YouGov SportsLab: 2011 in review

SportsLab fans share their thoughts on the big - professional and personal - sporting moments of 2011

1. Professional sport: Your best moments of 2011

Winners: The best moment in sport 2011

The England test cricket team, who won the Ashes in Australia in January before comprehensively beating India to earn the number 1 sport in the ICC’s test rankings, are cited by many SportsLab participants as 2011’s sporting winners. Mark Cavendish, Mo Farah and Sebastian Vettel lead the way among winning individuals, while Barcelona FC, who capped a remarkable year by winning the FIFA Club World Cup, and Lancashire County Cricket Club, who won the county championship for the first time in more than 60 years, also feature.

• “England test cricket team for reaching number one and playing cricket of a standard unseen before in England” Gerry Martin

• “Mark Cavendish was superb. We have had no other cyclist do as well as this in the Tour de France and then he wins the world title. I know the team played a huge part in both circumstances but he finished it.” JG

• “Mo Farah - a fabulous year to be so successful in such a difficult sport as long distance running.” JEP

• “Barcelona FC. An incredible haul of trophies, partly deserved, in the sense that they play an incredible style of football, with some incredible talents (Messi, Xavi, Fabregas).” Oli Wilson-Nunn

• “Lancashire county cricket club winning county championship with unfancied [and] largely local side.” anonymous SportsLab panellist

Losers of 2011

The England rugby team were not so impressive, however, with a large proportion of respondents naming them the sporting losers of 2011, many adding in a damning few lines referring to the side’s abject world cup performance and its infamous off-field antics.

• “England Rugby team...if money and drinking are more important to this bunch of arrogant "superstars", they should be cast aside for a group of players who will at least have some pride and show some passion about representing their country on the biggest stage” Andy Fogden

• “England rugby union team. Completely failed to fulfil their potential and came home to controversy and disgrace.” Salandamy

Lewis Hamilton, who had several run-ins with the stewards and was convincingly beaten by his McLaren team-mate Jenson Button, the Australian cricket team, who continued their fall from grace with a poor run of form, and Carlos Tevez, the Manchester City striker who allegedly refused to come on as a substitute for his club, also received several nominations in the ‘losers’ category.

Sad moments of 2011

Sport lost some stars in 2011, and tributes came pouring in for former Wales football manager Gary Speed, as well as for golfing legend Seve Ballesteros, Moto GP rider Marco Simoncelli, and IndyCar’s Dan Wheldon. Several respondents also pointed to the Russian ice hockey tragedy, where the entire Lokomotiv Jaroslavl team died in a plane crash en-route to their first game of the season.

• “Gary Speed's death. Tragic, unexpected, inexplicable. A man respected across a game noted for its partisanship and tribalism”, anonymous SportsLab panellist

Controversies of 2011

• Many respondents pointed to racism allegations in the Premier League as the year’s most controversial story. The case of Liverpool’s Luis Suarez, who is currently serving an eight-match ban after being found guilty of using insulting language which ‘included a reference to [Patrice] Evra’s colour’, prompted particularly emotive responses on both sides of the debate.
• The test cricket match-fixing scandal involving Pakistan’s Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, who were sent to prison in November, was another popular choice as the most controversial incident in 2011, although the original offences were committed in 2010.
• Wales captain Sam Warburton’s red card in the Rugby World Cup semi-final
• The governance of FIFA was also highlighted
• Usain Bolt’s disqualification from the 100m final at the World Athletics Championships also featured, while several later respondents pointed to boxing, and in particular to Amir Khan’s defeat to Lamont Peterson.

Funniest thing of the year

Other comedy moments included Manchester United’s 6-1 humbling at the hands of neighbours Manchester City, the England rugby team’s World Cup fiasco, and Lewis Hamilton’s repeated run-ins with Ferrari’s Felipe Massa.

