Greatest British Sporting Moments of the Decade
2010 to 2020
As we come to an end of the awful 12 months that has been 2020, we, at the Half Court Press, thought that it would be worthwhile celebrating all that has been good and great over the past decade. In the past ten years we have seen some brilliant games and had some fun moments in the world of sport. Here is the Half Court Press list of the five greatest British sporting moments between 2010 and 2020. I’ve made the list sequentially, instead of importance, with the most recent closer to the bottom of the article. These memories all have different relevance to the individual sports fan and are great to chat about down the pub, but at the time of writing all the pubs in the UK are closed for Covid. So, if you disagree with anything that I’ve written here and have any other suggestions, then please feel free to tell us via social media…
August 4, 2012
Summer Olympic Games
Various Venues, London, United Kingdom
Super Saturday
Britain’s Golden Day
Super Saturday has gone down in history as one of the country’s greatest sporting moments of all time. In one single day twelve British athletes won gold medals across six events, in three sports. It began with the rowing squad securing a most successful regatta for the country, as medals were won in the Men’s Fours and Women’s Double Sculls. The men’s team consisted of Alex Gregory, Pete Reed, Tom James and Andrew Triggs-Hodge. The two women were Katherine Copeland and Sophie Hosking.
There were cycling medals won for GB in the women’s team pursuit event, as Dani King, Laura Trott and Joanna Rowsell took home the gold. The day was finished off in, what is now known as, London Stadium, with success in the athletics. All round athlete Jessica Ennis won the heptathlon, whilst Greg Rutherford came first in the long jump. Mohammed Farah (now, sir Mo) finally secured the twelfth and final gold medal of the day in the men’s 10,000 metre foot race.
July 7, 2013
The Wimbledon Championships
All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club
London, United Kingdom
Gentlemen’s Final
Novak Djokovic 4 – 5 – 4
Andy Murray 6 – 7 – 6
A British tennis champion at Wimbledon had been a long time coming. Virginia Wade had beaten Dutchwoman Betty Stöve by two sets to one, to win the Ladies’ Championship in 1977. In 2007, Jamie Murray won the Mixed Doubles, with Serbian partner Jelena Jankovic, a feat that had also been accomplished by the all British pairing of Jeremy Bates and Jo Durie in 1987. However, there hadn’t been a Gentlemen’s Champion since Fred Perry beat Germany’s Gottfried von Cramm in three sets, in 1936. In the late 2000’s, early 2010’s, Scotsman Andrew Barron Murray (younger brother of Jamie), had been making some good progress on the Tour, but with a limited amount of success. He had won the Australian Open a couple of times, as well as the Gold Medal at the 2012 London Olympics (held at the same venue), but had yet to take the big one in his home country. Andy had come close the year before, losing to Roger Federer by three sets to one and in doing so he had captured the heart of two nations – Great Britain, as well as his native Scotland. Hailing from Dunblane, he was becoming the foremost athlete north of the border. When Murray got to the final of the Wimbledon Championships again in 2013, British sports fans collectively held their breath. People were glued to their television sets for three hours and nine minutes, with figures peaking at 17.3 million on BBC One. World Number one player, Djokovic gave a good game, forcing matters right until the end. With just a few points needed for Murray to win it, his Serbian opponent looked set to stage a comeback to ruin things. Britain’s hopes remained un-dashed, however, as Murray held out to take the first of the two Wimbledon titles that he would win in his career. There were tears, cheers and loads of emotion and that was just from Sue Barker.
August 19, 2016
Summer Olympic Games
Deodoro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Women’s Hockey Final
Netherlands 3 – 3 Great Britain
(Penalties; NED 0 – 2 GBR)
This fixture had some form prior to this tournament, with the Dutch having lost to the English side in the final of the 2015 EuroHockey Championships in London, prompting a bit of a rivalry. The Netherlands were still favourites for the tournament, however, having won the Olympic Games in 2012, as well as the World Cup in 2014. Both sides qualified for the Quarter Finals by topping their respective first round groups undefeated. Here, the Dutch got past Argentina 3 – 2 and then beat the Germans on penalties in their Semi Final match. The British found themselves playing the Spanish in their Quarter Final, who were dispatched 3 – 1, and then got over the top of New Zealand 3 – 0 to set up the Grand Final as a repeat from the year before.
