Beth Mead: Winner of BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2022

BBC Sports Personality has celebrated many female sports stars since its foundation but in 2022, it crowned a female footballer for the first time. The woman responsible for making this piece of history was England’s Beth Mead and it rounded off a truly superb year for the Lioness star.

Although the BBC do not publish voting statistics for the award, Mead was seen as a near certainty to claim the win. What was it about the Whitby-born footballer that made her such a strong candidate in 2022 and who did she beat to land the coveted prize?

Image credit: James Boyes, flickr.

The 2022 SPOTY Shortlist

Following England women’s win in Euro 2022, but still months before the SPOTY ceremony, Beth Mead was the 2/5 favourite to win the ceremony’s main award. These odds only reduced as the BBC-hosted event drew closer and two weeks prior, you were lucky to find odds of 1/16 on the England forward. It seemed like a foregone conclusion at this point despite five other sporting stars featuring on the shortlist.

One of these stars was eventual runner-up, Ben Stokes, who took over captaincy of the England Test team in 2022. Taking the side in a new direction, his impact helped the national side secure some big victories and he was also involved in the T20 World Cup triumph. Finishing in third place was curler Eve Muirhead. The Scot won gold at the Winter Olympics – the only gold Team GB managed during the entire games. She also landed gold at the World Mixed Doubles Championship and received huge backing from within her sport and from Scottish voters.

The three other shortlisted names, who did not make the eventual top three, were Jessica Gadirova, snooker legend Ronnie O’Sullivan, and Jake Wightman. Gadirova, a gymnast, became World Champion on the floor, just the second Brit to do so, and retained her European title. Snooker’s O’Sullivan landed the World Championships for a record-equalling seventh time, while Wightman won a variety of major athletics medals, most notably gold in the World Championships 1500m event.

Was Mead A Worthy Winner of SPOTY 2022?

As always, the 2022 SPOTY award attracted some top names from across the world of sport who had all enjoyed excellent years in their respective disciplines. There will always be a large degree of subjectivity involved, with various factors at play, and so saying who “deserved” to win is not really fair. On balance though, Mead made the strongest case for being the overall winner as she had a truly remarkable year. A large part of this was due to her role in the European Championships victory, the first major trophy secured by the England women’s national football team and the first time that England, men or women, had won the Euros.

At the end of the tournament, Mead collected the Golden Boot award, an accolade given to the tournament’s top goalscorer. Germany’s Alexandra Popp had matched Mead’s tally of six goals but Mead’s hugely impressive five assists meant she scooped the award. Not only was she the tournament’s top scorer but nobody managed more assists either. To have 11 goal contributions in a major tournament is an incredible achievement and one no other player came close to. Mead was, as her song maintained, on fire, and was genuinely unplayable at times.

Beth Mead wins Euro 2022 Player of the tournament and was joint-winner of the Golden Boot✨ pic.twitter.com/lr4OzJLhfA

— Sky Sports WSL (@SkySportsWSL) July 31, 2022

As well as playing a pivotal role in the triumphant Euro 2022 campaign, Mead was also a sensation at club level. In 2022, despite missing the final six weeks of the year due to injury, she finished the calendar year with 64 chances created, the highest number in WSL history. Additionally, she was the joint top scorer (with eight goals) in all women’s UEFA club and country competitions.

Such an incredible 2022 saw Mead receive a multitude of awards as the list below highlights. These awards either relate to her performances in 2022 (the calendar year), or the 2021/22 season.

• World Soccer World Player of the Year
• FIFA FIFPRO Women’s World 11
• IFFHS World Team
• UEFA Women’s Championship Player of the Tournament
• UEFA Women’s Championship Golden Boot
• UEFA Women’s Championship Top Assist Provider
• England Player of the Year
• WSL Top Assist Provider
• FSA Player of the Year
• Arsenal Player of the Season
• Ballon d’Or Féminin runner-up
• UEFA Player of the Year runner-up
• IFFHS World’s Best Player runner-up

As for team titles, Mead, as mentioned earlier, was a key part of England’s European Championship win. She did not, however, win anything with Arsenal in the 2021-22 season. She won the FA Cup the year before, and the League Cup the following year, but there was no club trophy for Mead in 2022.

What Came Next For Mead?

Mead successfully recovered from the ACL injury sustained in November 2022 and returned, 11 months later. On her comeback game, she was given just a few minutes off the bench but still managed to provide a game-winning assist during a 2-1 win over Aston Villa. A few weeks after that, Mead was back amongst the goals with a brace against West Ham as she reached the milestone of 100 WSL combined goals and assists.

Mead made meaningful contributions to Arsenal for the remainder of the 2023/24 season and also made numerous England appearances in 2024 as she looked to recapture her old form. She continues to represent both the Gunners and the national team. Aged 29, she should have several more years left at an elite level if she can avoid any more serious injuries.

Footballing SPOTY Winners

Beth Mead was the sixth footballer to be named Sports Personality of the Year, following Bobby Moore, Paul Gascoigne, Michael Owen, David Beckham and Ryan Giggs. Mead was the first female footballer to win and she was joined by her England teammate Mary Earps the following year.