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William Hill Sports Book of the Year

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(Redirected from William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award) Annual British sports literary award For the Irish literary award, see William Hill Irish Sports Book of the Year.

Award
William Hill Sports Book of the Year
Sponsored byWilliam Hill
CountryUnited Kingdom
Hosted byWilliam Hill
Reward(s)£30,000
First awarded1989
Websitehttps://news.williamhill.com/sport/sports-book-of-the-year/

The William Hill Sports Book of the Year is an annual British sports writing award sponsored by bookmaker William Hill. It was first presented in 1989, and was conceived by Graham Sharpe of William Hill, and John Gaustad, founder of the Sports Pages bookshop. As of 2020, the remuneration is £30,000, and a leather-bound copy of their book. Each of the shortlisted authors receives £3,000.

Commenting on the prize, the 2005 winner Gary Imlach said "although it is a sports book prize, it has the prestige and the commercial clout to lift the winning book out of the sport section".

As of 2020, the judging panel is chaired by Alyson Rudd and includes retired professional footballer and former chairman of the Professional Footballer’s Association, Clarke Carlisle; five-time Olympic medallist and rower Dame Katherine Grainger; broadcaster and writer John Inverdale; broadcaster Danny Kelly and journalist and broadcaster Mark Lawson.

History

Paul Kimmage was the first author to win both the Irish (2011) and International awards (1990).

In 2010, Duncan Hamilton, a winner twice in the previous three years, was again included in the shortlist, although on this occasion, when the award was announced on 30 November in London, the prize was won by Brian Moore, the former England rugby union international, for his autobiography, Beware of the Dog.

In 2011, there was a "surprise inclusion" to the shortlist of Engage: The Fall and Rise of Matt Hampson, a biography of quadriplegic Matt Hampson, by 1990 winner Paul Kimmage, despite it not being included on the longlist. The shortlist also included a book on bullfighting, Into The Arena: The World of the Spanish Bullfight by Alexander Fiske-Harrison, despite journalists including Fiske-Harrison himself arguing that bullfighting was not a sport, leading to the employment of security for the first time at the ceremony at Waterstones of Piccadilly. In the end the prize went to A Life Too Short: The Tragedy of Robert Enke, about Robert Enke who committed suicide, by Ronald Reng.

Duncan Hamilton is the only author to have won the award three times, first in 2007, second in 2009 and most recently in 2019. Boxing author Donald McRae has twice won the award, in 1996 and 2002.

Lauren Fleshman's book Good for a Girl became in 2023 the first book written by a woman and about women's sports to win.

Winners

Winners of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year
Year Title Author(s) Featured subject(s) Featured sport Ref(s)
1989 True Blue: The Oxford Boat Race Mutiny Dan Topolski, Patrick Robinson The Boat Race Rowing
1990 Rough Ride: An Insight into Pro Cycling Paul Kimmage Paul Kimmage Cycling
1991 Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times Thomas Hauser Muhammad Ali Boxing
1992 Fever Pitch: A Fan's Life Nick Hornby Nick Hornby Football
1993 Endless Winter: The Inside Story of the Rugby Revolution Stephen Jones Rugby union Rugby union
1994 Football Against the Enemy Simon Kuper Football Football
1995 A Good Walk Spoiled: Days and Nights on the PGA Tour John Feinstein PGA Tour Golf
1996 Dark Trade: Lost in Boxing Donald McRae Boxing Boxing
1997 A Lot of Hard Yakka: Cricketing Life on the County Circuit Simon Hughes Simon Hughes Cricket
1998 Angry White Pyjamas: An Oxford Poet Trains with the Tokyo Riot Police Robert Twigger Robert Twigger Aikido
1999 A Social History of English Cricket Derek Birley Cricket Cricket
2000 It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life Lance Armstrong, Sally Jenkins Lance Armstrong Cycling
2001 Seabiscuit: The True Story of Three Men and a Racehorse Laura Hillenbrand Seabiscuit Horse racing
2002 In Black and White: The Untold Story of Joe Louis and Jesse Owens Donald McRae Joe Louis, Jesse Owens Athletics, Boxing
2003 Broken Dreams: Vanity, Greed and the Souring of British Football Tom Bower Football Football
2004 Basil D'Oliveira: Cricket and Conspiracy: the Untold Story Peter Oborne Basil D'Oliveira Cricket
2005 My Father & Other Working Class Football Heroes Gary Imlach Stewart Imlach Football
2006 Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson Geoffrey Ward Jack Johnson Boxing
2007 Provided You Don't Kiss Me: 20 Years With Brian Clough Duncan Hamilton Brian Clough Football
2008 Coming Back to Me: The Autobiography of Marcus Trescothick Marcus Trescothick, Peter Hayter Marcus Trescothick Cricket
2009 Harold Larwood Duncan Hamilton Harold Larwood Cricket
2010 Beware of the Dog: Rugby's Hard Man Reveals All Brian Moore Brian Moore Rugby union
2011 A Life Too Short: The Tragedy of Robert Enke Ronald Reng Robert Enke Football
2012 The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France: Doping, Cover-ups, and Winning at All Costs Tyler Hamilton, Daniel Coyle Tyler Hamilton, Lance Armstrong Cycling
2013 Doped: The Real Life Story of the 1960s Racehorse Doping Gang Jamie Reid William Roper, Micheline Lugeon Horse racing
2014 Night Games: Sex, Power and a Journey into the Dark Heart of Sport Anna Krien "Justin Dyer" Australian rules football
2015 The Game of Our Lives: The Meaning and Making of English Football David Goldblatt Football Football
2016 Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life William Finnegan William Finnegan Surfing
2017 Tom Simpson: Bird on the Wire Andy McGrath Tom Simpson Cycling
2018 A Boy in The Water Tom Gregory Tom Gregory Long-distance swimming
2018 The Lost Soul of Eamonn Magee Paul D. Gibson Eamonn Magee Boxing
2019 The Great Romantic: Cricket and the Golden Age of Neville Cardus Duncan Hamilton Neville Cardus Cricket
2020 The Rodchenkov Affair: How I Brought Down Russia's Secret Doping Empire Grigory Rodchenkov Doping in Russia Olympic Games
2021 Why We Kneel, How We Rise Michael Holding Black Lives Matter Athletics, cricket, etc.
2022 Beryl: In Search of Britain's Greatest Athlete Jeremy Wilson Beryl Burton Cycling
2023 Good For a Girl Lauren Fleshman Lauren Fleshman Athletics
2024 The Racket: On Tour with Tennis’s Golden Generation – and the other 99%. Conor Niland Conor Niland Tennis

