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Tweets of the Year 2014: All the highs and lows from an incredible sporting year

Sport360 staff
Updated

It's been a busy year on the social media front. From football to tennis to cricket, here are a pick of the best from the sporting Twittersphere over the last 12 months:

JANUARY

Cristiano Ronaldo won the Ballon d'or in 2008, but then finished runner-up on three occasions to Barcelona's Lionel Messi. After a scintillating year in 2013, he received football's prestigious honour for a second time.

Team mates and fellow professionals were quick to show praise for a man at the pinnacle of the sport.

The January transfer window always promises some big last minute moves. In this edition of the window, Juan Mata swapped the blue of Chelsea for the red of Manchester, and the incumbent Nemanja Matic made a much-anticipated return to Stamford Bridge.

World No4 Stan Wawrinka opened a delightful 2014, defeating Novak Djokovic, Tomas Berdych and Rafa Nadal en route to clinching the Australian Open title.

FEBRUARY

Standing at 6ft in height and weighing over 14 stone, England international Jack Nowell isn't a small chap by any means, but the man facing him at the desk of a London cinema must have thought otherwise as he refused Nowell admission for an 18s film.

Another rugby star tweets his problems. Irish prop Mike Ross returns from training to find his car trapped by an eager fan.

Tennis star Caroline Wozniacki swaps the courts of Melbourne for the slopes of Dubai after competing in the Australian Open.

The planning stages of the F1 season are being put into place - a season Mercedes would go on to dominate.

Roy Keane shows his delight when asked for a photo by a fan.

MARCH

Lions stalwart Rob Kearney sees the funny side of being trapped in a maul.

There's still life in the old horse. 31-year-old Samuel Eto'o celebrates scoring for Chelsea in a humorous manner.

Bayern Munich were dominant in last season's Bundesliga, winning the league by 19 points. Some stats underline their brilliance.

Boring James Milner never fails to impress football fans.

Wozniacki shows her loyalty when placing her beloved Liverpool jersey ahead of Manchester United.

APRIL

Yossi Benayoun has togged out for five Premier League clubs during his professional career - four of which capped off fine seasons in 2014.

Former World Champion Ken Doherty can't contain his excitement after qualifying for snooker's showpiece competition in Sheffield.

Gary Lineker suggesting Andy Murray is the ringer of Peter Parker in Spiderman.

Ian Poulter has destroyed many US Ryder Cup teams over the years, and now he's the destroyer of bugs.

MAY

The squads for the World Cup were announced in May and it was no surprise to see marquee names being omitted from their respective teams.

To take some level of disappointment off Clichy and Nasri's absence, their club, Manchester City, finished the year as Premier League winners.

In Spain, Real Madrid continued their supremacy in winning the Champions League title.

Gary Lineker had a mixed year on Twitter but this was by far one of his funniest tweets, regarding the cut-throat nature of the managerial merry go-round.

JUNE

Rafa Nadal wins a record ninth crown at Roland Garros.

Sylvian Distin gives the cruelest reminder to a Liverpool troll about Stevie Gerrard's slip that cost the Reds the Premier League title.

While Gary Neville continues to win the plaudits for his superb analysis on Monday Night Sport, it was clear his brother Phil was not achieving the same luck.

Mario Balotelli requested a kiss from the Queen if Italy were to beat Costa Rica and help England's chances of qualifying for the knock out stages of the World Cup.

It was a month for high drama as Luis Suarez received another ban while playing for Uruguay at the World Cup.

And in his place..

Mesut Ozil's strike against Algeria was so good, an actual term for his effort was clarified for the worrying fans of the Twittersphere.

JULY

July was dominated by football tweets due to the World Cup.

Nothing could stop Colombia's James Rodriguez in Brazil as he went on to collect the Golden Boot accolade to cap a series of exceptional displays. Everything seemed to be attracted to his impressive talents.

Former Liverpool star Titi Camara gave his 21,000 followers the best entertainment of the month with an array of humorous tweets.

LeBron James marks his return to Cleveland with a low key announcement.

Lukas Podolski and Bastian Scchweinsteiger seize the moment after Germany beat Argentina to win the World Cup.

Rory McIlroy wins his third Major in tantalising fashion.

AUGUST

Usain Bolt was taken aback by the fantastic reception in Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games.

Class can't be beaten.

World No1 McIlroy reflects on his success and looks forward to returning to Northern Ireland to visit family and friends.

He even got the chance to join former US President Bill Clinton for a spot of lunch a few weeks later.

SEPTEMBER

Andy Roddick praises Novak Djokovic's impressive run of form in Grand Slam events.

After releasing his autobiography, Rio Ferdinand suggests that his views have been misrepresented and that his Twitter followers should buy his book in order to read the real story.

Andy Murray tweets his support for Scotland on the day of the country's referendum to gain independence.

Balotelli can't contain his excitement after Manchester United were beaten 5-3 by bottom of the table Leicester.

Calm before the storm. Rory McIlroy tweets a picture of Team Europe days before they claimed victory at the Ryder Cup in Gleneagles.

OCTOBER

Hull City manager Steve Bruce caught the tube to Manchester for Sam Allardyce's big 60th birthday bash after his side drew 1-1 with Arsenal.

West Brom tweeted at half-time during their game against Manchester United that they were unconcerned about the imminent arrival of Mauroune Fellaini.

And, what a surprise, two minutes later Fellaini answered his criticses by scoring a wonderful goal.

And finally, World No. 1 tennis player Novak Djokovic celebrated the birth of his newly-born son, Stefan.

Former Australia cricket star Shane Warne wants dating advice from his fans.

Pakistan's Younis Khan created history by hitting his third century in a row in the second Test against Australia in Abu Dhabi.

NOVEMBER

November was a sad month in sport with the death of Australian batsman Phil Hughes. The #putyourbatsout trend in tribute of Hughes was so moving.

Diego Maradona has lived in Dubai for three years now and it's no surprise the UAE has rubbed off on him. The Argentina legend donned the national dress to celebrate National Day, with Al Jazira also getting involved.

World champion driver Lewis Hamilton was understandably hailed by his fellow drivers after clinching the F1 title at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, especially Nico Rosberg.

For others, the UAE event signalled the end of a long season.

DECEMBER

Indian Aces clinched the first International Premier Tennis League title at Hamdan Sports Complex with star man Rohan Bopanna leading the charge by tweeting a picture of the successful team.

For football fans, Thierry Henry announced his retirement after a glittering career in the sport. Former professionals and teammates reacted by showing his admiration to such a legendary attacker.


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