivers’ championship trophy at the FIA Gala on Friday.
Do you think Button should have won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award? Have your say below.
Previous motor racing Sports Personality of the Year Award winners
John Surtees – 1959 (for motorbike racing, before becoming F1 world champion)
Stirling Moss – 1961
Jackie Stewart – 1973
Nigel Mansell – 1986, 1992
Damon Hill – 1994, 1996
Read more: Lewis Hamilton loses 2008 Sports Personality of the Year Award
Icthyes
13th December 2009, 21:04
Keith, that was even quicker than Jenson Button’s pole laps!
steph
13th December 2009, 21:04
Blimey Keith that was quick.
When will F1 will recognised properly. Always overshadowed by football in this country:(
Hammad
13th December 2009, 21:51
At least be glad that it’s still a very popular sport. Not the case in other countries where you have to go search for miles and miles just to find someone else who knows what F1 even is…
steph
13th December 2009, 22:11
I know I shouldn’t whine sorry :(
Mike "the bike" Schumacher
13th December 2009, 23:30
According to Hugh Mcilvanney in the Sunday Times F1 drivers have won it more times then footballers actually.
But the real reason I’ve referenced Mcilvanney is to finally have an excuse to launch an verbal attack on him.
He, for some reason hates F1 and all thigs motorsport. He writes on the back page of the sport section and so gets a lot of coverege. But the problem is he is a completely ignorent person. He claims cars play the majority role, and I guess they do to a certain extent, but he completely disregards F1 as a sport, and yet he loves horse racing which is clearly more influenced by the horse than F1 is by the car.
They should never let someone who doesn’t have a clue about F1 write so much about it.
I guess this is one reason why Button winning the title aftre 150 races with just one win is a bad thing.
But I dont see why Giggs should have won it, it’s the sports personality of the year not the decade, so therefore Button should have won it hands down.
steph
14th December 2009, 6:25
Ahh but horse racing is so much easier and simpler to understand. Feed horse, get on it, whip it, hang on.
theo
14th December 2009, 8:47
football is the stupidist sport of all time, as far as i can make out its eleven or so overpayed dead heads kicking a piece of leather around arounda big field. F1 is on the cutting edge of tecnology, i thought at these stage of evolution people would appreciate sports like f1 and motorsport than some stone age sport like football!
Cant believe hamilton nver won it in 2007, what a scam!
Red Andy
14th December 2009, 8:20
Well Steph, F1 drivers have traditionally always done well at SPotY but you have to remember that until 2007, Britain had had little to celebrate in F1 for a very long time. Only when Hamilton came on the scene did we have a British driver who was in the hunt for the championship.
Having an F1 driver in second place three years in a row isn’t bad at all. One can argue over whether Giggs deserves the award but he is nonetheless an outstanding player and a credit to his team.
El Gordo
14th December 2009, 9:16
Not to take anything away from Ryan Giggs, but I think the award is given to him as much as a ‘lifetime achievement’ type award than it is for his achievements this year.
John H
14th December 2009, 10:33
Actually, footballers hardly ever win the Sports Personality of the year.
Random Chimp
14th December 2009, 14:52
Probably because of ‘personality’ prerequisite.
TommyB
13th December 2009, 21:05
Crazy I really thought Button would win. Who knows what you have to do to win it if you are an F1 driver.
Also why is Button “runner up” and Hamilton “loses” :P
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
13th December 2009, 21:07
Because last year everyone complained that I used the word ‘loses’!
TommyB
13th December 2009, 23:29
Haha good call :P
Siwongo
13th December 2009, 21:07
I love Button, but I really did think Giggs deserved it more. I’m sure Jensen would have won if he didn’t have that little slump where people lost confidence in him.
Mark Hitchcock
13th December 2009, 21:17
What’s Giggs actually done this year though?
SamS
13th December 2009, 21:34
Exactly Mark, what has he done,other than being at man u for 20 years. JB back from the dead wins.
Its fixed
steph
13th December 2009, 21:42
It isn’t fixed just football draws more fans in Brit and F1 is dismissed.
