Mary Alexandra Earps and Stuart Christopher Broad afforded Nottingham a 1-2 finish at this weeks’ 70^th BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards, with Earps, goalkeeper for Manchester United and England, taking home the main accolade.

Earps, 30, is the second successive Lioness to claim the prestigious SPOTY, following on from England team-mate, Arsenal’s Beth Mead, in 2022, and it caps what has been an incredible year, both on-and-off the field, for the England number one.

Having begun her playing career at West Bridgford, Earps had a brief spell with Nottingham Forest, before taking in a number of other clubs ahead of joining Manchester United in 2019, and it has been there where she has flourished.

She made her international debut, for England, in June 2017, and has since gone on to win several honours for her country, falling just short of adding a World Cup winners medal this past summer when England narrowly lost out to Spain, 1-0, in the final – Earps playing a huge role in the Lionesses’ progression.

This year alone, Earps’ individual honours has been incredible to say the least, the SPOTY the pinnacle of a list that has seen her named England Women’s Player of the Year (2022-23), BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year, Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year, among others.

Presenting the SPOTY to Earps on the night, two of Nottingham’s favourites in Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, joint winners in 1984 following an incredible, gold medal-winning performance at the Sarajevo 1984 Winter Olympics.

Upon receipt of the accolade, Earps said: “It feels pretty great off the back of a couple of really big years and 2023 has been wild in ways I couldn’t expect.

“I’m really, really grateful.

“I would not be here without my team-mates with the Lionesses, and at Manchester United, because we’ve achieved some incredible things over the last couple of years.

“While individual accolades are great, they only come after team success.

“This is their trophy just as much as mine.”

Cricketer Stuart Broad meanwhile was runner-up to Earps, with athlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson finishing third, and a lifetime achievement award was handed to the legendary Kenny Dalglish.

Broad, 37, is a Nottinghamshire and England cricketing legend, and was perhaps many a viewer’s favourite to lift the main award on Tuesday (19 December) night; his has been a career spanning some eighteen years and peaked with victory in the 2010 T20 World Cup, in the West Indies.

He spent fifteen years with his home-town club, winning the County Championship in 2010, and Division Two in 2022, the T20 Blast in 2017 and 2020, along with registering a number of personal accolades, on-and-off the field.

In his final test match, earlier this summer, Broad would be seen to hit the final ball he faced for six, and took a wicket with the final ball he bowled, to win an Ashes test, against Australia, at the Kia Oval, by two wickets.

On that unique feat, Broad told Sky Sports afterwards that: “It was absolutely wonderful.

“The crowd were unbelievable. It was so loud and we just jumped on the back of that. To contribute to the team with two wickets is very special.

“When you make that decision you wonder what your last ball will be so to take a wicket to win an Ashes Test match is pretty cool.”

The event, held at Salford’s Media City, also saw several other Nottingham athletes in attendance, former swimmer Rebecca Adlington, in dark purple attire, and long distance runner, Samantha Harrison in a stunning, full-length green dress; meanwhile Torvill and Dean went with a dark, striped suit (Christopher Dean) and a head-turning, green jumpsuit (Jayne Torvill).

*Article provided by Peter Mann (Senior Correspondent).

*Main image @BBCSport Mary Earps with the 70th BBC Sports Personality award.