Sport

Mary Earps is odds on favourite to win the 2023 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award

It's got to be, surely?

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 12th December 2023

It’s BBC Sports Personality of the Year time again and as the bookies have it at the moment, Lionesses star Mary Earps is odds on favourite to win the award this time around.

The England and Manchester United Women‘s goalkeeper has had a truly remarkable year, there’s no denying that, and has already swept up several other trophies and personal accolades over the past 18 months, let alone 12, so it’s no wonder she’s leading the race for Sports Personality of the Year as well.

Having recently added the BBC’s Women’s Footballer of the Year Award to her collection just last month, the news outlet and public service broadcaster has already made it clear how much of an impact she has had in her field this year and we all know how much of an icon she became this summer.

With that in mind, as per Oddschecker, various other comparison sites and pretty much every betting site in the country, bookmakers are tipping Earps as the favourite to win the Sports Personality of the Year for 2023. Just ‘Big Mearps’ things.

Earps is the current favourite to win Sports Personality of the Year.

Virtually every site we can find has the 30-year-old shot-stopper as a shoo-in for this year’s award, with gambling brand Betfair listing her as the 1/10 favourite to win yet another token of recognition from the BBC in the space of just a few weeks.

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With the full list of nominees revealed on Tuesday, the other names who made the shortlist for Sports Personality of the Year include legendary jockey Frankie Dettori, Irish golfer Rory McIlroy and England cricketer Stuart Broad, who is boasting the next best odds behind Mary Earps.

Having retired from the game following the Ashes this past July, he called it quits after becoming England’s second-leading Test bowler with 604 wickets to his name and is widely considered to be one of the best the country has ever produced — the award would be a fitting sign-off to a sparkling career.

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You can see the rest of the names in line to win it down below.

The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award shortlist of nominees in full.

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However, it’s hard to overstate just how much impact Mary Earps has had not only in women’s football but across sports in general, not only giving the nation one of the best sporting memories ever with that incredible penalty save in the Women’s World Cup final, but going far beyond that as a public figure.

Having taken on Nike following their refusal to manufacture women’s keeper kits and winning, with her replica jersey selling out almost instantly, the Nottingham-born athlete stood up not only for fellow players in her position but the women’s game in general, having inspired countess youngsters to get into football ever since the Euros.

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We’d be happy to see any of the names on this year’s list of BBC Sports Personality of the Year nominees take home the award, but if you asked anyone who the first person who came to their mind as a standout star this past year, we reckon the vast majority would say Mary Earps.

Our money is on ‘Mary, Queen of Stops’ sweeping up yet another bit of silverware.

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Featured Images — Mary Earps (via Instagram)

Sport

The annual Manchester Remembers Foundation charity football match has shut down

Danny Jones Danny Jones Manchester Remembers charity game 2025 cancelled

The annual Manchester Remembers charity football match has been cancelled for 2025, and unfortunately, the wider Foundation has also shut down for the foreseeable.

Set up back in 2020, the Manchester Remembers charity game was created to help raise funds for the families of those lost in the tragic 2017 Manchester Arena attack, raising nearly £200,000 in donations for multiple organisations.

It has been a truly treasured community event across Greater Manchester, welcoming thousands to the likes of Manchester City Academy Stadium and Oldham Athletic‘s Boundary Park, as well as spotlighting local musicians and notable figures volunteering their help for a deeply important cause.

However, the Foundation is now set to hang up its boots. Confirming the news over the bank holiday weekend, founders Aaron Lee and Paul Corrigan shared “a difficult statement to make and a decision not taken lightly.”

As explained in the lengthy and emotional post, it is with a “heavy heart” that this year’s charity match has now been officially cancelled, and tickets already purchased up to this point are now being refunded.

Having played a small part in helping spread awareness around the game and the Foundation since it began, we were gutted to learn of this sad news.

The 2025 MCR Remembers game was scheduled to take place this June at a new venue for the event, Bury FC’s home ground at Gigg Lane, but following what they have labelled “a lack of support” from Greater Manchester leaders and “influential people needed to carry the event forward.”

Lee – a former police officer turned firefighter who was one of the emergency responders on 22 May, 2017 – went on to share a follow-up video reflecting on the announcement.

As he puts in the piece to camera, he says that even if those who had been reached out to in recent times were to suddenly respond, that it is “sadly too late.”

Taking time to thank not only past sponsors, managers, ex-pros and celebrity players who have been part of the event in the past, but everyone who bought tickets to the event(s) over the past few years, stating simply: “We cant thank you enough.”

Lee, who was given both a Chief Fire Officers Commendation and British Citizen Award in 2024, went on to address those “so-called leaders and influential people” in a subsequent post, adding: “All we needed was a bit of help. But we were ignored. Thanks for the memories.”

Unsurprisingly, the comments on social media have been awash with messages of love, support and sadness upon learning of this year’s cancellation and the end of The Manchester Remembers Foundation after more than half a decade.

There is some hope, though, as he ends the video by saying, “Who knows if this is the end or not? […] I dare say we’ll be back at some point.” We can only keep our fingers crossed he’s right and the MCR Remembers charity game won’t be shut down for good.

Manchester will always remember.

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Featured Images — The Manc Group/Manchester Remembers Foundation

Sport

25,000 free footballs are being given away across the UK

Danny Jones Danny Jones Barlcays bank giving 1000 free football across the UK

A total of 25,000 free footballs are up for grabs this month as part of a new scheme from Barclays, who are giving them away to mark a special anniversary.

The British multinational universal bank, which boasts over 850 branches and more than 48 million customers worldwide, has been supporting the beautiful game for a quarter of a century now and has been the primary Premier League sponsor since the 2001/02 season.

Approaching 25 years helping fund and promote English football, they’ve come up with a new initiative to celebrate, simply called the ‘Lost Ball Project‘.

We’ve all seen scenes like these before.

barclays free footballs
lost ball project
Credit: Barclays (supplied)

Tapping into the national and generational memory of losing a ball to a pond, up a tree, over a fence or on a roof and so on, Barclays are making up for those heartbreaking little losses – one ball at a time.

Lost Ball will see the bank give away 25k footballs across the UK, with Barclays customers able to claim a free ball for themselves or someone else who has lost theirs.

Already up and running, the scheme is off to a flyer and free footies will be available until Thursday, 22 May, so we wouldn’t wait around.

The bank has played an integral role throughout the British football pyramid for decades now, sponsoring to only the Premier League but also the WSL, Barclays Women’s Championship; the Northern Irish Women’s Football Association, Scottish Women’s Championship and the Scottish Women’s League One

They’ve even put together this emotive, albeit a bit tongue-in-cheek video:

Excellent song choice.

As they put it, the mission of the Lost Ball Project is simple: “Let’s keep the nation playing the beautiful game. Because there’s no football without grassroots football.”

In addition to backing established leagues, they have continued to support the country’s footballing community at large, especially in terms of the women’s game.

For instance, the Barclays Girls’ Football School partnership with The FA has seen the number of participating schools rise from 3,000 in 2019 to 20,000 in 2024, helping more than 2.5 million schoolgirls access football.

Important work done from the ground up.

Credit: Supplied

Barclays’ Group Head of Sponsorship, Tom Corbett, said in a statement: “We are immensely proud of our pioneering work and funding to grassroots football over the past 25 years.

Giving away 25,000 balls to replace our customers’ ‘Lost Balls’ means they will never be without the one thing you need to be able to play the game we’ve supported at Barclays for all these years.”

If you bank with the group, you can find out how to claim your free football HERE.

We quite fancy a kick around now.

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Featured Images — Barclays (supplied)

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