Noelinho
13th December 2009, 22:18
That’s not true – footballers rarely win. But Giggs is exceptional.
More to the point, the whole shortlist was exceptional this year. Any of the top 3 would wipe the floor in any other year. It shows the strength of British sport at the moment.
Me – I would have voted for Jessica Ennis. She is spectacularly good, and if it had been the Olympic title rather than the world title, she may have won it herself this year.
David A
14th December 2009, 0:24
Well, Giggs has done an exceptional job for Manchester United over the past year, winning the Premier League title despite being at the age of 36.
Jay Menon
14th December 2009, 3:00
I’m not a Man Utd fan by a long way, but Giggsy is one of my favourite players of all time, and I’m happy he got the award.
At his age, for the contribution he has given Man Utd over the past year, he deserves it.
I’m not saying Jenson deserved it any less, it just the way things go sometimes.
Siwongo
14th December 2009, 13:01
Just my opinion, calm down =p
Harvs
13th December 2009, 21:07
i dont think button deserved to win it more than Hamilton did 07 and 08.
anyway i dont think his “personality” has changed much over the last 3 years.
than again this award is a popularity contest and the award usually goes to someone involved in the more popular sport i.e. football
Mozza
13th December 2009, 21:13
Even Ryan Giggs himself was shocked! Not the end of the world though I hope it will spur Jenson on to win the drivers title again next season, maybe then at next years BBC sports personality of the year awards justice will be done.
S Hughes
13th December 2009, 21:44
Yeah, and Lewis will win.
David A
14th December 2009, 0:26
Hehe, well I thought it was very fair that Button didn’t win, if Hamilton didn’t win it in the last two years.
Dougie
13th December 2009, 21:14
As much as I voted for Jenson, I did feel the competition was tough and arguably there was some more deserving. However, not in a month of Sundays did I expect Giggs to get it. Bloody footballers!
sw6569
13th December 2009, 21:16
If Button had won his championship differently, he would have won this.
I feel also that Lewis was unlucky that he won his championship in the year of the olympics and unprecedented success by the British team.
Good for Giggs I guess, he deserved to win it. Not sure about whether he deserved it this year though…! But Its a vote, and popular sports are bound to win
Icthyes
13th December 2009, 21:24
I’m glad Giggs won, to put in perspective it his year was what Rubens Barrichello’s would have been had he won the title, and then there’s a popularity element involved. Both deserved to win but I’m glad Ryan got it, he’s a legend.
Ironically, it’s only the second time this year that Button has finished second! But he’s got his WDC, SPOTY would have just been a nice bonus.
Peter
13th December 2009, 21:24
Giggs should have had life time award rather than the year award.
Steven
13th December 2009, 22:34
Agree.
Neil
13th December 2009, 21:28
Ross Brawn should have won this.
David Watkins
13th December 2009, 21:32
The worst thing was Brawn GP losing the team of the year award to the England Cricket Team. Bear in mind that England lost to a very poor West Indies side before they won the Ashes. The women’s team would have been a fair choice.
I’d have given the individual award to Ennis. Missing the Olympics with injury and coming back to crush the field in the World Champs was the achievement of the year
Mark Hitchcock
13th December 2009, 21:40
Agreed about the cricket. I didn’t hear much about the women’s cricket successes as they happened but what did the video say? They won the world cup, ashes and something else. Sounds like they’re absolutely dominant at the moment…unlike the men’s team who as you say were not on great form for most of the year and didn’t exactly dominate in the Ashes either.
Brawn GP were unlikely to win whoever the competition. Even “30 sporting experts” are unlikely to be able look past the drivers and see the actual teamwork in F1.
Kf
14th December 2009, 11:40
I thought Brawn would win the team award too. I think they deserved that more than Button getting sports personality of the year. They did an amazing job!
S Hughes
13th December 2009, 21:42
So glad the smug so and so didn’t win.
I thought Jessica Ennis should have won, but hey, as long as it wasn’t Button, I’m glad.
He didn’t deserve the WDC and he didn’t deserve SPOTY.
