The William Hill Irish Sports Book of the Year was an annual Irish

literary award A literary award or literary prize is an award presented in recognition of a particularly lauded literary piece or body of work. It is normally presented to an author. Organizations Most literary awards come with a corresponding award ceremony. Ma ...

sponsored by bookmakers William Hill. Established in 2006, it was related to the International

William Hill Sports Book of the Year The William Hill Sports Book of the Year is an annual British sports literary award sponsored by bookmaker William Hill. The award is dedicated to rewarding excellence in sports writing. It was first awarded in 1989, and was devised by Graham ...

(est. 1989). The award sought to honour sports books produced in Ireland. The award lost its sponsorship after 2011 and has been discontinued.

History

The inaugural winner of the William Hill Irish Sports Book of the Year in 2006 was Irish footballer Paul McGrath whose autobiography '' Back from the Brink'' described his football career and his battle with alcoholism. The following year, Irish

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player

Trevor Brennan Trevor Brennan (born 29 September 1973) is an Irish former rugby union player. He played for Barnhall, Bective Rangers, St Marys College RFC, Leinster, Stade Toulousain and Ireland, being capped 13 times. He played either in the second row o ...

won the award with ''Heart and Soul'', in which Brennan is described as an "anti-hero". The 2008 award was presented to

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

driver Tommy Byrne for ''Crashed and Byrned'', a biography including his brief five-race career with the now-defunct Hong Kong

Theodore Theodore may refer to: Places * Theodore, Alabama, United States * Theodore, Australian Capital Territory * Theodore, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Banana, Australia * Theodore, Saskatchewan, Canada * Theodore Reservoir, a lake in Sask ...

team. Hurler

Donal Óg Cusack Donald is a masculine given name derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinterpretation of the ...

, the first openly gay elite Irish sportsman, was the 2009 recipient of the William Hill Irish Sports Book of the Year with his autobiography ''Come What May''. Writing about the 2009 season of hurling club side St. Joseph's Doora-Barefield, Christy O'Connor won the 2010 award for ''The Club''. Winning the 2011 Irish Sports Book of the Year award with his biography of tetraplegic former rugby union player

Matt Hampson Matthew "Hambo" Hampson (born is an English former rugby union prop who became paralysed from the neck down (C4/5 tetraplegic), after a scrummaging accident when practising with England under-21 squad in March 2005. His condition requires pe ...

Paul Kimmage Paul Kimmage (born 7 May 1962 in Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish sports journalist and former amateur and professional road bicycle racer, who was road race champion of Ireland in 1981, and competed in the 1984 Olympic Games. He wrote for ''The ...

was the first author to win both the Irish and International awards (1990).

List of winners

* 2006 '' Back from the Brink'', Paul McGrath with Vincent Hogan * 2007 ''Heart and Soul'',

with Gerry Thornley * 2008 ''Crashed And Byrned: The Greatest Racing Driver You Never Saw'', Tommy Byrne with

Mark Hughes Leslie Mark Hughes (born 1 November 1963) is a Welsh football coach and former player who is the manager of Bradford City. During his playing career he usually operated as a forward or midfielder. He had two spells at Manchester United, an ...

* 2009 ''Come What May: The Autobiography'',

* 2010 ''The Club'' by Christy O'Connor * 2011 ''Engage: The Fall and Rise of Matt Hampson'',

References

External links

*{{cite web , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130908100431/http://www.irishsportsbookoftheyear.com/ , archivedate=8 September 2013, url=http://www.irishsportsbookoftheyear.com , title=William Hill Irish Sports Book of the Year , work= , author= , date= , accessdate=29 May 2014 2006 establishments in Ireland 2011 disestablishments in Ireland Awards established in 2006 Books about sports Irish literary awards Sports writing awards William Hill (bookmaker) Annual events in Ireland Awards disestablished in 2011