The Final itself was a right old ding dong of an affair, famously postponing the BBC news so that the huge and unexpected UK TV audience could continue to watch the game uninterrupted. The British knew that it was going to be a tough encounter, but one that they could win. English winger, Lily Owsley, gave Britain an early lead after ten minutes, but this was cancelled out shortly afterwards, as Kitty van Male equalised for the Central Europeans. Former World Player of the Year, Maartje Paumen then gave the Dutch the lead in the 25th minute, however this only lasted for a few seconds, as Christa Cullen levelled the scores to make it 2 – 2 at half time. Kitty van Male gave the Netherlands the lead again shortly after the break and the Dutch looked set to take home the gold medal, but in the 52nd minute Nicola White scored a third for her side to set up a penalty shoot out. Here, the British goalkeeper, Maddie Hinch, came into her own, with her now famous notes. The goalie was spotted on camera reading the notes on the opposition that she kept on the side of her drinks bottle. It seemed to work for her, as she denied all of the Dutch penalties, prompting the British to win 2 – 0 with Sophie Bray and Hollie Webb (now Pearne-Webb) scoring the all important penalties to win the Olympic Games for the first time since the men in 1988 and the first time ever for the women’s side.
May 7 & 8, 2019
UEFA Champions League
Anfield, Liverpool, United Kingdom &
Johan Cruyff Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Men’s Champions League
2nd Legs, Semi Finals
Liverpool 4 (4) – (3) 0 Barcelona
Spurs 3 (3) – (3) 2 Ajax
The two legged format to the knock out rounds, in football’s European Cup, was designed for games like these. Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur (better known as Spurs) each made it the final four of the most prestigious domestic club competition on the continent. The Scousers were drawn against Catalonian giants, Barcelona and the North Londoners got the Dutch club Ajax. Both of the English clubs had lost the first leg to their opponents, leaving themselves with it all to do a week later, if they wanted to make it to the final. Liverpool had given themselves a huge job, having lost in Spain by three goals to nil. Ajax had only beaten Spurs by the one goal, but looked good doing it.
It was all a precursor to greatness over two nights. Liverpool, playing at their famous home ground of Anfield, had to win by a goal. If they didn’t concede, then four on the night would do it, and they would win 4 – 3 on aggregate. However, due to the away goals rule, if Barcelona got one, a four all draw over the two games wouldn’t be enough and the Spaniards would go through. It was a good start for the Scousers, with Divock Origi netting the opener after seven minutes, but the fans might have been expecting to have a disappointing night as that’s how it remained at half time. However, Georginho Wijnaldum got hopes up, ten minutes after the restart, with a brace in quick succession to put his side up by three goals to nil. With time running out and only eleven minutes left on the clock, Origi popped up again to score the all important winning goal, to put Liverpool through to the final.
It was still unknown who they would be playing at this point, as the Spurs vs. Ajax match was played the following night. If you’ll remember, Spurs were one goal down from the previous match, that was played in London. Tottenham had never made it to the final of the Champions League before and it didn’t look like it would happen this time around either. Ajax went into half time with a two goal lead on the night, having scored though Matthijs de Ligt and Hakim Ziyech. Hopes appeared to be dashed, with the fans dreaming about what the next year might bring. However, Spurs come out with intent in the second half. Brazilian forward Lucas Mourha put away two goals in quick succession just before the hour mark. This equalised the match, but not the aggregated score, as Ajax still lead three goals to two over the two matches. Time was running out and Spurs were still trailing. After getting the hopes of the fans up yet again, it all looked to have been in vain. In the sixth minute of injury time, Mourha finds himself in space, in front of the goal, with the ball at his feet. It’s in and Spurs are through on the away goal rule, having scored more goals in Amsterdam then the Dutch did in London. In the space of a little over 24 hours, English football fans have experienced the most exciting two nights in the history of Anglo-Saxon involvement in continental football.
July 14, 2019
Cricket World Cup
Lord’s Cricket Ground, London, United Kingdom
Men’s Cricket World Cup Final
New Zealand 241/8 (50 Overs) vs. England 241 (50 Overs)
Match Tied
Super Over; England 15/0, New Zealand 15/1
England won the match on the boundary count rule
This was a historic Final for many reasons. Firstly, it was the fifth time that Lord’s had hosted such a game, more than any other ground in the world. Secondly, England won the tournament for the first time in their illustrious history. Thirdly, with the scores tied, it was the first time that a One Day International Final fixture was decided by a Super Over and therefore it was also the first time that such an event was decided by a boundary count.
It was such a tightly contested match, worthy of such a competition with both teams pushing each other to the end, that never before had the theorised tie breakers had to be used at such an elite level. Commentators and analysts described the game as the greatest match in the history of One Day cricket. A hugely exciting match up for the fans was also highlighted with some controversy, with some overthrows deflected off of the bat of Ben Stokes. It all ended well for the host nation, as the inventors of the game won the World Cup for the first ever time.