SHORTLISTED 2025

Football Book of the Year | Shortlisted

The Striker and the Clock

by Georgia Cloepfil

Georgia Cloepfil tells the story of her life in football: the triumph, the exhilaration, the deep bonds between teammates, and also the years of self-denial, exile and dedication, in which players try in vain to outpace a clock that ticks down toward an indeterminate ending. What emerges is a profound meditation on what it is to have a body, and what it is to have the compulsion to push it to do the near impossible; and a love letter to the motivations, joys, pains and desires of a beautiful game.

Explore the rest of the Football Book of the Year Shortlist
Extra Time Beckons, Penalties Loom by Adam Hurrey
Go To War by Jon Spurling
How to Win the Premier League by Ian Graham
I Can't Stop Thinking About VAR by Daisy Christodoulou
Jürgen Said to Me by Dan Morgan
Namaste, Geezer by Shekhar Bhatia