David Watkins
13th December 2009, 22:13
Of course he deserved the WDC. He won six races. Hamilton last year won 5, and Raikkonen the year before won 6.
S Hughes
13th December 2009, 22:21
Hamilton only won 5 races because Spa was stolen from him. Button only won the WDC because he had an unprecedentedly huge advantage car-wise at the beginning of the season. It’s really boring to keep pointing out the obvious.
S Hughes
13th December 2009, 22:23
I mean to have to keep pointing out the obvious.
David Watkins
13th December 2009, 22:24
It’s boring to listen to as well, believe me. I can’t be bothered to debunk your ‘argument’. There are dozens of better posters on here and on Autosport to do that
S Hughes
13th December 2009, 23:06
There are plenty of people who agree with me too.
David A
14th December 2009, 0:37
Now, it appears they’ve deserted you.
mp4-19b
14th December 2009, 6:08
David A
14th December 2009, 11:04
Ok, so everyone bar the crazy conspiracy theorist, then! :)
steph
14th December 2009, 6:27
Yeah but that’s like saying Massa only won 6 because Piquet crashed or his engine blew up in Hungary lol
VXR
14th December 2009, 16:49
“Unprecedented huge advantage” It has been one of the closest, if not the closest grid in F1 history!
vettelfan
13th December 2009, 22:16
Maybe he didn’t deserve SPOTY, but he totally deserved the WDC.
Ratboy
13th December 2009, 23:07
S hughes,
Button won 6 races and had 95points to Vettels 84
clearly he deserved the title,
Although I suppose they could of gave it to someone else, how about Piquet jnr? or badoer
He had the best car means nothing, he was just plain better than everyone else through out the season.
Harvs
14th December 2009, 9:15
can we just finish this! if you win it you deserved it (no matter how good the car was, because at the end of the day the car wont drive itself, and there is also someone else who has the same car), and if you did’nt, then you were not quite good enough and there will always be another chance in the year that follows.
And champions are decided on points not wins, so it doesnt matter how many you win! (despite what bernie thinks) so can we all just move on.
We cant change the past, only the FIA can do that (jokes! i shouldnt have said that, lol)
VXR
14th December 2009, 16:46
I’d completely forgotten that Hamilton and Raikkonen were driving real dogs when they won their titles. Thanks for the reminder. And that Renault of Alonso’s, Jeez that was slow!
Ben
13th December 2009, 21:45
Dont think Giggs should have won award for 2009, im not a big football fan but even I know that he hasnt done much this year, Jenson definitely deserved it
tEQUILLA sLAMMER
13th December 2009, 21:47
so many people had moneyon Button to win the SPOTY and he didnt, so the bookies make another nice little sum! So fixed its ludicrous!!! #:)
Mark Hitchcock
13th December 2009, 23:07
I was quite surprised when I had a look at the odds earlier. I was expecting Button to win, but didn’t think he was a dead cert as the bookies seemed to.
Paul H
13th December 2009, 21:53
Well, Jensen did win the BBC West Sports Personality Of The Year last week.
Younger Hamilton
13th December 2009, 22:03
Im Happy for Button not to win Imagine the Comments i would have been making But im Dissapointed that Ryan Giggs won next year i want Lewis Hamilton and Theo Walcott as one of the Contenders NO BUTTON!!!
Younger Hamilton
13th December 2009, 22:06
Sorry NO GIGGS As well!!!
Noelinho
13th December 2009, 22:22
Let’s put the “more popular sports win the title” argument to bed before it gains momentum. In the last 7 years, seven different sports have held the prize: football, cycling, boxing, eventing, cricket, athletics, rugby union. That’s a pretty wide spread. Don’t forget, Mansell and Hill won the title 3 times in 5 years in the 90s.
PJA
14th December 2009, 10:15
I would say it’s not so much that popular sports win but sports people who receive plenty of media coverage for their achievements.
For example the eventing win in 2006 was for Zara Phillips who I don’t think would have stood any chance of winning is she wasn’t a member of the Royal Family and all the added attention that brought her..
If you look back at all the winners, at least in this decade, the award has probably gone to the most high profile sportspeople of the year, not necessarily those whose achievement was relatively the best or who were from the biggest sport.
David Watkins
13th December 2009, 22:28
Just a shame that David Haye didnt accidentally punch James Corden in the face
Bowks
13th December 2009, 22:31
Giggs wins because unlike most footballers he is not hated by most other teams’ supporters, but appreciated for the great footballer he is. A brilliant role model to have dedicated 20 years of his life at the top level of his sport and still want more success. Makes Schumi’s comeback look a bit tame really. My favourite was Jenson being an F1 fan, but to receive any SPOTY award has great merit. Well done to the top three!
ajokay
13th December 2009, 22:49
Ryan Giggs? What has he done this year that he hasn’t done for the past 20?
Pfft…
Hairs
13th December 2009, 23:17
I was very surprised Button was favourite to be honest. He had a great year, but as a personality he doesn’t capture the imagination the way Hamilton, or Giggs does. I thought it was pretty obvious Giggs was going to win, on the obvious point that he’s far more widely known, and far more popular.
As to the “not deserving” WDC comment above – snore. Anyone who thinks that after Brazil is plainly an idiot.
AP
13th December 2009, 23:33
huh….didnt half the front 8 runners have a broken car in Brazil?
Button did get a good result but with 4 rookies and Nakajima in front of him hardly a scintillating result LOL
There is 8 spots alone…
Vettel started 2 spots behind and finished in front of Button…yep that Button is PURE talent. :p
AP
13th December 2009, 23:36
sorry “9 spots”
Harvs
14th December 2009, 9:20
and hamilton, the guy who has “lost” the award twice, started behind both vettel and buuton, ended up beating both of them.
the only reason buttons brazil drive looked so great was because the cameras were fixed on him because of the title! they were blind to everything else happening on track,
the cameras missed three hamilton passes and two vettel passes
Hairs
14th December 2009, 12:59
Hamilton ended further up the field because of his first lap pitstop. McLaren told him he’d finish 3rd when he queried it over the radio. Before he’d passed anyone.
Vettel wasn’t stuck behind Kobayashi, and Kobi had been reported to Race Control for moving in the braking zones by the time Vettel was coming up to pass him. At that stage of the season, the Red Bull was significantly faster than the Brawn, which hadn’t been developed since Turkey. Once Button was up into 6th, he did what a clever, experienced driver like Prost would do – dialled it back and made sure he finished where he needed to.
Button did more overtaking all year than Vettel, pushed up the field every race, unlike Vettel who regularly got stuck behind Kovi, yet everyone thinks Vettel’s a “racier” driver than Button.
If you guys are going to disagree at least make sure the facts back you up..
The Limit
13th December 2009, 23:17
This is a very typically British thing to do. We whine all the time like girls when our sportmen and women are not up to task, then completely ignore them when they win a world championship.
Jenson Button, in less than twelve months, went from an alsoran to champion, dominating the opening stages of the season. His drive in Brazil alone deserves a prize in itself, yet this award is given to a footballer who has won plenty of awards in the past for his exploits.
It is, for me, like FIFA giving the world footballer of the year award to David Beckham instead of Lionel Messi! Thank god football got it right when the BBC did not.
Harvs
14th December 2009, 9:30
does everyone forget that two drivers in that race that started beind him finished infront of him?
Hairs
14th December 2009, 13:00
And you seem to forget why that was.
AP
13th December 2009, 23:20
oh boo hoo
It’s like the Oscars, academy awards, grammy…. pointless-meaningless fan fare…Just a grand excuse to waste mere millions of dollars on decadence and a$$ kissing and for what?
