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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Record Wimbledon Profit

The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) says this summer's Wimbledon Championships saw profits jump by 7% to record levels.

The LTA said the tournament's profits for this year were £37.8m.

The organisation invests the surplus back into British tennis.

It spent £12.3m in the past year investing in developing British tennis players and more than £17m on encouraging people to take up the sport.

The LTA said the number of active tennis players was growing.

It pointed to a survey by Sport England which said adult participants rose by 11% from last year's levels to 417,700.

There was a similar rise in numbers among the under-16 group to 58,400.

The LTA said Andy Murray's best year to date - including his Olympic gold medal and winning his first Grand Slam at the US Open - played a major part in strengthening the sport at its grass roots.

It noted that the year had been unique with the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tennis events added to the normal programme of the Wimbledon Championships, the Aegon Championships and the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

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Tennis and Judo Funds Cut

Sport England have announced six-figure cuts to the Lawn Tennis and British Judo Association's budgets due to disappointing participation figures.

LTA funding has been reduced by £530,000 after a near 25% drop in adults playing the sport since 2008.

Judo has received a £353,000 cut after the amount of people participating in the last two years remained static.

Sport England chief Jennie Price said of the cuts until 2013: "No decision to reduce funding is taken lightly."

Both judo and lawn tennis were part of 46 sports that applied for targeted Sport England funding for the period from April 2009-March 2013.

The amount of money channelled to each sport is reviewed every six months in-line with how well they are developing youngsters, catering to current participants and increasing the number of those taking part.

Last October, cycling, netball and canoeing all received increases after they proved their on-going success in those areas.

The LTA's funding award for the four-year spell now stands at £24.5m after Sport England's Active People survey showed that the average number of adults playing tennis at least once a week declined from 487,500 in 2007-08 to 375,800 in mid-December.

Judo and lawn tennis have both been given new participation targets to meet.

Roger Draper, the LTA's chief executive said: "We recognise that the Active People Survey results are disappointing and accept this reduction in funding.

"We continue to work closely with Sport England in order to grow tennis. Like other sports we face a huge challenge to increase the numbers playing tennis regularly in challenging economic times but participation is our top priority."

LTA Confirms Murray Fed Cup Role

The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) this week confirmed Judy Murray's appointment as Fed Cup Captain for the AEGON GB Fed Cup Team.

Judy will lead the British team when they contest the Euro/Africa Zone Group I competition from 1-4 February 2012 in Eilat, Israel and will also work closely with the LTA player team in mentoring and supporting some of Britain’s most promising female performance coaches.

Speaking about her new role, Judy said: "It is a huge honour for me to represent my country in this way, and the role presents a very exciting challenge, given the mix of talent, experience and determination we have in our top female players right now.

"I’m also really looking forward to working with the LTA to develop a bigger and stronger female coaching workforce. I want to encourage more women to get involved in coaching at the highest level, and to personally support their development."

Judy is one of Britain’s most experienced and respected coaches. She was Scottish national coach for nine years and has spent more than two decades working with both junior and senior players at all levels of the sport, including British number one Elena Baltacha, and British Davis Cup players Colin Fleming and Jamie Baker. She is the mother of world No.4 Andy Murray and 2007 Wimbledon mixed doubles champion Jamie Murray.

Leon Smith, LTA Head of Men’s and Women’s tennis added: "To have someone of Judy’s standing in the sport in such a key role for us is going to be a huge asset as we look to support our best players and coaches, and begin to climb up the ladder in world tennis. I know the players and the rest of the team are really excited about this.

Judy Murray Considers Fed Cup Role

Judy Murray is in talks with the Lawn Tennis Association over becoming Great Britain's new Fed Cup captain.

The former national coach of Scotland, the mother of British number one Andy and doubles specialist Jamie, has worked with the LTA on recent projects.

Britain's Fed Cup post has been vacant since June, when Nigel Sears resigned as captain and head of women's tennis at the LTA to coach Ana Ivanovic.

Leon Smith took over responsibility for the women's game in October.

Smith is also head of men's tennis and Davis Cup captain, so he is looking to appoint a Fed Cup coach as soon as possible.

No decision has been made but discussions continue with Judy over a role that would include working with young players.

Smith has known the Murray family for many years having taken over from Judy as Andy's coach when the now world number four was 11-years-old.

Britain's women are not in Fed Cup action until the first week of February.

Like the Davis Cup team, they are in Europe/Africa Zone Group I, and, with Elena Baltacha, Anne Keothavong, Heather Watson and Laura Robson all making significant progress during 2011, hopes are high they could soon reach the World Group.

However, the regional group takes the form of a round-robin competition - being held in Eilat, Israel, in 2012 - with only two of the 15 teams achieving promotion, and there is some stiff competition.

Judy's recent work with the LTA has centred around grassroots participation and improving facilities, an area she is passionate about, while she also remains a valued member of Andy's team, particularly for her analysis of unfamiliar opponents.