The Sports Bookshelf

Why not take the chance to win £50 in National Book Tokens by voting for your favourite sports book from among the winners at the British Sports Book Awards, announced earlier this month!  Follow the link to an online form to register your vote an be entered automatically into a draw. To help you chose, over the next few days the Sports Bookshelf will highlight each of the eight contenders to be named the overall British Sports Book of the Year. Today's category winner: BEST FOOTBALL BOOK   Anthony Clavane’s superb fusion of personal biography with the history of a football club and of a city attracted enormous acclaim among reviewers and due recognition when it was named Best Football Book by the British Sports Book Award judges. The story traces the highs and lows of Leeds United, from the dizzy but some would say tainted heights of the Don Revie era to the crash-and-burn years under chairman Peter Risdale’s profligate tenure. The tale has been told many times, but Sunday Mirr

Why not take the chance to win £50 in National Book Tokens by voting for your favourite sports book from among the winners at the British Sports Book Awards, announced earlier this month!  Follow the link to an online form to register your vote an be entered automatically into a draw. To help you chose, over the next few days the  Sports Bookshelf will highlight each of the eight contenders to be named the overall British Sports Book of the Year. Today's category winner: BEST AUTOBIOGRAPHY Brian Moore’s bleakly honest life story had already collected the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award for 2010 before it was announced as winner of the Best Autobiography category at the British Sports Book Awards. The former England rugby hooker‘s candid and unsettling memoir tracks the highs and lows of a highly successful rugby career but goes much further, revealing painful memories of sexual abuse suffered as a schoolboy and the feelings of rejection he encountered as an ado

Squeaky Bum Time -- of all the words to have tumbled from the lips of Sir Alex Ferguson during his 37 years as a football manager, those three have become the most famous. The phrase can be found in a dictionary now, variously defined but taken generally to mean ‘the tense final stages of a sporting competition’. Yet Daniel Taylor, who has assembled a collection of Ferguson quotes under that title, says that there remains a doubt over whether they really were the words he used one morning in the spring of 2003 as he tried to find a humorous way to describe the state of that year’s Premier League title race. He should know.  As the man responsible for The Guardian newspaper’s coverage of Manchester United, Taylor was present at the press conference in question with his notebook open and his voice recorder running.  But he admits that none of the reporters present can be 100 per cent certain of exactly what Sir Alex said, even to this day. “His accent can make him a bit difficult

Ian Botham once described Fred Trueman as cricket’s first ‘superstar’ and while there are others with equal claims on that title there is no doubt that the Yorkshire and England fast bowler attracted attention in a way that set him apart from most of his contemporaries. Instantly recognisable for his unruly mop of black hair and fearsomely expressive features, Fiery Fred had a volatile temperament to go with his venomous pace.  His capacity to ruffle the cricket establishment as well as opposing batsmen won him an army of fans. Given that he has been the subject of two biographies as well as memoirs that he penned himself, it might be thought there is little about him that is not already documented but a new life story written by journalist Chris Waters, to be published later in the year, promises fresh material and a more detached appraisal. The Yorkshire Post cricket correspondent interviewed more than one hundred former players, both teammates and opponents, as well as members

FORMER ENGLAND CAPTAIN MIKE ATHERTON TALKS TO THE SPORTS BOOKSHELF Part two of an exclusive interview. See Part One.   Mike Atherton was following a well worn path when he swapped cricket for a career in the media on his retirement as a player in 2001. There was a period recently when the cricket correspondents of all four of England’s heavyweight, formerly broadsheet daily newspapers were former England Test players, with another two occupying similarly prominent positions on the Sundays. As a high-profile figure in the game, having captained England in a record 54 Tests, Atherton offered the added attraction of celebrity as well as insight and his services were always likely to be coveted by newspaper editors. In those circumstances, he was only too aware that some might doubt his credentials as a journalist and that only made him more determined to show his writing ability justified the column inches those editors were willing to give him. “I think it is important as a spor

FORMER ENGLAND CAPTAIN MIKE ATHERTON TALKS TO THE SPORTS BOOKSHELF Exclusive two-part interview -- Part Two tomorrow When Mike Atherton first set foot in a cricket press box as a writer rather than a player he knew there would be some who would resent his presence.  He had captained an England team to which winning seldom came easily and his relationship with the journalists who would now be his colleagues had at times been stormy. It is one reason he was determined that if nothing else he would prove himself at least worthy of respect, doing the job as well as he could, striving to improve.  Honoured by his peers two years in a row at the Sports Journalists’ Association’s annual awards, he has clearly achieved that particular goal. “I don’t write for awards but of course it is nice to get some recognition,” he said.  “But for me what’s really important if you are a former sportsman and you go into the press box is that you treat it seriously, write your own stuff and do the best