• “Man Utd 1 Man City 6. Laughed for days” Salandamy
• “England's collapse in the RWC after telling the world they could win.” Beauparc
• “Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa's "handbags and eye scratching at dawn" silliness throughout the year.” Richard Forinton

Hopes and predictions for 2012

Many SportsLab participants express hope that the Olympics will go well, both in terms of the performances of British athletes but also as a spectacle on the world stage. A further theme emerging from responses is the hope that England’s football team will perform well at the European Championships this summer.

• “England to do well in Euro Championships (not going to happen!) Olympic Games in London successfully run, untouched by terrorism, with GB team winning medals.” anonymous SportsLab panellist

Actual predictions from panellists are somewhat less positive.

• Opinion is split as to whether the Olympics will delight or disappoint
• Many panellists tip England to flop than to flourish at Euro 2012 (with a number expecting a German win)
• Andy Murray divides SportsLab participants over his potential performance
• While Barcelona, Manchester City and Red Bull are also tipped for success across events

There are also some sombre general predictions from panellists. Here is a selection of 2012 predictions:

• “England (football) to flop once again in a major tournament. Europe to win the Ryder Cup. Andy Murray continues to flatter to deceive.” Glynn, Earlestown
• “Germany will win Euro 2012. Bayern Munich will win the Champions League. Tottenham will sneak ahead of rivals City & United and take the Premier League title. Harry Redknapp will be named England manager. Usain Bolt will win the 100m at the Olympics, setting a new world record!!” anonymous SportsLab panellist
• “England[‘s cricketers] will lose their No 1 ranking; Red Bull will dominate F1; The usual suspects will vie for the premiership; England's women cricketers will be ignored; The Great Britain Olympic team will flatter to deceive,” Neil W
• “Money and drugs will detract more and more from the ethos of what sport should be all about” anonymous SportsLab panellist
• “More commercialisation and exploitation. Less sporting participation by individuals.” anonymous SportsLab panellist
• “The first signs of English football's financial bubble bursting will begin to appear.” anonymous SportsLab panellist
  

2. Amateur sport: Your best moments of 2011…

Sports, of course, isn't just something you watch. Many SportsLab panellists were keen to point out their own best and worst sporting moments of the year, and also gave us a peek at their hopes and ambitions for the year ahead.

Football, golf and running were the most-played sports by those who took our SportsLab survey, and many enjoyed notable success on a personal level. We've chosen a selection of the best and worst moments

Best personal sporting moments of 2011

• “A new PB in a ten mile cycling time trial” Ian Davies (Panellist and cyclist)
• “Completing Great North Run in 2:18” Daveo (Panellist and runner)
• “When I finally mastered the somersault” Nia Lewis (Panellist and diver)
• “My first ever hole in one.” Beauparc (Panellist and golfer)
• “I don't play sport to any serious level. The best moments are enjoying the games in the park and having a pint afterwards.” (A panellist…and pub patron…)

Worst personal sporting moments of 2011

A number of SportsLab participants had to deal with some fairly unpleasant injuries in 2011, with a broken hip as well as damaged knees and torn Achilles tendons mentioned. The weather also upset a number of respondents.

• “Paying the bar bill after the hole in one!” Beauparc (Panellist and golfer)
• “Getting injured just as I was coming up the most important races of the year and thus missing out on a medal at the British Masters 10K championships.” JEP (Panellist and runner)
• “Losing in the final seconds of a cup game.” Lawrence Thompson (Panellist and rubgy player)

Personal goals for 2012

SportsLab respondents to this survey have a range of personal goals for 2012, some modest and others more ambitious.

• “Win the National School's Regatta” Oli Wilson-Nunn
• “Become a regional coach again for basketball” Esme
• “Reduce my golf handicap?” anonymous SportsLab panellist
• “Just keeping fit” Simmo99
• “I want to do a triathlon at some point. I also want to do more sport but it depends on my financial position. As I am teacher I also want to take children to the Olympic venues to either tour it or watch some of the Paralympics.” JG

The above only represent a small fraction of the answers we received – good luck to everyone in achieving their sporting goals in 2012!