Sports Personality of the Year: England netball win Team & Greatest Sporting Moment awards

England netball team win two BBC awards

England's gold medal-winning netballers have capped a memorable year with two awards at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year show.

The Roses were crowned Team of the Year after their historic Commonwealth Games triumph before also being awarded Greatest Sporting Moment of the Year.

Helen Housby scored in the final second to give England a 52-51 victory over favourites Australia at April's Games.

The Greatest Sporting Moment award is a new category voted for by the public.

Fans were asked to choose from five moments over the past 12 months that captured the nation's imagination.

England topped the poll ahead of four other shortlisted moments:

  • The England football team's World Cup penalty shootout win

  • Alastair Cook's farewell century for England's cricket team

  • Golfer Tiger Woods' first win in five years

  • Boxer Tyson Fury's fight-back to draw with WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder

Greatest Moment of the Year - England’s historic netball gold

Captain Ama Agbeze said: "It has been a very long journey. It's taken years and years and we've never won a gold medal in any event.

"It's been a long slog. Netball is the ultimate team game. Team sport is very tough. We hope there will be many more gold medals to come."

Head coach Tracey Neville added: "The Roses made every netballer's dream come true.

"We had something like 130,000 people connect with our sport, we're so happy."

This was the first time since netball was introduced at the Commonwealth Games in 1998 that the final was not a contest between Australia and New Zealand.

Having staged a dramatic comeback to beat Jamaica in the semi-finals on Australia's Gold Coast, the Roses - ranked third - were level at 25-25 at half-time of their first Commonwealth final.

The three-time bronze medallists then shocked the home crowd by overturning a four-point deficit in the final quarter to claim a dramatic victory, with Housby slotting home the winner on the buzzer.

England had only beaten Australia five times before the final - and not since 2013, and never at a major tournament.

Head coach Tracey Neville called the win a "dream come true", while Housby said it was the "best day of my life".

It was the best result in England's history, having previously won silver at the 1975 World Cup in a round-robin format.

England will look to build on their success as Commonwealth champions when they host the 2019 Netball World Cup in Liverpool in July.