THE LONGLIST FOR this year’s William Hill Sports Book of the Year award has been announced today.
15 books were chosen from the 143 entries and they will be whittled down to a shortlist on 28 October.
The winner is then set to be announced at the awards ceremony in London on 2 December.
In its 33rd year, 2021 will see a new winner claim the prestigious prize and the £30,000 (€34,000) prize money as none of the longlisted authors have been previously nominated.
Last year’s winner was Russian whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov with ‘The Rodchenkov Affair: How I Brought Down Putin’s Secret Doping Empire’.
This time around, the themes written about include racism, discrimination in sport, battling Motor Neurone Disease and the demise of one of the world’s biggest football clubs.
“I’m delighted to have been involved in selecting the longlist for this prestigious award for a second year,” said William Hill Sports Book of the Year review panellist and sports broadcaster Matt Williams.
“The bar was set so high by last year’s entrants but it has been cleared this year. The number of celebrated and talented writers who missed out is testament to the strength of the longlist. Yet again, they demonstrate how lucky we are to be living in a golden age of sport writing.”
🥁 Introducing the @WilliamHill Sports Book of the Year 2021 Longlist
— William Hill Sports Book Of The Year (@BookiePrize) September 30, 2021
👏 Congratulations to the fantastic 15 books on the list
❓ Which is your favourite?#WHSBOTY pic.twitter.com/JCt9HbeGUM
The 2021 William Hill Sports Book of the Year longlist
- Timothy Abraham & James Coyne – Evita Burned Down Our Pavilion
- Sasha Abramsky – Little Wonder
- Sue Anstiss – Game On
- Ryan Baldi – The Dream Factory
- Rob Burrow – Too Many Reasons to Live
- Ed Caesar – The Moth and The Mountain
- Michael Calvin – Whose Game Is It Anyway?
- Michael Crawley – Out of Thin Air
- Tris Dixon – Damage
- Elise Downing – Coasting
- Tom English & Peter Burns – This Is Your Everest
- Michael Holding – Why We Kneel, How We Rise
- Simon Kuper – Barça
- Marlon Lee Moncrieffe – Black Champions in Cycling
- Claire Smith – Becoming Brutal
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