I would say NO ONE cares but it seems there are a couple that find some relevance in some trivial award ceremony for some reason.
maestrointhesky
13th December 2009, 23:41
I think Giggs is a worthy winner who many sports people should aspire to be like! F1 rule change years are more to do with how good the designers are, rather than how good the drivers are. Brawn perhaps should have picked up team of the year, although arguments suggest that the only reason Brawn were good was because Honda produced such a dog the previous season they could abandon its development and concentrate on the championship winning Brawn car under the old, much less restrictive testing regime. Jenson did well enough but didn’t drive like a champ in my view for most of the season, despite having a superior car. Hamilton won the title with a car considered by many to be inferior to the 2008 Ferraris so for me that was the greater sporting achievement! It’ll be interesting to see next year, with rule changes properly digested, and the inter-team design advantage less pronounced, the true pace each driver. This season will be a true measure of greatness with Vettel ready to go again, and Alonso now with decent outfit. Be it Button or Hamilton, it’ll be an injustice if either of them win the championship but fail to pick up SPOTY!
Jimbo
13th December 2009, 23:45
Have they named next years contenders for the sport personality as it obviously has nothing to do with achievements during the year of the award is made.
May I suggest David Beckham or Paul Scholes as they would be a shoe in considering they are well known footballers and have played for Manchester United.Maybe Ryan Giggs for the lifetime achievement award.
David A
14th December 2009, 0:34
Being one of the best midfielders in the world at the age of 36 and playing a vital role in winning the Premier League prove you wrong. Massively wrong, at that.
Mark Hitchcock
14th December 2009, 1:24
But he’s done that every year that they won for the last 20, what was so great about this year that he deserved the award over someone who had won his first championship and which came out of no-where for the driver and team? (no, I’m not succumbing to the Brawn fairy-tale myth but I think that if Honda had stayed on and won it would have been just as remarkable).
I don’t really care about this at all (although my boredom-fuelled rants on this page may suggest otherwise) and wasn’t even planning on watching, there was just nothing else on tv. But Giggs as winner was just so unexpected as he’s done nothing special to deserve it this year! Lifetime achievement, hell yeah he’s served his club brilliantly over the last 2 decades. But 2009 was nothing special.
David A
14th December 2009, 0:48
I’m glad that Giggs won it, absolute legend and still going strong despite his age.
Jenson Button has had an immense season, but if Lewis Hamilton wasn’t to be awarded the prize in 2007 or 2008, then Button shouldn’t have won it this year.
Owen G
14th December 2009, 1:07
Lifetime award maybe, 2009 one, no. He got PFA Player of the Year too despite only playing a few minutes here and there and the odd League cup game.
For an individual for a team sport to win they really need to have contributed outstandingly – such as Paul Gascoigne in 1990 or Flintoff in 2005. Was Giggs really the driving force behind Man Utd in 2009?
Anyway, the award is a bit of a joke really. Haven’t seen it for 3 or 4 years now but it all started going down hill once they did away with the stupid fun stuff like human table football etc.
Jesus
14th December 2009, 1:27
Ryan Giggs has been exceptional in 2009 whatever way you look at it. He was recognised by the PFA as player of the year also.
Owen – you show your lack of knowledge with regards to Giggs. He played in 28 of the 38 Premier League games, played in almost less than half the League Cup games O’Shea did, and in total appeared in 47 games that season. Ronaldo appeared in 53.
In a lot of those games he made a telling contribution. This season he already has 9 assists in 13 games.
I’m surprised he won, but to ultimately say he doesn’t deserve it is foolish and short-sighted.
Jesus
14th December 2009, 1:38
Oh, I forgot.. to add to my point, all those appearances and contributions resulted in him helping United reach their second successive Champions League final. They also helped United win their, and his, third League Cup. Also the small feat of United winning their third successive Premier League title, for his and their second time which is a record. It was also a record 11th league title for Giggsy.
He did a lot in 2009.
adaptalis
14th December 2009, 2:43
And that is no mean feat by itself. Who can be consistently performing better than average for close to 2 decades?! Him winning awards that are long overdue is somewhat like Button winning after 10 years of performing well albeit occasionally in a less than ideal car.
And fans who have watched him play will tell you that his passes and plays were different to his younger days and definitely top-class during last season as well as the beginning of this season.
I’m no Man U fan but i think Giggs deserved that award.
ILoveVettel
14th December 2009, 4:22
Hey, I am a foootball fan too besides being a f1 fanatic… And I don’t think Giggs did anything special last year… If you have any doubts please have a look at the ballon d’or nominies this year which is given to the best footballer in Europe…Giggs is down in 14th place!!!!
Michael
14th December 2009, 4:57
I am not really surprised that Button came second, I think most people think it was down to him being having the fastest car for the first half of the season. Ryan Giggs did win for his life time of work and personally I think you can’t really judge like for like with sports personalities as it is just a popularity contest when voted for by the public.
I was amazed that the England Cricket team won the best team award, it wasn’t as if they were dominant or the best in the world, from memory they were ok but not great. I thought personally they were the weakest out of all the teams nominated. For me Brawn GP should have won, but I was biased, I would have had no problem if they Womans chricket team had won as they did so much better than the mens.
I also thought that they should change the coach of the year to manager/coach of the year and Ross Brawn should have one that for keeping the team together and winning
Chalky
14th December 2009, 9:48
Giving someone an award should not mean people paying for a phone call.
I mean, maybe too many F1 fans had other halves watching the X-Factor?
There are too many reasons why Button did not win. It was a tough call this year and I could have picked at least 6 winners of SPOTY. Even though I am an F1 fan I would have probably voted for Strauss.
Andrew Strauss – Fantastic leadership against the worlds best test cricket team to win back the Ashes.
My other choices
Jessica Ennis
Jenson Button
Andrew Murray
Beth Tweddle
Mark Cavendish
But I refuse to ring in and waste money on these shows.
Just look at the figures for the winners. They are hardly reflect a mass phone in. 516,473 Total votes!
Giggs – 151,842
Button – 96,770
Ennis – 80,469
I think this is the problem. Too many TV phone ins.
PJA
14th December 2009, 9:52
I was very surprised by the result, I thought the final three would be Button, Haye and Ennis. I can understand why Hamilton didn’t win the previous two years but I never thought Button would loose to Giggs.
I thought Giggs was on the shortlist more for his longevity at the top rather than what he has done in 2009.
Although Football is our national sport Footballers don’t have much history of winning the award, it is usually only if they have performed well for England team, I suppose no matter how well a player does in a year for his club he is only likely to receive votes from his own clubs supporters, so that could be a reason why Footballers don’t win often.
I would say that Giggs is probably one of the few players that is generally well liked by supporters from all clubs even though he does play for Manchester United.
I heard some people commenting on the radio that because Giggs’ section was in the first part of the show it may have helped as the rest of the show was supposed to clash with the X-Factor final.
richard s
14th December 2009, 9:56
I wasn’t even aware that he had a personality. Oh well I guess that’s because I don’t watch football much.
Eddy
14th December 2009, 10:04
Button did well dont get me wrong but i wouldnt say he has the best personality when it comes to his chosen proffession.
Im an F1 fan and loosley follow football, Giggs is loved by not just the fans but the players also.
Thought it was quite fair.
James_mc
14th December 2009, 10:14
I think that Brawn should have won team because it was the car and leadership of the team that was instrumental in turning Button from mediocre also-ran to WDC.
Not sure this has been Giggs’s best season ever but still strong. I personally would have voted for Beth Tweddle or Mark Cavendish if I’d not been watching the X Factor :-p
Simon B
14th December 2009, 10:56
Surely this decade’s virus of d-list slebs are the folks that aspire to personality? Sports men and women train incredibly hard to be good at their sports, why should personality come into it at all?
I suppose the award is so named from an era when UK won nothing, hence personality was the one factor that could be highlighted. However, since the advent of phone polls for everything, the award should be renamed ‘Sports person most loved by people who care enough to pay for a premium-rate phone call Of the Year’ – so I have just ruled myself out of the qualification to vote.
Hamilton would get mine though this year, as he has shown more grit and personality in adversity than ever while on an easy ride.
Icthyes
14th December 2009, 12:54
It doesn’t mean personality in that sense, but as in “sports person”, which is a horrible, ugly phrase!
Martin Bell
14th December 2009, 18:30
Not very sporting to lie about someone overtaking you though is it?
Cant believe I met Jakie stewart
14th December 2009, 11:33
Its sports personality of the year… Not sports personality of the last 2 decades.
