WilliamHill.com Irish Sports Book of the Year
November 01, 2011The nominees for this year's WilliamHill.com Irish Sports Book of the Year have been announced today. There are 30 contenders for this year's award, the largest entry since the award was established 6 years ago.
Some of the top names in Irish sport and Irish sports writing will compete for the award this year covering a range of sports from rugby and soccer to Gaelic Games and cycling. Some of the contenders from Gaelic Games include Joe Kernan's autobiography "Without a Shadow of a Doubt" detailing his life in the GAA and also how the downturn left him bankrupt, while Malachy Clerkin's book, "The Dubs", details Dublin's march to All-Ireland glory for the first time in 16 years.
Former Offaly double All-Ireland winner Michael Duignan tells his story in "Life, Death and Hurling" while Declan Bogue's "This is our Year" is a behind the scenes look at the fortunes of the Ulster teams competing in this year's Football Championship.
Horseracing throws up a couple of this year's contenders with Paul Carberry's "One Hell of a Ride" and AP McCoy's autobiography both in the hunt for the award, while Nicolas Roche's "Inside the Peloton" gives an account of his life as a professional cyclist.
Soccer is also represented in the list of contenders with Ronnie Whelan's account of his time at Liverpool and the Irish team, "Walk On - My Life in Red" and Brian Kennedy's book on the League of Ireland, "Just Follow the Floodlights". Former William Hill Sports Book of the Year winner Paul Kimmage is also in contention with his book, "Engage - The Fall & Rise of Matt Hampson", on former English rugby international Matt Hampson who was paralysed during training.
Some of the other books in the running are "Born to Perform" by Gerard Hartmann, one of Ireland's top physical therapists and how he has helped to mould the careers of some of the world's biggest sports stars, while "Cyclone - My Story" tells the life story of Barry McGuigan, one of Ireland's greatest boxers.
Tony Kenny, PR Manager for WilliamHill.com, said; "There has been huge interest in this year's award which shows how far we have come with the competition in the past 6 years. The standard of sports writing this year has again improved with some top class books in the running for the award and a range of stories from autobiographies to accounts of some of the most famous occasions in Irish sport. This year's is probably the most competitive list of contenders we have seen so there will certainly be a deserving winner come December."
The shortlist for the WilliamHill.com Irish Sports Book of the Year will be announced in November with the winner of this year's award being revealed in early December. The award will be decided by a judging panel of 11 of Ireland's most respected sports commentators, which includes George Hook, Matt Cooper, Eamon Dunphy and Paul Dempsey.
The WilliamHill.com Irish Sports Book of the Year was established in 2006 to reward excellence in sports writing in Ireland. This is the sixth year of the award with previous winners including, "The Club" by Christy O'Connor, Dónal Óg Cusack's "Come What May", Paul McGrath's "Back from the Brink", Tommy Byrne's "Crashed and Byrned" and "Heart and Soul" by Trevor Brennan.
List of nominees for the WilliamHill.com Irish Sports Book of the Year
Parish Far From Home - Philip O'Connor - (Gill and MacMillan)
Deadlock - Eoghan Corry - (Gill and MacMillan)
Brothers in Sport - Charlie Mulqueen - (Mercier Press)
Inside the Peloton - Nicolas Roche - (Transworld)
Joking Apart -Donncha O'Callaghan - (Transworld)
Engage-The Fall&Rise of Matt Hampson Paul Kimmage - (Simon & Schuster)
Walk On - My Life in Red - Ronnie Whelan - (Simon & Schuster)
Cyclone - My Story -Barry McGuigan - (Random House)
Mick Mackey - Henry Martin - (Collins Press)
Ocean Fever - Damian Foxall & David Brannigan(Collins Press)
The GAA - County by County - Mike Cronin, Mark Duncan & Paul Rouse(Collins Press)
Places We Play - Mike Cronin & Roisin Higgins - (Collins Press)
Ambassadors on Horseback - Michael Slavin & Louise Parkes (O'Brien Press)
Who Dares Runs - Gerry Duffy - (Ballpoint Press)
This is our Year - Declan Bogue - (Ballpoint Press)
Can You Manage? - Tim Healy - (Ballpoint Press)
One Hell of a Ride - Paul Carberry - (Paperweight Press)
100 Irish Rugby Greats - John Scally - (Mainstream Publishing)
Just Follow the Floodlights - Brian Kennedy - (Liffey Press)
The Dubs - Road to Sam Maguire Malachy Clerkin - (Penguin Ireland)
AP McCoy - My Autobiography AP McCoy & Donn McClean - (Orion Books)
Life, Death & Hurling - Michael Duignan - (Irish Sports Publishing)
Without a Shadow of a Doubt - Joe Kernan - (Irish Sports Publishing)
Red Blooded - Alan Quinlan -(Irish Sports Publishing)
Blue Blood - Bernard Jackman - (Irish Sports Publishing)
Gods Vs Mortals - Paul Keane - (Irish Sports Publishing)
The Official Book of the FAI Cup Sean Ryan - (Liberties Press)
Whose Side Are You On? - Teddy Jamieson - (Yellow Jersey Press)
John Doyle - John Harrington - (Irish Sports Publishing)
Six After Six -Ger Siggins - (Brickfield's Press)
Born to Perform - Gerard Hartmann - (Orpen Press) Tweet
