It’s safe to say the year of 2025 has been an epic year for sport. From The Lionesses retaining their status as European Champions, Luke Littler dominating the darts scene and Lando Norris clinching his first F1 World Championship Championship!
the team at LAPS shared their sporting moments from the year, and it’s safe to say the team have very different sporting interests!
Starting with Ronnie’s…
“Last year, my sporting highlight was Lewis Hamilton winning the British Grand Prix. This year, it’s still F1 related, but I’d never have thought it’d be about this particular driver…
Max Verstappen. And before anyone says anything, hear me out! This guy provided an absolute masterclass during a season that should have been dominated by McLaren. From being over 100 points behind in the standings to missing out on his 5th consecutive title by 2 points was ridiculous to see. Not only that, he finished the season with 8 poles and the most GP wins on the grid (8)! If he were to have the car that Lando and Oscar had, the season would have been a wrap by summer.
Bring on 2026 and the new regulations!”
Rob found himself absorbed by the MLB
“I watch a lot of baseball in the summer, usually weekend evenings after I’ve played cricket. This year, the team I follow – Toronto Blue Jays – made the World Series. I haven’t seen them live since 2019, but try to watch as many games as I can.
Major League Baseball is a mad world! They play 162 games in the regular season between April and September, which means there are only 1 or 2 days each week when you’re not playing. The best team ever still lost over 25% of their games in the regular season.
Toronto weren’t one of the fancied teams this year, so it was a bit of a surprise that they got this far. In the finals they were paired against the LA Dodgers, who were the big-spending defending champions. Most of the games started at midnight or 1am, so I didn’t manage to watch the whole run, but did manage 5 of the 7 play-off games, including what turned out to be longest game in World Series history that finished at 6:45am UK time – just as the rest of my house was waking up.
Toronto eventually lost the deciding game in the 11th innings, It’s considered the closest series of all time, and could have gone either way. The new season starts in 4-months. Maybe they can go one further next year.”
New joiner, Freddie’s highlight came from the sport he knows best…
Our Managing Director, Robbie Simpson, shared a sporting highlight deeply personal to him. a moment where football, family, and memory became inseparable.
“My sporting highlight is a personal one. My late sister Holly LOVED going to watch Arsenal women play, and she took my daughter and I to a couple of games last season at the Emirates. The atmosphere at these games is amazing. So family friendly, and very affordable. As my sisters health deteriorated in hospital, the Arsenal women’s champions league games became significant to Holly’s strength to battle her illness. Two comebacks against Real Madrid and Lyon to see them into the final against Barcelona, as underdogs. Sadly my sister lost her battle before the final, however I’m certain her spirit was with those women as they produced a backs a against the wall performance full of heart and determination to come out 1-0 winners. Tears in my eyes as they lifted the trophy…that was for you H!”
“My sporting highlight of the year is Shane Lowry sinking the putt to get the 1/2 point to retain the Ryder Cup. After dominating the first 3 days, Europe almost fell apart on the final day thanks to an unbelievable comeback from the American team. Then big Shaneo nails the putt in front of the grandstand and the party starts. Unreal!”
And last but not least, Terry shared his sporting highlight of the year, a day of unforgettable Elland Road excitement.
“As an avid Leeds United fan I was at Elland Road on Monday 21st April when we played Stoke City. We know we’d be promoted back to the Premiership if we beat Stoke and Burnley beat Sheffield United later that afternoon.
I was in the Kop with my wife and had the pleasure of watching Leeds score five times in front of the Kop in the first half. Added to that Joel Piroe scored four of them. The scenes were wild as fans embraced one another and I reckon my voice was a whisper by the end after all the chanting, screaming and singing as we went onto win 6-0. On my drive home, for the only time all season I was delighted to hear Burnley beat Sheffield United, so after the disappointment of Wembley the year before, we were back in the promised land!”
And that’s a wrap from the LAPS team on their sporting highlights!