Few, if any, Bermudian footballers past or present could claim to have experienced quite as special a year as Nahki Wells.

The Bradford City striker enjoyed an unforgettable 2013, scoring 26 goals in the calendar year and made two appearances at Wembley Stadium in the Capital One Cup final and League Two play-off decider.

He also became the first Islander to score at the “Mecca of football” in Bradford’s 3-0 win over Northampton Town to gain promotion to League One.

Not bad for a player who had called the patchy, well-worn St John’s Field pitch his home little more than three years ago.

With 2014 almost upon us, Wells looks set to add another milestone to his impressive resume by becoming the first million-pound Bermudian footballer, with several Championship clubs believed to be interested in the former Dandy Town man.

Another Bermudian whose 2013 will live long in the memory is triathlete Tyler Butterfield.

The two-times Olympian capped an extraordinary season by finishing second in the Ironman Cozumel in Mexico this month — his fourth podium finish of the year.

Butterfield’s superb display followed his remarkable seventh-place finish at October’s prestigious Ironman World Championships in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

He also lived up to pre-race expectations in the Appleby Bermuda Day Half Marathon Derby, storming to a maiden victory in the absence of five-times champion Chris Estwanik, who was ruled out through injury.

Rose-Anna Hoey was the surprise winner of the women’s race after finishing ahead of red-hot favourite Ashley Estwanik.

Hoey had predicted defending champion Estwanik would be unstoppable before the race but proved herself wrong by claiming her inaugural May 24 title.

The NatWest Island Games in July were without doubt the most prominent event held on the Island in 2013.

About 1,800 athletes from 22 islands competed in 14 sports at venues across the Island, with Bermuda finishing an historic second in the medal table behind Isle of Man.

Teenage swimmer Ashley Yearwood captured the most medals by a local athlete at the biennial event, which was held in Bermuda for the first time.

She copped nine medals, five in the individual women’s events and a further four in the relay.

Yearwood’s impressive medal haul included four golds, and for added measure she set a Games record in the women’s 50?metres freestyle and recorded personal bests in every competition that she entered.

Track and field star Shianne Smith was another standout performer, winning four gold and one bronze, while Tre Houston claimed a double sprint gold in the 100 and 200?metres, setting Games records in both events.

The Bermuda men’s football team bounced back from a 6-1 thrashing at the hands of England C in June to grab gold at the Games, a feat matched by the women.

In an encouraging sign for the future, Bermuda Under-15 outlined their potential by perhaps punching above their weight, finishing as the top Caribbean nation at the Concacaf Championships in the Cayman Islands in August.

Not to be outdone by their male counterparts, the Bermuda Under-17 women’s team, inspired by the goalscoring exploits of forward Aaliya Nolan, came within a whisker of reaching the second round of their World Cup qualifiers, crashing out against hosts Haiti in the semi-finals.

On the domestic front, Devonshire Cougars became the first club to complete the triple crown (Premier Division, FA Cup and Friendship Trophy) since North Village in 2005-06. Somerset Trojans clinched the remaining piece of silverware by defeating Village in the Dudley Eve Trophy final.

The Bermuda cricket team signed off the year by failing to qualify for next year’s World Twenty20 in Bangladesh.

Arnold Manders’s side placed fourteenth among the 16 ICC Associate and Affiliate countries in the United Arab Emirates, with a record of two wins and six defeats.

They did, however, manage to secure their Division Three status by the skin of their teeth in the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League campaign held in Bermuda in May.

Cup Match may have ended in a draw but Somerset won the battle of the bragging rights against St George’s at Wellington Oval, outplaying their opponents in every department.

Somerset’s Janeiro Tucker set two records in the same innings, as he became both the first batsman in the history of Cup Match to score four centuries and the leading run-scorer, surpassing the previous record of Charlie Marshall, the former St George’s batsman.

