A SIX-STRONG SHORTLIST has been announced for the best Irish sports book of 2021 as part of the An Post Book Awards.
The Sports Book of the Year award, sponsored by Eason in association with Virgin Media’s Ireland AM, will this year be contested solely by autobiographies or memoirs. It was won last year by Mark Tighe and Paul Rowan’s Champagne Football, the definitive and jaw-dropping account of the FAI’s demise under John Delaney.
Former Ireland rugby international Willie Anderson’s autobiography, Crossing the Line, ghost-written by longtime Sunday Independent rugby correspondent Brendan Fanning, is one of the six nominees this time around.
Devotion, the memoir of Gaelic football-management great Mickey Harte (and a collaboration with author Brendan Coffey), is another, as is Dark Blue, the bestselling autobiography of Dublin’s five-time All-Ireland winner Shane Carthy.
Also shortlisted is the memoir of Kerry football great Aidan O’Mahony, Unbroken, while current Munster and Ireland rugby star Keith Earls teamed up with the Sindo’s Tommy Conlon to tell his story in Fight or Flight.
A Nation Holds Its Breath, written about his life in and out of sport by RTÉ broadcasting legend George Hamilton, completes the set of six nominees.
The @easons Sports Book of the Year in association with @IrelandAMVMTV 😍 shortlisted titles are...
— An Post Irish Book Awards (@AnPostIBAS) October 21, 2021
Well done to all! 👏🏼@bigwanderson1 @Brendanfanning @S_Carthy8 @Keithearls87 @HamiltonRTE @reach_sport @OBrienPress @HCinIreland @MerrionPress #APIBAS #ReadersWanted pic.twitter.com/y4Rsg5CzNb
A live in-person ceremony to celebrate the winners across all An Post Book Awards categories will take place on Tuesday 23 November in the Convention Centre in Dublin. It will also be live-streamed for those unable to attend.
Meanwhile, a one-hour special will be broadcast on RTÉ One television on Wednesday 8 December exploring the six books and authors shortlisted for the ‘An Post Irish Book Awards Book of the Year 2021’, culminating in the reveal of this year’s overall winner.
The public can vote for what they believe to be the best books of the year at anpostirishbookawards.ie All voters will be entered into a prize draw to win one of five €100 National Book Tokens vouchers. Votes may be cast until 5pm on 15 November.
