England Women's and Manchester United women's goalkeeper Mary Earps has been named BBC Sport Person of the Year 2023. She beat cricketer Stuart Broad and heptathlon Katarina Johnson-Thompson to claim the important award. This is the second consecutive Footballer of the Year award after her teammate Beth Mead won the award in 2022. In addition, this is the third consecutive year that a woman has won the award, an achievement that has not been achieved since 1964.
Earps has excelled in the national and international arenas. She won the Golden Glove for Best Goalkeeper award at the Women's World Cup and saved a crucial penalty in the final. She also kept more clean sheets in the Women's Super League than any other player and led Manchester United Women to the Women's FA Cup final. In addition to the BBC Sports Person of the Year Award, Earps has also won several other awards, including the BBC Women's Footballer of the Year and the Sunday Times Sports Sportswoman Award.
She expressed gratitude and humility as she accepted the award and acknowledged the support of her family and the coaches and teammates who have been instrumental in her success. There were a number of other notable awards at the ceremony, including Manchester City winning Team of the Year, Erling Haaland being named World Sports Star, and Pep Guardiola winning Coach of the Year. Snowboard world champion Mia Brooks, 16, took home the Young Sporting Personality of the Year award, while Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish took home the Lifetime Achievement Award. Fatima Whitbread and Des Smith received honors from the Helen Rollason Award and the Unknown Hero Award, respectively.