Sports Personality of the Year 2015: Which footballers would be on an alternative shortlist?

Footballers usually get snubbed by the BBC panel

(2015 Getty Images)

On Monday night the BBC announced their shortlist for this year's Sports Personality of the Year award.

Unsurprisingly there was just one footballer named on the 12-person popularity contest, England footballer Lucy Bronze who helped the Three Lions to a brilliant third-place finish at the Women's World Cup in Canada in the summer.

The Manchester City defender is currently the rank outsider for the award, with some bookies placing her at around 250/1 to win the gong, way bellow current favourites Andy Murray (evens) and Jessica Ennis-Hill (6/4).

Despite it being a year when four Home Nations qualified for the European Championships, Wales and Northern Ireland breaking decades-long absences, it still was much of a shock to see just one footballer on the list.

Football may be Great Britain's favourite sport, but it never does much at the gala event, with just five winners in the 60 years since the award was first dished out in 1954.

Athletics has always led the way, with 17 winners and 48 in the top three, and this year has three nominees - Ennis-Hill, Mo Farah and Greg Rutherford.

So we got thinking about which footballers may have deserved a nod in an alternate reality. Lucy Bronze is just one of a whole host of England women who could have been included, we've opted to go for the men.

Scroll through the gallery to see our 12 nominees - eight players and four managers for the Coach of the Year award:

Disagree with our selections? Let us know in the comments box