SBOTY
William Hill Sports Book Of The Year Award 2024
Now in its 36th year, the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award is the world’s longest established and most valuable literary sports-writing prize.
Former Irish tennis professional Conor Niland was crowned the winner of the 2024 Award, for his memoir The Racket: On Tour with Tennis’s Golden Generation.
The Racket becomes the first tennis book to clinch Award in its history and Niland is the first author from the Republic of Ireland to win since Paul Kimmage’s Rough Ride: Behind the Wheel with a Pro Cyclist in 1990.
Niland’s autobiography describes the highs and lows of his career on the ATP Tour, revealing the hardships of the majority of players struggling to balance the books as they seek to breakthrough against the game’s best.
The Racket is an underdog story that lifts the lid on the perils of match-fixing and doping in tennis, while also sharing light-hearted tales of Niland’s seven years on the road.
You can read more on Conor’s win here.
About the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award
The William Hill Sports Book of the Year award is dedicated to rewarding excellence in sports writing and was first awarded in 1989. This year, 2024, the prize for winning the award will, once again, be £30,000.
When we start the process of reading for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year, we sometimes only have five or six books entered. It is like the early stages of the racing season, when every horse just might be a Derby winner, according to its owner, trainer and jockey, but as each one appears on a racecourse it has to be judged against the other contenders and either eliminated from, or promoted up, the list of potential champions.
No matter which way it goes, our ultimate winner will always be an over-achieving, richly deserving sporting champion.
Prizes
The William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award is the world’s longest established and most valuable literary sports-writing prize. The winning author will receive £30,000 and a trophy. Shortlisted authors receive £3,000 cash and a leather-bound copy of their book.
Previous winners of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award
| Year | Title | Author(s) | Sport |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | The Racket: On Tour with Tennis’s Golden Generation | Conor Niland | Tennis |
| 2023 | Good for a Girl: My Life Running in a Man’s World | Lauren Fleshman | Athletics |
| 2022 | Beryl: In Search of Britain’s Greatest Athlete | Jeremy Wilson | Cycling |
| 2021 | Why We Kneel, How We Rise | Michael Holding | Athletics/Cricket |
| 2020 | The Rodchenkov Affair | Dr Grigory Rodchenkov | Athletics |
| 2019 | The Great Romantic: Cricket and the Golden Age of Neville Cardus | Duncan Hamilton | Cricket |
| 2018 | A Boy in the Water | Tom Gregory | Long-Distance Swimming |
| 2018 | The Lost Soul of Eamonn Magee | Paul D. Gibson | Boxing |
| 2017 | Tom Simpson: Bird on the Wire | Andy McGrath | Cycling |
| 2016 | Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life | William Finnegan | Surfing |
| 2015 | The Game of Our Lives: The Meaning and Making of English Football | David Goldblatt | Football |
| 2014 | Night Games: Sex, Power and a Journey into the Dark Heart of Sport | Anna Krien | Australian Rules Football |
| 2013 | Doped: The Real Life Story of the 1960s Racehorse Doping Gang | Jamie Reid | Horse Racing |
| 2012 | The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France: Doping, Cover-ups, and Winning at All Costs | Tyler Hamilton & Daniel Coyle | Cycling |
| 2011 | A Life Too Short: The Tragedy of Robert Enke | Ronald Reng | Football |
| 2010 | Beware of the Dog: Rugby's Hard Man Reveals All | Brian Moore | Rugby |
| 2009 | Harold Larwood | Duncan Hamilton | Cricket |
| 2008 | Coming Back to Me: The Autobiography of Marcus Trescothick | Marcus Trescothick & Peter Hayter | Cricket |
| 2007 | Provided You Don't Kiss Me: 20 Years with Brian Clough | Duncan Hamilton | Football |
| 2006 | Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson | Geoffrey Ward | Boxing |
| 2005 | My Father & Other Working Class Football Heroes | Gary Imlach | Football |
| 2004 | Basil D'Oliveira: Cricket and Conspiracy: the Untold Story | Peter Oborne | Cricket |
| 2003 | Broken Dreams: Vanity, Greed and the Souring of British Football | Tom Bower | Football |
| 2002 | In Black and White: The Untold Story of Joe Louis and Jesse Owens | Donald McRae | Athletics, Boxing |
| 2001 | Seabiscuit: The True Story of Three Men and a Racehourse | Laura Hillenbrand | Horse Racing |
| 2000 | It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life | Lance Armstrong & Sally Jenkins | Cycling |
| 1999 | A Social History of English Cricket | Derek Birley | Cricket |
| 1998 | Angry White Pyjamas: An Oxford Poet Trains with the Tokyo Riot Police | Robert Twigger | Aikido |
| 1997 | A Lot of Hard Yakka: Cricketing Life on the County Circuit | Simon Hughes | Cricket |
| 1996 | Dark Trade: Lost in Boxing | Donald McRae | Boxing |
| 1995 | A Good Walk Spoiled: Days and Nights on the PGA Tour | John Feinstein | Golf |
| 1994 | Football Against the Enemy | Simon Kuper | Football |
| 1993 | Endless Winter: The Inside Story of the Rugby Revolution | Stephen Jones | Rugby |
| 1992 | Fever Pitch: A Fan's Life | Nick Hornby | Football |
| 1991 | Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times | Thomas Hauser | Boxing |
| 1990 | Rough Ride: An Insight into Pro Cycling | Paul Kimmage | Cycling |
| 1989 | True Blue: The Oxford Boat Race Mutiny | Dan Topolski & Patrick Robinson | Rowing |
