A SURVEY conducted by menswear retailer and tweed waistcoats specialists Walker Slater – https://www.walkerslater.com – has revealed Jonny Wilkinson’s last-minute drop goal against Australia in the 2003 Rugby World Cup is Britain’s favourite historic moment in sport.
The kick which secured the English their first and, to this day, only Webb Ellis Cup was deemed the most popular rugby moment among sporting fans – taking almost half the votes.
Alongside half of the rugby votes, the drop goal took more than ten per cent of the overall votes.
It fought off tough opposition from Andy Murray’s Wimbledon win in 2013, Serena Williams’ Australian Grand Slam victory while pregnant and England’s World Cup cricket victory in 2019 to scoop the overall award.
The survey asked respondents to detail what they believed to be the most iconic sporting moments.
In the Midlands and South West, Sergio Aguero’s emphatic last-minute winner for Manchester City against QPR in 2012 which poached the Premier League title from rivals Manchester United was voted the most popular footballing moment with 66 per cent of the votes.
This part of the country must love some late drama, as Wilkinson’s drop goal lay claim to 100 per cent of the rugby votes.
In Northern Ireland, unsurprisingly Northern Ireland’s victory against Greece which secured their qualification to Euro 2016 came out on top.
This was swiftly followed by Johnny Sexton’s famous drop goal against the French in Paris.
When Murray beat world number one Novak Djokovic in 2013, he became the first British Wimbledon champion since Fred Perry – an incredible feat.
Murray’s victory secured him 70 per cent of the available Scottish votes for tennis, but an honourable mention must go to the late Seve Ballesteros who picked up a tenth of the golf votes for his St Andrews win in 1984.
Other notable Scottish votes went to Diego Maradona’s ‘hand of God’ goal against the English in 1986 and Scotland winning the Calcutta Cup at Murrayfield during the 2018 Six Nations.
You would be forgiven for thinking the capital and surrounding areas would have voted quite patriotically and picked an English sports star in their favoured sporting moment, but you would be wrong.
Williams’ Aussie Grand Slam win was the most popular choice in this region, having pipped Tiger Woods’ 2019 Masters triumph to the top spot with eight per cent of the total votes.
The football-mad North East is home to some of the biggest football clubs in the UK and undoubtedly one of the biggest rivalries between Newcastle United and Sunderland.
For this reason, you may expect the 5-1 to Newcastle in 2010 or the 3-0 to Sunderland in 2013 to come out on top in terms of football. In fact, it is Aguero’s last-minute winner that is the most popular choice in this region.
When it comes to the overall vote, North East residents share a particularly similar view to that of standard British opinion – Wilkinson’s drop goal taking the number one spot – possibly as a result of his 12-year career with Newcastle Falcons.
When it comes to the North West, opinion was very much divided, although two things they can appear to agree on is Wilkinson’s impeccable performance at the 2003 World Cup and the entertainment factor Wimbledon brings.
The spoils were shared for tennis, between the enthralling encounter which took place between John Isner and Nicholas Mahut back in 2010 – the longest tennis match in history – and Tim Henman’s journey to the quarter-final back in 2004.
