The 22 contenders for eir Sport Sports Book of the Year

The 22 contenders for eir Sport Sports Book of the Year - including The42's debut

It is the third year of the prize, which was won by ‘What Do You Think of That’ by Kerry footballer Kieran Donaghy in 2016.

Updated at 19.58

THE 22-STRONG longlist for the 2017 eir Sport Sports Book of the Year has been announced.

This year’s contenders include Dublin GAA stars past and present, Shay Given and Irish cycling’s golden generation.

It is the third year of the prize with ‘What Do You Think of That’ from Kerry footballer, Kieran Donaghy and ‘Dub Sub Confidential’ by former Dublin footballer John Leonard winning in 2016 and 2015 respectively.

The42.ie is represented twice on the list — ‘Behind the Lines: Great Irish Sport Stories,’ which includes contributions from a number of the site’s writers, has been given the nod, while Deputy Editor Niall Kelly features for his work with Philly McMahon on ‘The Choice’.

The winning author(s) will be given a €1,500 cash prize, a specially commissioned trophy and €10,000 worth of TV advertising on eir Sport.

The shortlist will be announced at the end of November, with the winner set to be confirmed at a ceremony in Dublin in early December.

The longlist in full is below…

Full longlist:

A bit of Shemozzle: GAA Quips and Quotes – Martin O’ Duffy (The O’Brien Press)
Great Moments in Hurling – Sportsfile (The O’Brien Press)
Festival Fever: The Irish at Cheltenham – Anne Holland (The O’Brien Press)
Soccer Migrants: A Social and Cultural History – Conor Curran (Cork University Press)
Any Given Saturday – Shay Given (Trinity Mirror Sports Media)
The Warriors Code – Jackie Tyrell with Christy O’Connor (Trinity Mirror Sports Media)
The GAA Immortals – John Scally (Black-and-White Publishing)
Jayo: My autobiography – Jason Sherlock with Damian Lawlor (Simon & Schuster)
Form: My autobiography – Kieran Fallon with Oliver Holt (Simon & Schuster)
First Hand: My Life and Irish Football – Eoin Hand with Jared Browne (Collins Press)
The Pursuit of Perfection: The Life, Death and Legacy of Cormac McAnallen – Donal McAnallen (Penguin Ireland)
Gooch: The Autobiography — Colm Cooper with Vincent Hogan (Transworld Ireland)
When Lions Roared: The Lions, the All Blacks and the Legendary Tour of 1971 – Tom English and Peter Burns (Polaris Publishing)
The Ascent: Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche and the Rise of Irish cycling’s golden generation – Barry Ryan (Gill Books)
Boy Wonder: Tales from the Sidelines of an Irish Childhood — Dave Hannigan (Gill Books)
The Choice – Philly McMahon with Niall Kelly (Gill Books)
The Rory’s Stories Guide to the GAA – Rory O’Connor (Gill Books)
Behind the Lines: Great Irish Sport Stories – The42.ie (Journal Media)
The Art of Hurling: Insights into Success from the Managers – Daire Whelan (Mercier Press)
Where Have All the Irish Gone?: The Sad Demise of Irelands Once Relevant Footballers – Kevin O’Neill (Pitch Publishing)
New York Fight Nights: Stateside scraps, scrapes and scuffles – Thomas Myler (Pitch Publishing)
At the End of the Day — Paul Byrnes (Lettertec)