I believe, Button deserved it much more…
Icthyes
14th December 2009, 12:52
It makes me sad, actually, to see so many people play down Ryan Giggs’ achievement over the past year. At his age he’s still one of the best footballers in the Premier League, that’s some achievement by my reckoning. If Button was the same age as Giggs I bet people would be using that as a reason for his achievement being “greater” than any of the other candidates’.
It’s a popularity contest, not an actual measure of achievement. If you get nominated, you deserve to win (although personally I thought the field was pretty weak this year); it’s the public who then decides who actually does. The same process that would have been good enough for you if Jenson had won is now suddenly biased or flawed or rigged or whatever silly excuse you want to come up with.
Frankly, the negative reaction has been a little pathetic. I scolded PM in his thread about F1 fans being whiners, maybe he had more of a point than I thought and, judging by things I’ve seen on Facebook etc, it’s something that extends to all sports fans.
Hairs
14th December 2009, 13:10
^ this.
Robin
14th December 2009, 14:50
Of course Button should’ve won it. I’m not following Gigg’s football career but becoming WORLD CHAMPION in F1 deserves the award.
Zahir
14th December 2009, 16:22
I don’t get how if Hamilton didn’t win last year then Jenson should have won this year. For me Hamiltons was a bigger achievement being the youngest ever and the first black WDC. Therefore to me Giggsy was a deserved winner.
I sort of get how people are wondering what he did in 09 but in fairness he took his team to the premiership and the final of the champions league plus he won the league cup and at the age of 36 that is really a great achievement.
As a role model i think Giggs is much better than Button so I cant really complain with the outcome although I would have been happy to see Ennis win it aswell
Uncle
14th December 2009, 18:37
At least Andy Murray didnt win…. The Beeb would have to rename it Sports Non-personality of the year…..
Patstyle
14th December 2009, 21:46
Ryan Giggs probably deserved some sort of award yesterday, but I don’t think he should have won the main one. Mind you, the vast majority of those who voted for him would have been Man. Utd. fans. To be honest, my money would have been on Jessica Ennis, Mark Cavendish or Jenson, with Beth Tweddle coming a very creditable fourth. I’m not the biggest F1 fan, but I would have thought that Jenson would have had more of a case than Ryan Giggs. But, there you are..
David BR
15th December 2009, 11:04
Just to give some idea of who’s been F1 champion while Giggs was busy winning his eleven Premier League titles (not counting his 12 other major trophies!)
93 – Prost
94 – Schumacher
96 – Hill
97 – Villeneuve
99 – Hakkinen
00 – Schumacher
01 – Schumacher
03 – Schumacher
07 – Raikonnen
08 – Hamilton
09 – Button
10 – ?
Okay so I’m a United fan too ;0)
gazzap
15th December 2009, 12:30
The format of SPOTY changed in recent years so that the BBC actually nominate 10 people. Before this it was a completely open contest, where the public could vote for anyone at all by sending in their vote to the BBC before the night. In other words, any public voting for footballers would have been spread around many many different footballers.
At the same time F1 fans voting would have clearly voted for just one person.
Secondly, this year the footballer up for the award was Ryan giggs. This is a player who has not done anything THAT spectacular this year. People love him beacuse he has been around for so long and people love an old timer. Man U conducted a campaign for all man u fans to vote for ryan giggs. This could never have happened before the times of a shortlist. Almost all Welsh people would have voted for Giggs as well.
If Theo Walcott was nominated, he would win. All Arsenal fans would vote even though he has had a bad year.
Basically the BBC should never have shortlisted someone from a team sport like this, because it meant the result was fixed from that moment. The BBC can fix the result any time they like simply by nominating an English Man united player.
Congrats to Button, who was the true winner in my eyes.
K
15th December 2009, 17:23
Cavendish should have won but road cycling doesn’t get any recognition in the UK so he didn’t. His achievements far out-stip any of the other nominees and he has personality to match.
30% of this poll knew what they were voting for.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/poll/2009/nov/30/bbc-sports-personality-of-the-year-poll