Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp win Team and Coach of the Year at Sports Personality of the Year 2020

Jurgen Klopp has been named Coach of the Year and Liverpool Team of the Year at the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year show.

It was Liverpool’s 19th top division title and their first since 1989-90.

Klopp’s Reds produced one of the most memorable campaigns in Premier League history, winning by 18 points.

Such was their dominance, at one stage they led the table by 25 points – a record gap between a side in first and second in the English top flight.

That was not the only English top-flight record they set – they also recorded the earliest title win, with seven games still to play when Manchester City’s defeat by Chelsea sealed their success, and the most consecutive home wins (24, with seven carried over from the 2018-19 season).

Despite Liverpool’s dominance throughout the season, Reds fans endured a nervous wait to see how it would end after the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic saw the Premier League suspended for three months.

But its return in June – albeit without fans – enabled them to cap their success, and they ended the season on 99 points with just three defeats to their name – two of which came after they had sealed the title.

“My team deserve this, because they did an incredible job,” said Klopp. “It’s a mix of talent, character, desire and the power of the club, which is a big one. That all comes together and it was a great moment when we became champions.

“We want to organise a big party when it’s allowed again, could take a little while but until then maybe we can win something else, we will see. We can’t wait to see the fans again and winning this prize in Manchester is even sweeter.”

German Klopp, 53, arrived at Anfield in 2015 with Liverpool 10th in the Premier League, but in the five years since has guided the club to four trophies, including the Champions League title in 2018-19.

After their Premier League success, he was also named 2019-20 Premier League manager of the season and League Managers’ Association manager of the year.

On Thursday, Klopp won the Best Fifa Men’s Coach Award for the second year running – becoming the first man to win it in successive years.

Liverpool previously won the BBC Sports Personality Team of the Year award in 2001 after their treble-winning season under Gerard Houllier, who died earlier in December.

Klopp joins a long list of football managers to have won the Coach of the Year award, including Gareth Southgate (2018), Claudio Ranieri (2016), Arsene Wenger (2002 and 2004), and Sir Alex Ferguson (1999).