- 2017 saw Mo Farah bow out from the track and Conor McGregor finally face Floyd Mayweather in the ring
- Arsene Wenger proved the doubters wrong by winning the FA Cup and Tony Bellew beat David Haye
- Our photographers were there to capture it all and have chosen some of their best pictures of the year
It has been another year filled with sporting drama across the board – from Mo Farah’s farewell at the World Championships to a glittering bout between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather in Las Vegas.
Elsewhere Tony Bellew emerged victorious over David Haye at the 02 Arena and Arsene Wenger delivered another trophy for Arsenal.
Sportsmail photographers Kevin Quigley, Andy Hooper and Graham Chadwick were here, there and everywhere to document these historic moments and have chosen their best images of the year…
Andy Hooper
This is a picture I took of Mo Farah crossing the winning line in the 10,000m at this summer’s World Championships in London. It’s the third time in a row Mo has won gold at the worlds, and add that to his four Olympic golds makes him our most successful ever athlete. I love the way he crosses the line screaming with delight. I know from past experiences photographing Mo in the Rift valley in Africa during his winter training how hard he works and what dedication he has. He is often away from his family for long periods training. This medal must be special to him as it’s on the same track as his 2012 success. I used a Nikon D5 camera with 400mm F2.8 lens to capture this celebration image of Mo.
I only got to photograph Zlatan Ibrahimovic a couple of times last season but he always gives you a good picture. Whether its a peak of the action shot like this or a celebration he always gives his all, he is star quality. For an old boy he has really leaped up for the ball here. This was shot during the Liverpool game at Old Trafford. I used a Nikon D5 camera and 70-200mm lens.
This is from a fashion shoot i shot with Moeen a few months back. He had just flown back from India that morning and was pretty tired but happy to pose for the camera at Aston Hall in Birmingham. He’s a great guy to photograph and there really were hundreds of shots we could have used. I like the light in this shot, Moeen is in his own world as he looks out of the window. Shot On the Nikon D800 camera with a 35mm F1.8 lens.
Kevin Quigley
David Haye’s shock defeat to Tony Bellew. Moments before David’s trainer stopped the fight there was a mini break in the fight. David was sent to the neutral corner where he simply slouched over the ropes with pure exhaustion and pain from his injury. Being situated in that corner with a wide angle lens I was able to capture his pain.
Weigh in pictures are usually dull with a head to head. Sometimes they get lively with a push or even a brawl breaking out. With all the hype around the fight I was sure something may happen at this one. Conor was very excited at the fight weigh in and Floyd seemed to find this funny. Just how excited Conor was I’m sure only he knows
I got asked to go and do a feature with Fabrizio Ravanelli at his house, which for me was a massive treat. I grew up idolising him as a kid, after doing all the pictures inside with his memorabila and some around the pool outside, I cheekily said, ‘Why don’t we reinact your celebration?’ At first he wasn’t sure but I simply said never mind and that English fans loved him for it. He quickly said ‘Go on then’ and threw it over his head. With my studio lights the other side of the pool, I quickly shot the frame with no idea how it would look. But I got some luck and it looked like this.
Graham Chadwick
The spotlight is turned onto Tony Bellew as he emerged victorious over former world heavyweight champion David Haye in London’s O2 arena. This picture was achieved by setting a remote camera up on the balcony and as the spotlights were shining, one catches the lens just at the right time as Bellew celebrates with the crowd.
This portrait of Monty Panesar in a run down practice nets on an estate in Luton sums up his fall from top flight cricket with 50 Tests and 167 wickets to his name he is looking for a club to take a chance on him. British sport is learning not to treat mental health as a taboo, a problem to be solved with a packet of pills. But it is learning slowly and Panesar’s task is to persuade one of the counties that his ‘darker times’ are behind him.
It’s hard to pick just three pictures from a whole year and please everyone but this is one of my favourites from the FA Cup final in 2017. It just goes to show how fickle football fans can be. for the majority of the season Arsenal fans were calling time on their accomplished manager Arsene Wenger. Then before the victorious team had made it from the Royal Box with the trophy to the presentation stage on the pitch the fans’ mood looks like it turned once more. Now that Wenger had delivered yet another trophy to the club, he was welcome to stay.