2024 year in sport review: Hello Luke Littler and Arne Slot, goodbye Jimmy Anderson and Andy Murray
One of the success stories of 2024 has undoubtedly been teenage darts sensation Luke Littler. The Runcorn native became the youngest-ever World Darts Championship finalist at the turn of the year and even a defeat to Luke Humphries could not slow his remarkable progress.
Littler secured a Premier League place thanks to his stellar showing at Alexandra Palace and quickly claimed his first senior PDC title at the Bahrain Masters.
After winning a maiden European title on his debut at the Belgian Open in March, Littler crowned his ascent with Premier League success two months later.
In football, Liverpool were rocked by Jurgen Klopp’s decision to stand down as manager but quickly recovered to win a record-extending 10th League Cup.
Captain Virgil van Dijk was the hero with an extra-time winner to hand the heavily depleted Reds a 1-0 victory over Chelsea at Wembley.
Arne Slot was later appointed as Klopp’s successor from the 2024/25 season.
Roy Hodgson stepped down as Crystal Palace manager due to illness and was replaced by Oliver Glasner, while Mauricio Pochettino lost his job following another disappointing Premier League season for Chelsea.
It was a familiar ending to the campaign as Manchester City became the first team to win England’s top flight four years in a row.
However, City’s bid for back-to-back trebles was shattered by a penalty shoot-out loss to eventual winners Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Pep Guardiola’s men made it all the way to the FA Cup final, only to lose to neighbours Manchester United.
Coventry could not maintain their play-off push in the second tier and it was a similar story for Leeds United higher up the table.
Daniel Farke’s side topped the table heading into the home straight, only to win two of their remaining eight fixtures.
After Leicester City, whose title success earned Enzo Maresca the Chelsea job, and Ipswich Town secured the automatic promotion spots, Leeds were beaten 1-0 by Southampton in the play-off final at Wembley.
England were joined at Euro 2024 by Scotland but it was a brief stay in Germany for Steve Clarke’s team as they crashed out at the group stage.
Gareth Southgate’s England progressed to the knockout phase in unconvincing fashion and were indebted to Jude Bellingham for sparing their blushes in a 2-1 extra-time victory over Slovakia in the last 16. They eventually lost 2-1 to Spain in the final.
In women’s football, Chelsea claimed a fifth successive Super League title and Manchester United lifted the FA Cup for the first time with a 4-0 win over Tottenham at Wembley.
The tennis year began with Aryna Sabalenka successfully defending the Australian Open women’s singles crown with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Zheng Qinwen.
Iga Swiatek swept to a fourth French Open crown after brushing aside maiden Grand Slam finalist Jasmine Paolini 6-2 6-1.
Jannik Sinner stormed back to beat Daniil Medvedev 3-6 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-3 and win the Australian Open men’s singles title, while Carlos Alcaraz came out on top at Roland Garros thanks to a 6-3 2-6 5-7 6-1 6-2 success against Alexander Zverev.
England’s cricketers began the year in promising fashion with a remarkable 28-run victory in the first Test in India.
The tourists were up against it after conceding a 190-run first-innings deficit but Ollie Pope’s stunning 196 and a seven-wicket haul for debutant Tom Hartley secured an unlikely win.
However, that was as good as it got for Ben Stokes’ team as India stormed back to claim the series 4-1.
James Anderson became the first fast bowler to take 700 Test wickets in the final Test before announcing that his storied England career would end after one final appearance in July against the West Indies at Lord’s.
England’s rugby union side ended Ireland’s bid for successive Six Nations Grand Slams with a last-gasp 23-22 win at Twickenham but Steve Borthwick’s men had to settle for a third-place finish.
Ireland brushed off the disappointment to claim back-to-back titles, ending Scotland’s quest for a first Triple Crown in 34 years in the process.
Wales picked up their first Wooden Spoon since 2003 after losing to Italy in Cardiff.
England claimed their sixth successive title and completed a hat-trick of Grand Slams in the women’s tournament.
In rugby league, Wigan Warriors won the World Club Challenge and Challenge Cup to continue their recent dominance before the sport came together to mourn the death of Leeds Rhinos great Rob Burrow.
England’s Kyren Wilson won the World Snooker Championship with an 18-14 win over Wales’ Jak Jones, while Galopin Des Champs secured back-to-back Cheltenham Gold Cup victories.