Yesterday was not a glorious day in British sporting history. Andy Murray wobbled but eventually progressed to the second round of Wimbledon and he was joined late in the day by Elena Baltacha, thus preventing - but only just - this year's Wimbledon from being the worst for Britain in the past 40 years. We also had the British and Irish Lions see victory snatched from them by a touchline conversion in the last minute against a South Africa development side. And then there is the Ashes... it is a worry.

Time to update a list that we did two years ago, then, on Britain's Top 50 Gallant Sporting “Losers”. The inverted commas are important and were missed by some of those who commented. Some see "loser" as a dirty word, but all the people in this list are simply those who have not won their sport's biggest prize - or who did after a long period of heartache - and there are plenty of those in every sporting contest. At Wimbledon every year there are 127 losers in the men's competition alone.

To be a Great British Loser you have to do more than simply lose. You must either come close to winning, only for the taste of victory to be cruelly dashed from your lips, or win the hearts of the nation along the way for trying hard but being bested, or keep trying every year despite not really being good enough - look at Alex Bogdanovic: one of the best British male tennis players of the past 20 years and yet he has lost eight first-round matches in a row at Wimbledon. We salute him for trying.

In this list, there are athletes who touched the pinnacle of their profession but did not quite secure it. These are the glorious nearly men (and women). The proxime accessits, as lawyers call them, or, if you will, the very top of the second-drawer. Do not mock them, relish them. And especially for those in the top ten, be grateful that we had them and that they fought so hard to raise the national morale and make the most of their talents, rather than chiding them simply for not being as good as a Tiger Woods, a Pete Sampras or a Fangio.

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• The soul of Man Utd in 50 moments

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• Football's 50 hardest men

• The 50 sporting couples

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• The top 50 football kits

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• Top 50 sporting scandals

• 50 greatest sporting insults

• Top 50 sporting injuries

• Top 50 British achievements

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• The world's top 50 footballers

• The 50 worst footballers

• 50 top football transfers

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We have tried to be a bit more scientific in this list rather than just going on subjective gut feeling. Each athlete has been ranked out of five in five categories:

1) Proximity to Glory; 2) Number of Shots at Glory; 3) National Expectation; 4) Strength Relative to Other Britons in the Sport; and 5) Ability to Bounce Back from Adversity.

Where there has been a tie, I have ranked higher those who lost more often - call it a reward for trying. Naturally there will be some talking points and disagreement so do, gently, let The Times know what you think by the comments box below.

50) Eddie Edwards 0-1-0-5-2 = 32%

The man so hapless that the International Olympic Committee passed a special rule to prevent people like him competing again. Eddie the Eagle, the short-sighted plasterer from Cheltenham, soared high and not that far at the Winter Games in 1988, winning hearts and derision around the world. He was a peculiarly British sporting hero: 20lb heavier than the next heaviest competitor and fully self-funded, he touched No 55 in the world rankings but came dead last, despite setting a British record, in Calgary. Although he never qualified for another Games, he earns rehabilitation points for recording a song “Fly Eddie Fly”. A film starring Steve Coogan is in production.

49) Bobby George 4-2-2-1-2 = 44%

Few come more flamboyant than George, who twice reached the final of the world professional darts championship after taking up the sport at the age of 29. He lost 5-3 to Eric Bristow in 1980 and 6-0 to John Part 14 years later. Still takes part in the qualifying rounds of the world championship but his career is now in punditry

48) 2005 Lions rugby team 1-1-5-2-2 = 44%

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