The Sports Bookshelf

Television sports presenter Clare Balding leads a strong sporting line-up at the Ilkley Literature Festival, which began today in the beautiful Yorkshire spa town and continues for the next two and a half weeks. Clare will be talking about her newly-published memoir, My Animals and Other Family , at the Kings Hall on Friday, October 12 (7.30pm). My Animals and Other Family (Viking) is a memoir of Clare's early life at the racing stables run by her father, Ian Balding, where she sat astride legendary thoroughbreds such as Mill Reef, winner of the Derby and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, and would sometimes walk into the family kitchen to find the Queen sitting at the breakfast table. Tour de France winner Stephen Roche , rugby league giant Robbie Paul and former England Test batsman Ed Smith are other sports stars who will be appearing at the Festival. Roche, the Irishman who won the cycling triple crown of Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and world championshi

AMONG THIS WEEK'S NEW SPORTS BOOKS... Here's a  Sports Bookshelf  selection of new titles published in the last few days.  Keep coming back for more news of new releases.  Click on the titles or the picture links for more information and to buy. I Am The Secret Footballer: Lifting the Lid on the Beautiful Game Author Anonymous (Guardian Books) Who is The Secret Footballer? The identity of the author of a column under that name carried by the Guardian newspaper for the last 18 months is a secret known to just a handful of people. But whoever he is - and whoever he plays for - he is always honest, always fearless and always opinionated...and, we are told, absolutely genuine.  This story of one player's career is a unique combination of considered analysis, tell-all gossip and the joys and frustrations that only someone who plays the game at the highest levels can really feel.  It tells us that, while football is a game we watch, study and digest in fine print