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VOTE FOR YOUR SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bounce, Matthew Syed’s thesis on the matter of whether sporting talent is inherent or acquired, may have received critical acclaim, even to the extent of winning the prize for Best New Writer at the British Sports Book Awards this week. But that is not to say it is everyone’s cup of tea. Certainly not in the case of Michael Henderson , Syed’s former colleague on The Times , whose review in The Spectator  is sceptical in general and takes exception in particular when the author steps beyond the boundaries of sport to suggest that Picasso and Mozart owed the brilliance of their work not to genius but to hours of practice. Renowed for his acerbic observations both as a sports writer and an arts critic, Henderson is bang in form. “Picas

The judges have had their say in naming their winners in each category at the 2011 British Sports Book Awards -- but deciding the overall winner is down to you. And by voting for your favourite Sports Book of the Year from the winners of each of the award categories, you could win £50 of National Book Tokens. Follow this link to the British Sports Book Awards website and enter your choice in the on-line vote. Your details will then go into a draw to win £50 of National Book Tokens. The winners in each category were: Best Biography: Trautmann’s Journey , by Catrine Clay Best Autobiography: Beware of The Dog , by Brian Moore Best Football Book: Promised Land , by Anthony Clavane Best Rugby Book: The Grudge , by Tom English Best Cricket Book: Slipless in Settle , by Harry Pearson Best Racing Book: The Story of Your Life , by James Lambie Best Illustrated Book: ‘61 The Spurs Double (Vision Sports) Best New Writer: Bounce , by Matthew Syed Vote for your favourite - the

Stoke City author Simon Lowe will doubtless not mind at all if his latest title needs an amendment after the final whistle has sounded on the FA Cup final. Lowe, a columnist on the Sentinel newspaper in Stoke, teamed up with fellow writer David Lee to compile Stoke City’s Greatest Games , a comprehensive celebration of the 50 biggest triumphs in the history of the Potters. The selection was drawn from an official poll conducted among fans by the club website, www.stokecityfc.com. The 1972 League Cup final victory over Chelsea, plus promotion celebrations and famous triumphs over the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool, Leeds United, Arsenal and Chelsea feature strongly, as do some less glamorous but nonetheless exceptional wins over Bury, Stockport, Cardiff, Reading and Luton during the club’s leaner years further down the league.  Interviews with stars of the highlighted games enliven the stories. Lowe is also the author of Match of My Life: Stoke City , in which 16 former player

Anthony Clavane’s Promised Land , his brilliant personal history of Leeds United, has triumphed in the Best Football Book category at the 2011 British Sports Book Awards at the Savoy Hotel in London this evening. The award is overdue recognition for Sunday Mirror sports writer Clavane, whose book, published by Yellow Jersey Press, relates the history of the team to the evolution of the Jewish community in Leeds and the physical, social and cultural development of the city. (See the shortlist for Best Football Book; read The Sports Bookshelf's interview with Anthony Clavane). The other winners of the major categories included more success for Harry Pearson, whose Slipless in Settle  (Little, Brown) impressed the judges most in the Best Cricket Book category. (See the shortlist for Best Cricket Book; read more about Slipless in Settle). Pearson’s hilarious take on the northern club cricket scene has already been voted MCC/Cricket Society book of the year. Trautmann's Jour

THE SPORTS BOOKSHELF SPOTLIGHTS THE SHORTLISTS PART SEVEN -- BEST NEW WRITER  The shortlists have been announced for the ninth British Sports Book Awards, organised by the National Sporting Club. The winners will be named at a ceremony at The Savoy Hotel on 9th May. The number of categories rises to 10 this year with the introduction of ‘best racing book’ and ‘best sports book retailer’ in addition to best biography and autobiography, best football, cricket and rugby books, best illustrated title, best new writer and best publicity campaign. After the awards are made, the winners in each category will be entered into a public vote to find the best overall sports book of the year -- a campaign that will be supported by booksellers throughout the country in the run up to Father's Day. Today’s spotlight is on the Best New Writer award, for which the candidates are: On The Road , by Daniel Harris (Speakeasy Books) Sailing the Dream , by Mike Perham (Bantam Press) Bounce ,

THE SPORTS BOOKSHELF SPOTLIGHTS THE SHORTLISTS PART SIX -- BEST RACING BOOK The shortlists have been announced for the ninth British Sports Book Awards, organised by the National Sporting Club. The winners will be named at a ceremony at The Savoy Hotel on 9th May. The number of categories rises to 10 this year with the introduction of ‘best racing book’ and ‘best sports book retailer’ in addition to best biography and autobiography, best football, cricket and rugby books, best illustrated title, best new writer and best publicity campaign. After the awards are made, the winners in each category will be entered into a public vote to find the best overall sports book of the year -- a campaign that will be supported by booksellers throughout the country in the run up to Father's Day. Today’s spotlight is on the Best Racing Book award, for which the candidates are: Kauto Star & Denman, by   Jonathan Powell (Weidenfeld & Nicolson). The Story of Your Life , by James La