England’s Lionesses will go up against their rugby union counterparts, the Red Roses, and Europe’s winning Ryder Cup side on the shortlist for team of the year at the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award.
For the first time, the team award will be chosen by the public with voting open until the awards night on 18 December, when the winners will be announced live.
Sarina Wiegman’s England became only the second country to retain the Euros after a penalty shootout victory over the World Cup champions, Spain. The victory also meant the Lionesses became the first senior England team to win a trophy abroad.
The England women’s rugby union team, meanwhile, were overwhelming favourites to take the World Cup on home soil, and did so with a 33-13 win over Canada in front of a record crowd of 81,885 at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium.
A Rory McIlroy inspired Europe clinched a nail-biting win to retain the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, only their fifth ever win in the United States and the first since the Miracle of Medinah in 2012. Europe just fended off a dramatic US fightback in the singles; having gone into the final day with a seven-point lead, they held on to win 15-13.
