2018 William Hill Sports Book of the Year: Shortlist

The 17 books nominated in the Longlist for the 2018 William Hill Sports Book of the Year has now been whittled down to the final 7 titles, and they are as follows:

  1. Fear and Loathing on the Oche: A Gonzo Journey Through the World of Championship Darts by King ADZ (Yellow Jersey)
  2. Tiger Woods by Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian (Simon & Schuster)
  3. The Boy on the Shed by Paul Ferris (Hodder & Stoughton)
  4. The Lost Soul of Eamonn Magee by Paul D. Gibson (Mercier Press)
  5. A Boy in the Water by Tom Gregory (Particular Books)
  6. Berlin 1936: Sixteen Days in August by Oliver Hilmes (The Bodley Head)
  7. Sevens Heaven: The Beautiful Chaos of Fiji’s Olympic Dream by Ben Ryan (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)

 

The only surviving book focusing on football is The Boy on the Shed by Paul Ferris.

About the author: Paul Ferris was a teenage prodigy, becoming Newcastle United’s youngest-ever player in 1982, only for injury to ensure his promise went unfulfilled. He later returned to the club as a physiotherapist before earning a Master’s degree and beginning a successful quest to qualify as a barrister. But the lure of football was always strong and he went back for a third spell at Newcastle, as Head of the Medical Department, again working closely with a host of big-name players and managers. Paul also became a novelist and now runs a successful health and fitness business.

The winner will be announced at an afternoon reception at BAFTA on Tuesday 27 November.

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2018 William Hill Sports Book of the Year: Longlist

2018 marks the 30th year of the William Hill Sports Book Award. The longlist has been announced and is as follows:

The longlist in full (alphabetically by author’s surname):

  1. Fear and Loathing on the Oche by King Adz (Yellow Jersey, Penguin Random House)
  2. Tiger Woods by Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian (Simon & Schuster)
  3. Life to the Limit: My Autobiography by Jenson Button (Blink, Bonnier Books)
  4. State of Play: Under the Skin of the Modern Game by Michael Calvin (Century, Penguin Random House)
  5. This Girl Ran: Tales of a Party Girl Turned Triathlete by Helen Croydon (Summersdale Publishers)
  6. The Boy on the Shed by Paul Ferris (Hodder & Stoughton)
  7. The Lost Soul of Eamon Magee by Paul D. Gibson (Mercier Press)
  8. You’ll Never Walk by Andy Grant (deCoubertin Books)
  9. A Boy in the Water by Tom Gregory (Particular Books, Penguin Random House)
  10. The Card: Every Match, Every Mile by Steve Hill (Ockley Books)
  11. Berlin 1936 Sixteen Days in August by Oliver Hilmes (The Bodley Head, Penguin Random House)
  12. Chasing Points: A Season on the Pro Tennis Circuit by Gregory Howe (Pitch Publishing)
  13. The Test by Nathan Leamon (Constable, Little Brown)
  14. The Mountains Are Calling: Running in the High Places of Scotland by Jonny Muir (Sandstone Press)
  15. Bump, Bike & Baby: Mummy’s Gone Adventure Racing by Moire O’Sullivan (Sandstone Press)
  16. Sevens Heaven: The Beautiful Chaos of Fiji’s Olympic Dream by Ben Ryan (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, The Orion Publishing Group)
  17. Heads Up: My Life Story by Alan Smith (Constable, Little, Brown)

 

Football has four titles in the list, which are State of Play: Under the Skin of the Modern Game by Michael Calvin, The Boy on the Shed by Paul Ferris, The Card: Every Match, Every Mile by Steve Hill and Heads Up: My Life Story by Alan Smith.

The ‘Beautiful Game’ has had a number of winner’s down the years including Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby in 1992 and the latest in 2015, The Game of Our Lives: The Meaning and Making of English Football by David Goldblatt.

The judging panel for this year’s Award consists of: journalist and broadcaster Mark Lawson; retired professional footballer and former chairman of the Professional Footballer’s Association, Clarke Carlisle; broadcaster and writer John Inverdale; broadcaster Danny Kelly; award-winning journalist Hugh McIlvanney; and The Times columnist and author, Alyson Rudd. Chair of Judges is Graham Sharpe, co-creator of the Award alongside the late John Gaustad, founder of the Sportspages bookshop, who passed away in 2016.

The 2018 shortlist will be announced on 25th October 2018. The winner will be announced at an afternoon reception at BAFTA on Tuesday 27th November. As well as a £30,000 cash prize, this year’s winning author will receive a free £2,000 William Hill bet, and a day at the races.

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