FROM AGONY TO ECSTASY...SPOTY GLORY BECKONS TO CAP MEAD'S AMAZING YEAR

IN THE summer of 2021, Beth Mead was not even deemed to be in the top 18 players in Britain for Team GB’s Tokyo Olympic squad.

- Matt Majendie

A year later, she became a European champion with the Lionesses, playing an instrumental role in July as England won its first major football trophy since 1966. Her six goals earned her the Golden Boot at Euro 2022 and she was named player of the tournament in the process.

After a sensational 12 months in which she helped the Lionesses break new ground for women’s football in this country, and also enjoyed a superb club season with Arsenal, Mead was runner-up for the Ballon d’Or in October, beaten by Barcelona and Spain midfielder Alexia Putellas.

But bookmakers already have her as a shoo-in for her latest gong, the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award, in Salford tonight.

It has been a remarkable turnaround year from what Mead called the hatred of the Olympic omission, which she later said “lit a fire under me”.

She has channelled that disappointment, coupled with the anger of her mother’s cancer battle, to go from the fringes of the England team to become its beating heart.

The forward made the difference in a nervy opener at the Euros, scoring the only the goal as England made hard work of a 1-0 win over Austria. A hat-trick followed in a record-breaking 8-0 victory over Norway, before another goal in a 5-0 win over Northern Ireland. After a dramatic extra-time win against Spain, Mead scored a sublime goal to set England on their way to a 4-0 win over Sweden in the semi-finals, before the Lionesses made history against Germany in the final at Wembley.