THE 23-STRONG longlist for the 2018 eir Sport Sports Book of the Year has been announced.

This year’s contenders include numerous GAA entries including ‘The Obsession’ from Seán Cavanagh, ‘Game Changer’ from Cora Staunton and ‘The Hurlers’ by Paul Rouse,  while Andy Lee’s ‘Fighter’ and another entry from The42 also make the cut.

It is the fourth year of the prize with ‘The Choice’ by Dublin footballer Philly McMahon scooping the 2017 title, while ‘What Do You Think of That’ from Kerry footballer Kieran Donaght and ‘Dub Sub Confidential’ by John Leonard won in 2016 and 2015 respectively.

For the second consecutive year, The42 is represented twice on the list — ‘Behind The Lines, No 2: Great Irish Sports Stories,’ which includes contributions from a number of the site’s writers, has been given the nod, while Deputy Editor Niall Kelly features for his work with Andy Lee on ‘Fighter’.

Behind The Lines 2.0 launched last month.

He helped McMahon pen ‘The Choice’ in 2017, and went on to win the award.

The winning author(s) of the eir sport Book of the Year will earn a €1,500 cash prize, a specially commissioned trophy and €10,000 worth of TV advertising on eir sport.

The shortlist will be announced at the end of November with the winner confirmed at an awards ceremony in Dublin on Monday, 10 December.

The longlist in full is below…

Full longlist

• The Obsession — Seán Cavanagh with Damian Lawlor (Black and White Publishing)
• 100 Greatest GAA Moments — John Scally (Black and White Publishing)
• Winners — Hugh Cahill (Hachette Ireland)
• Dream. Believe. Achieve. My Autobiography — Jonathan Rea (Harper Collins)
• Driven — Rosemary Smith with Ann Ingle (Harper Collins)
• Play It Again, Des — Des Cahill (Sport Media)
• The Boys of ’93: Derry’s All-Ireland Kings — Eamonn Coleman with Maria McCourt (Merrion Press)
• Tony 10 — Declan Lynch and Tony O’Reilly (Gill Books)
• Fighter — Andy Lee with Niall Kelly (Gill Books)
• At All Costs — Davy Fitzgerald with Vincent Hogan (Gill Books)
• The Rory’s Stories Guide to Being Irish — Rory O’Connor (Gill Books)
• 110% Legend — Tony Keady with Liam Hayes (Umbrella Publishing)
• Dark Arts — Mike Ross with Liam Hayes (Umbrella Publishing)
• Game Changer — Cora Staunton (Penguin Ireland and Transworld Ireland)
• The Hurlers — Paul Rouse (Penguin Ireland and Transworld Ireland)
• Dublin: The Chaos Years — Neil Cotter (Penguin Ireland and Transworld Ireland)
• The Lost Soul of Eamonn McGee — Paul D. Gibson (Mercier Press)
• The Little Book of Irish Athletics — Tom Hunt (The History Press)
• Great Moments in Irish Rugby — Sportsfile (O’Brien Press)
• Behind the Lines, No. 2: Great Irish Sports Stories from The42 — The42.ie (Journal Media)
• The Last Amateurs — Jonathan Bradley (Blackstaff Press)
• The Man Who Was Never Knocked Down — Rónán Mac Iomaire (Rowman and Littlefield)
• The Growth and Development of Sport in County Tipperary 1840-1880 — Pat Bracken (Cork University Press)

Judging panel

• Eoin Sheahan — Off the Ball – Newstalk 106-108fm
• Pat McCarry — SportsJoe.ie
• Clare McNamara — RTÉ
• Cliona Foley — Freelance sportswriter
• Mike Scully — Irish Daily Mirror
• Paul Kimmage — Sunday Independent
• Malachy Clerkin — Irish Times
• Colm O’Connor — Irish Examiner

Subscribe to our new podcast, Heineken Rugby Weekly on The42, here: