Entries for the 2020 William Hill Sports Book of the Year are now open with any full-length book, the subject of which is predominantly sporting, published between 13th October 2019 and 12th October 2020, eligible for entry.
The Great Romantic: Cricket and the Golden Age of Neville Cardus by Duncan Hamilton (Hodder & Stoughton) was awarded the 2019 William Hill Sports Book of the Year. By winning the £30,000 award, presented by judge Mark Lawson at the Royal Horseguards Hotel in Central London, Duncan Hamilton became the first person to have won the award three times – having previously won in 2007 (Provided You Don’t Kiss Me) and 2009 (Harold Larwood: The Authorized Biography).
In winning the William Hill Sports Book of the Year, The Great Romantic, became the sixth cricket book to win the award and the first to do so since Hamilton’s book Harold Larwood won in 2009.
Previous winners of the prestigious award include Nick Hornby, Brian Moore, and Marcus Trescothick. Football is the most successful topic having won seven awards followed by cricket (six) and boxing (five).
The William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award, first awarded in 1989 to True Blue: The Oxford Boat Race Mutiny by Daniel Topolski and Patrick Robinson, is the world's longest established and most valuable literary sports-writing prize.
Entry forms are available by visiting www.williamhillplc.com/newsmedia/sports-book-of-the-year/.
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For further information, please contact whsboty@williamhill.co.uk
Notes to Editors
- This year’s prize is open to any full-length book, providing the subject is predominantly sporting, published for the first time in the UK between 13th October 2019 to 12th October 2020. Shortlisted authors will receive £3,000 cash and a leather-bound copy of their book.
- The winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year will be announced at an afternoon reception in central London, Thursday 3rd December.
- Previous winners of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award:
2019- The Great Romantic: Cricket and the Golden Age of Neville Cardus by Duncan Hamilton
2018 – The Lost Soul of Eamonn Magee by Paul D. Gibson (Joint Winner)
2018 – The Boy in the Water by Tom Gregory (Joint Winner)
2017 – Tom Simpson: Bird on the Wire by Andy McGrath
2016 – Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan
2015 – The Game of Our Lives by David Goldblatt
2014 – Night Games: Sex, Power and a Journey into the Dark Heart of Sport by Anna Krien
2013 – Doped: The Real Life Story of the 1960s Racehorse Doping Gang by Jamie Reid
2012 – The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France by Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle
2011 – A Life Too Short: The Tragedy of Robert Enke by Ronald Reng
2010 – Beware of the Dog: Rugby’s Hardman Reveals All by Brian Moore
2009 – Harold Larwood: The Authorized Biography of the World’s Fastest Bowler by Duncan Hamilton
2008 – Coming Back to Me: The Autobiography by Marcus Trescothick
2007 – Provided You Don't Kiss Me: 20 Years with Brian Clough by Duncan Hamilton
2006 – Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson by Geoffrey Ward
2005 – My Father and Other Working-Class Football Heroes by Gary Imlach
2004 – Basil D'Oliveira: Cricket and Controversy by Peter Oborne
2003 – Broken Dreams: Vanity, Greed and the Souring of British Football by Tom Bower
2002 – In Black and White: The Untold Story of Joe Louis and Jesse Owens by Donald McRae
2001 – Seabiscuit: The True Story of Three Men and a Racehorse by Laura Hillenbrand
2000 – It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life by Lance Armstrong
1999 – A Social History of English Cricket by Derek Birley
1998 – Angry White Pyjamas: An Oxford Poet Trains with the Tokyo Riot Police by Robert Twigger
1997 – A Lot of Hard Yakka: Triumph and Torment - A County Cricketer's Life by Simon Hughes
1996 – Dark Trade: Lost in Boxing by Donald McRae
1995 – A Good Walk Spoiled: Days and Nights on the PGA Tour by John Feinstein
1994 – Football Against the Enemy by Simon Kuper
1993 – Endless Winter: The Inside Story of the Rugby Revolution by Stephen Jones
1992 – Fever Pitch; A Fan’s Life by Nick Hornby
1991 – Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times by Thomas Hauser
1990 – Rough Ride: An Insight into Pro Cycling by Paul Kimmage
1989 – True Blue: The Oxford Boat Race Mutiny by Daniel Topolski and Patrick Robinson
