eir Sport has announced details of the long list of entries for what is the third year of the eir Sport Sports Book of the Year.
22 books in total are in the running to follow in the footsteps of the 2016 winner, ‘What Do You Think of That’ from Kerry footballer, Kieran Donaghy and the 2015 winner, ‘Dub Sub Confidential’ from former Dublin footballer John Leonard.
The GAA is well represented again with half of the books on the list being related to Gaelic Football and Hurling.
Among the front-runners will be Jason Sherlock’s new autobiography alongside those of Jackie Tyrell and Colm Cooper. Shay Given’s Any Given Saturday is another likely to make the short list while a personal favourite would be Dave Hannigan’s ‘Boy Wonder, Tales from the Sidelines of an Irish Childhood.
One unfortunate thing to note is that only one of the 22 books on the longlist is written by a woman, Anne Holland’s Festival Fever, The Irish at Cheltenham.
Clearly if the books aren’t there by women writers then they cannot make the list but with international surveys showing that women writers produce between 30 and 40 percent of the books that are published this is an issue that is relevant in sport.
eir Sport also today confirmed the judging panel for this years’ award which is comprised of renowned sports editors and journalists from the Irish sporting media. The judging panel will be independently chaired by Mark Duncan and includes Evanne Ní Chuillin from RTÉ, Adrian Barry from Newstalk, Cathal Dervan from the Irish Sun, Malachy Clerkin from the Irish Times, John Greene from the Sunday Independent, Sean McGoldrick from the Sunday World Sinead Kissane from TV3 and Jack White from the irish Daily Mail.
“Once again, the eir Sport Book of the Year has delivered a remarkably high standard of books competing for this years’ award,” said eir Sport managing director Glenn Killane.
“This year sees the highest number of autobiographies we have had over the three years of the award, offering sports fans tremendous insight into some of our most revered Irish sporting heroes.”
“Overall, the range of entries features a host of fascinating topics and subject matter with an outstanding level of writing evident across the board which make it a difficult task for our judging panel to select their shortlist and winner.”
“Finally, I would like to thank our partners at Publishing Ireland and the publishing houses throughout the country without whom this award would not be a success.”
“Publishing Ireland is delighted to partner with eir Sport once again this year and together we’re looking for the best sports book to win this award which will hopefully go on to be one of the bestselling books of 2017,” added Ronan Colgan, President of Publishing Ireland.
The winning author of the eir Sport Sports Book of the Year will receive a €1,500 cash prize, a specially commissioned trophy and €10,000 worth of TV advertising on eir Sport.
The final shortlist that the judges will decide on will be announced at the end of November with an awards event taking place in Dublin in early December where this year’s winner will be revealed.
Here is the long list in full:
A bit of Shemozzle: GAA Quips and Quotes by Martin O’ Duffy [The O’Brien Press]
Great Moments in Hurling by Sportsfile [The O’Brien Press]
Festival Fever: The Irish at Cheltenham by Anne Holland [The O’Brien Press]
Soccer Migrants: A Social and Cultural History by Conor Curran [Cork University Press]
Any Given Saturday by Shay Given [Trinity Mirror Sports Media]
The Warriors Code by Jackie Tyrell with Christy O’Connor [Trinity Mirror Sports Media]
The GAA Immortals by John Scally [Black-and-White Publishing]
Jayo: My autobiography by Jason Sherlock with Damien Lawlor [Simon & Schuster]
Form: My autobiography by Kieran Fallon with Oliver Holt [Simon & Schuster]
First Hand: My Life and Irish Football by Eoin Hand with Jared Browne [Collins Press]
The Pursuit of Perfection: The Life, Death and Legacy of Cormac McAnallen by Dónal McAnallen [Penguin Ireland]
Gooch: The Autobiography by Vincent Hogan [Transworld Ireland]
When Lions Roared: The Lions, the All Blacks and the Legendary Tour of 1971 by Tom English and Peter Burns [Polaris Publishing]
The Ascent: Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche and the Rise of Irish cycling’s golden generation by Barry Ryan [Gill Books]
Boy Wonder: Tales from the Sidelines of an Irish Childhood by Dave Hannigan [Gill Books]
The Choice by Philly McMahon with Niall Kelly [Gill Books]
The Rory’s Stories Guide to the GAA by Rory O’Connor [Gill Books]
Behind the Lines: Great Irish Sport Stories by The42.ie [Journal Media]
The Art of Hurling: Insights into Success from the Managers by Daire Whelan [Mercier Press]
Where Have All the Irish Gone?: The Sad Demise of Irelands Once Relevant Footballers by Kevin O’Neill [Pitch Publishing]
New York Fight Nights: Stateside scraps, scrapes and scuffles by Thomas Myler [Pitch Publishing]
At the End of the Day by Paul Byrnes [Lettertec]
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