The match will also be remembered for other milestones, as Lionel Cann, of St George’s, became the fifth player to reach 1,000 runs, while Somerset teenager Tre Manders scored a century in only his second Cup Match innings with 109 on the first day.

Disappointingly, the unruly behaviour of St George’s all-rounder Treadwell Gibbons Jr marred the annual spectacle when he stood his ground after being given out in his team’s second innings.

The unsavoury incident, witnessed by thousands at the game, and countless more on TV and the live stream that went overseas, culminated in Gibbons having to be restrained by his captain, Oronde Bascome, from confronting Somerset players as they celebrated his wicket.

Gibbons, who had to be escorted back to the pavilion, was subsequently given a two-year suspended Cup Match ban.

Domestically, St David’s reigned supreme by winning the Logic Premier Division, Lindo’s Twenty20 and Eastern Counties; Southampton Rangers captured the Logic 50 Over Knockout Championship and Western Counties Cup, while Western Stars claimed the Central Counties Cup.

There were tangible signs that Bermuda’s athletics programme is on the right track at the Carifta Games held in Barbados in April, with the Island’s youngsters covering themselves in medal glory.

Bermuda finished a respectable seventh in the table, with one gold, two silver and one bronze.

Middle-distance sensation Kyrah Scraders picked up a gold and silver, Sakari Famous claimed silver in the high jump and Juma Mouchette won bronze in the 5,000?metres.

At the Carifta Swimming Championships held in Jamaica in May, Bermuda scooped seven medals including three gold. They also set 63 personal bests and established 18 national age group records for added measure.

Warwick Academy pair Madelyn Moore and Jesse Washington accounted for all of Bermuda’s medals.

About eighty international players from 19 countries competed for world-ranking points at the tenth Bank of Bermuda Foundation ITF Junior Circuit Tournament in June.

Held at the WER Joell Tennis Stadium, the competition featured 18 of the Island’s top young players, including Tyler Smith, a former Caribbean under-13 champion, who reached the quarter-finals of the girls’ under-18 singles.

In boxing, Teresa Perozzi, the Bermuda southpaw, and American Tori Nelson slugged their way to another draw in February’s rematch for the vacant WBC middleweight championship at Berkeley Institute.

Perozzi was due to put her WBA middleweight belt on the line against Yaharia Hernandez, of the Dominican Republic, at The Fairmont Southampton last month but pulled out because of pregnancy.

It was a case of Australia’s Adam Scott winning October’s PGA Grand Slam of Golf rather than Justin Rose losing it. At least that’s how Rose said he felt after watching his close friend break the course record with an “amazing finish” to the final round at Port Royal.

Scott trailed Rose by a four shots with ten holes to play but pulled ahead of the Englishman with a stunning eagle on the 17th hole to claim the fetching “Pink Jacket”.

Also in October, Francesco Bruni (Luna Rossa) sailed his way into Argo Group Gold Cup history in Hamilton Harbour. Bruni became the first Italian skipper to have his name inscribed on the prestigious King Edward VII Gold Cup after defeating Ben Ainslie (Ben Ainslie Racing Team) 3-2 in an enthralling final that went down to the wire.

In the year’s final leading competition, the World Rugby Classic, South Africa powered to a fifth title with a hard-fought 14-7 victory over a bellicose Argentina at the National Sports Centre last month.

A piece of Classic history was made when Australian great Andrew Walker and his son, Dylan, became the first father-and-son combination to play in the competition.

Dylan, who has cerebral palsy, enjoyed a ten-minute cameo in the second half, setting up a try for his father with a smart pass in the Antipodeans’ Plate final triumph against Canada.

It was a touching moment for Walker, who revealed after the game that it had been the first time he had shared the pitch with his 20-year-old son in 15s rugby.

Also in rugby, Aviva Premiership giants Saracens toured the Island with their star-studded side in May, defeating a Bermuda Select XV 55-21 at the National Sports Centre. Saracens are likely to return to Bermuda in 2014 to defend the Atlantic Cup.