Murray Walks BBC SPOTY 2015

BBC

Andy Murray has been voted the BBC Sports Personality of the Year for the second time in three years.

The 2013 winner inspired Great Britain's tennis team to a first Davis Cup victory for 79 years.

Rugby league star Kevin Sinfield was runner-up, with heptathlete Jessica Ennis-Hill third.

Scot Murray, 28, won 361,446 of the 1,009,498 votes cast (35%), with Sinfield getting 278,353 (28%) and Ennis-Hill 78,898 (8%).

Murray was presented the award by Irish boxing legend Barry McGuigan, in front of a sell-out 7,500 crowd at the SSE Arena in Belfast.

A two-time Grand Slam winner, this year he reached the final of the Australian Open and the semi-finals of both Wimbledon and the French Open.

He finished the year second in the world rankings and won all 11 of his Davis Cup rubbers, including three in the final against Belgium.

He was also named Young Sports Personality of the Year in 2004.

"Thank you very much. I didn't expect this," Murray said.

"A friend sent me a message the other day with an article saying: 'Andy Murray is duller than a weekend in Worthing,' which I thought was a bit harsh - on Worthing.

"Congratulations to everyone who was involved tonight. This has been a five-year journey - we were down in the bottom level of tennis and now we're number one.

"I dedicate my life to this sport and I work extremely hard every day to make you proud."

One of the biggest cheers of the night was saved for Northern Ireland football manager Michael O'Neill, who was given a standing ovation as he was presented with the Coach of the Year award after guiding his country to Euro 2016, their first major finals for 30 years.

The winner of the Helen Rollason Award, eight-year-old Bailey Matthews, who has cerebral palsy, captured the hearts of the crowd as he asked for them to stop cheering and received another big ovation as he said a small speech.

World heavyweight champion boxer Tyson Fury, a contender for the main award, was jeered by a section of the crowd after recent remarks about women and homosexuality.

But during the show he apologised for comments he made that might have "hurt people".

The other winners in Sunday's awards ceremony were:

Overseas Sports Personality of the Year: Dan Carter

An integral part of the New Zealand team that beat Australia 34-17 to win the World Cup in October.

Young Sports Personality of the Year: Ellie Downie

The 16-year-old gymnast won bronze in the all-around at the European Championships to make her the first female gymnast to win an individual all-around medal for Great Britain.

Coach of the Year: Michael O'Neill

The Northern Ireland manager helped his country end a 30-year absence from tournament football by sealing a spot at Euro 2016 last month.

Lifetime Achievement: AP McCoy

Twenty-time champion jump jockey AP McCoy, 41, who retired in April after a record-breaking career.

Helen Rollason: Bailey Matthews

The eight-year-old, who has cerebral palsy, completed his first triathlon unaided.

Sport's Unsung Hero: Damien Lindsay 

The west Belfast youth football coach played a huge role in his local community in his work with the St James Swifts Football Club.

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• Tyson Fury vows to win BBC Sports Personality of the Year award - 'Good always defeats evil'
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Sinfield and Rhinos go to Eton

A Malaysian prince is now among the followers of rugby league as a direct result of Leeds Rhinos' ground-breaking visit to Eton College.

A week after Jamie Peacock went to Buckingham Palace to receive his MBE from the Queen, captain Kevin Sinfield and two of his team-mates went to Eton to beat the drum for rugby league.

Sinfield, who recently delivered a motivational speech to England's rugby union team, addressed Eton's Sports Society on Monday night, following in the footsteps of Sir Steve Redgrave, Sven-Goran Eriksson, Sir Bobby Robson, Sir Clive Woodward and Geoffrey Boycott.

On Tuesday he addressed the pupils at the famous public school before taking a coaching clinic with Rhinos team-mates Zak Hardaker and Kallum Watkins on the playing fields at the school.

The idea for the visit came from one of the pupils, Elliott Charles, who is from Leeds and a keen Rhinos fan, and the Super League champions were only too happy to oblige.

Leeds chief executive Gary Hetherington, who accompanied the three players on the two-day trip to Windsor, said: "This was a tremendous honour for Kevin and the Leeds Rhinos and it went down really well.

"They have 1,300 young people and they were keen to learn more about helping them to develop their potential.

"They appreciated the synergy and were fascinated to learn the secret behind helping youngsters reach their potential."

Eton has long been at the heart of the English establishment since its formation by Henry VI in 1440, with a host of old Etonians holding the highest offices in the country since then, including Prime Minister David Cameron, and the Leeds contingent got a glimpse into some of its idiosyncrasies.

"They stamped their feet during our meetings, which is one of their rituals and a sign of appreciation," said Hetherington. "They don't clap."

Sinfield, who won widespread praise for his talk to the England squad, said he was less nervous about Monday night's occasion.

"I quite enjoyed it," he said. "I was happy with the reception I got. I gave them an insight into our sport and the requirements of rugby league players and our responsibilities.

"I like to think it went down well. They sort of embraced what I was saying, which was quite gratifying."

Having introduced the Eton pupils to rugby league, Leeds are now clearly hoping to reap benefits down the line and Hetherington is keen to build on the unlikely relationship.

"It's not a one-off visit," he said. "Now we've established a partnership, we'll be looking to strengthen the link and get them more involved in rugby league.

"There's an invitation for the staff and boys to come to Headingley and the Prince of Malaysia, who came up to introduce himself to us, and Billy Lloyd Webber, son of the famous producer Andrew, are already followers of Zak Hardaker on Twitter."