References

  1. Wyatt, Neal (2007). The Readers' Advisory Guide to Nonfiction. ALA Editions. p. 118.
  2. Natasha Onwuemezi (8 June 2016). "William Hill Sports Award founder Gaustad dies". The Bookseller. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  3. ^ "William Hill Sports Book Of The Year". William Hill Sports Book Of The Year : William Hill News. 27 October 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  4. "William Hill Sports Book of the Year". The Times. 21 November 2012. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2012.(subscription required)
  5. Staff writer (12 August 2011). "'Engage' takes top Irish sports book award for Hampson and Kimmage". The Score. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  6. "From Agassi to Nazi, via "gonzo": prize's mixed bag « Sports Journalists' Association". Sportsjournalists.co.uk. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  7. "Moore's raw autobiography takes Bookies' Prize". Sportsjournalists.co.uk. 1 December 2010. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  8. Neill, Graeme (31 October 2011). "Kimmage surprise entry on William Hill shortlist". The Bookseller. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  9. "William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award winner to be announced". The Guardian. London. 28 November 2011.
  10. Fiske-Harrison, Alexander (25 November 2011). "To the Spanish bullfighting is much more than a sport". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  11. "Duncan Hamilton wins William Hill Sports Book of the Year for third time". the Guardian. 5 December 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  12. "Two-time winners Mcrae and Hamilton on William Hill Sports Book of the Year longlist | The Bookseller". www.thebookseller.com. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  13. 🖉Henderson, Jason (30 November 2023). "Lauren Fleshman wins William Hill sports book of the year prize".
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  22. Llewellyn, David (25 November 1998). "Today's Runners And Writers: The Six Shortlisted For The William Hill Sports Book Of The Year". The Independent. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
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  24. Wallace, Sam (8 November 2001). "Tokyo's riot police ill-prepared for `anarchic potential' of England fans". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
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  31. Weaver, Paul (21 November 2005). "Tale of injustice that prompted a son to shine". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  32. "Johnson biog named book of year". BBC News. 27 November 2006. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  33. Baker, Andrew (28 November 2006). "Johnson's tale floors five rivals". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  34. Simon Redfern (9 December 2007). "Provided You Don't Kiss Me, by Duncan Hamilton". The Independent. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  35. Dugdale, John (28 November 2007). "The week in books". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  36. Baker, Andrew (24 November 2008). "Marcus Trescothick autobiography wins William Hill Sports Book of the Year award". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  37. Baker, Andrew (26 November 2009). "Duncan Hamilton wins William Hill Book of the Year Award for Harold Larwood biography". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  38. "Harold Larwood biography wins William Hill prize for Hamilton". The Guardian. 26 November 2009. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  39. "Former British Lions hooker Brian Moore wins sports book of the year". The Guardian. 30 November 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  40. Briggs, Simon (30 November 2010). "Telegraph Sport columnist Brian Moore wins William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award for Beware of the Dog". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  41. Bagchi, Rob (28 November 2011). "Eloquent and sensitive story does justice to Robert Enke and his illness". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  42. Briggs, Simon (28 November 2011). "Ronaldo Reng's biography of German goalkeeper Robert Enke 'A Life Too Short' named Sports Book of the Year". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  43. Ingle, Sean (26 November 2012). "The Secret Race wins William Hill Sports Book of the Year for 2012". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  44. Dugdale, John (27 November 2014). "Anna Krien's Night Games wins sports book of the year prize". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  45. Dugdale, John (27 November 2015). "Sports book of the year brings ray of sunshine to the William Hill prize". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  46. "Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life wins 28th William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award". William Hill. 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  47. Sharpe, Graham (29 November 2017). "Andy McGrath's 'Tom Simpson: Bird on the Wire' wins 2017 William Hill Sports Book of the Year". SBC News. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  48. ^ Ingle, Sean (27 November 2018). "William Hill Sports Book of the Year prize shared for first time in 30 years". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  49. Briggs, Simon (6 December 2019). "Neville Cardus's spirit oversees Duncan Hamilton's third William Hill Sports Book of the Year". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  50. "William Hill Sports Book of the Year: 2020 Winner Announced". williamhill.com. 3 December 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  51. "The William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2021 Winner". Waterstones. 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  52. "William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2022 Winner". William Hill. 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  53. "William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2023 Winner". William Hill. 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  54. "William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2024 Winner". William Hill. 2024. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
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