The judging academy of the Sports Book Awards, in association with The Sunday Times, have identified the most qualified previous winners to showcase the best sports books of the 21st century to date.
Muhammad Ali, Sir Alex Ferguson, and Shane Warne feature in a brilliant list of books to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Sports Book Awards.
The 20th Sports Book Awards, in association with The Sunday Times, are to take place at the Kia Oval on the evening of Thursday 26th May. A public vote is now open at sportsbookawards.com to find the overall best sports book of the 21st century.
The Sports Book Awards in association with The Sunday Times is a major annual promotion for sports writing and publishing. The awards exist to highlight the most outstanding sports books of the previous calendar year, to showcase their merits, and to enhance their reputation and profile. Shortlists in 11 award categories will be announced 5th May. In addition, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Sports Book Awards, the judging academy have selected previous winners to showcase the best sports books of the 21st century.
The best sports books of the 21st century have been chosen by The Sports Book Awards Judging Academy, which, over the last 20 years, has featured Sir Michael Parkinson, Sir Andrew Strauss, Clare Balding, Gabby Logan, Martin Johnson, Lawrence Dallaglio, The Football Writers’ Association, The Rugby Writers, Sir Tim Rice, Dame Katherine Grainger, and the late Bob Willis.
Ali: A Life by Jonathan Eig, My Autobiography by Sir Alex Ferguson and On Warne by Gideon Haigh feature on the incredible list of 20 great sporting titles.
There are 7 football-related books on the list, including Back from the Brink by Paul McGrath, A Life Too Short chronicling Ronald Reng’s tragic suicide, Adrian Tempany’s account of the Hillsborough disaster, And the Sun Shines Now, Michael Calvin’s The Nowhere Men, Jonathan Wilson’s Inverting The Pyramid, Ken Bensinger’s Red Card, and My Autobiography by Sir Alex Ferguson.
Michael Calvin has also been nominated with Proud, which he wrote with former Wales and British Lion Captain Gareth Thomas. Other rugby books include Brian Moore’s Beware of the Dog, Ben Ryan’s Sevens Heaven, and Tom English’s The Grudge about the Calcutta Cup.
Anna Krien’s Night Games features alongside two of last year’s outstanding Sports Book Awards winners The Moth and the Mountain by Ed Caesar and Born Fighter by Ruqsana Begum.
Harold Larwood by Duncan Hamilton, Cricket 2.0 by Freddie Wilde and Tim Wigmore and On Warne by Gideon Haigh are the cricket books selected.
Seven Deadly Sins by David Walsh and Matthew Syed’s Bounce complete the best sports books of the 21st century list.
A public vote to find the overall best sports book of the 21st century from the 20 titles is now open on the Sports Book Awards website. Please visit www.sportsbookawards.com to vote for your favourite.
The book with the most votes will be announced on the night of the Sports Book Awards in association with The Sunday Times Gala Dinner at the Kia Oval on the evening of the 26th of May.
Full list of titles for the best sports book of the 21st century: Back from the Brink by Paul McGrath Inverting the Pyramid by Jonathan Wilson Harold Larwood by Duncan Hamilton Beware of the Dog by Brian Moore The Grudge by Tom English Bounce by Matthew Syed A Life Too Short by Ronald Reng Seven Deadly Sins by David Walsh On Warne by Gideon Haigh My Autobiography by Alex Ferguson The Nowhere Men by Michael Calvin Proud by Gareth Thomas & Michael Calvin Night Games by Anna Krien And The Sun Shines Now by Adrian Tempany Ali: A Life by Jonathan Eig Born Fighter by Ruqsana Begum Sevens Heaven by Ben Ryan Red Card by Ken Bensinger Cricket 2.0 by Tim Wigmore & Freddie Wilde The Moth & The Mountain by Ed Caesar
