# William Hill 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 |
| 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 [joint winner] | Tom Gregory | Tom Gregory | Long-distance swimming |
| 2018 | The Lost Soul of Eamonn Magee [joint winner] | 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 |