Arsène Wenger scores two at Telegraph Sports Book Awards

Arsène Wenger has scooped two Telegraph Sports Book prizes, including Sports Book of the Year for his memoir My Life in Red and White (Weidenfeld & Nicolson). 

The former Arsenal manager also picked up the Sports Bestseller of the Year award.

The winners were revealed on 20th September. Hachette titles fared particularly well with its imprints securing five of the 12 categories.

The shortlist was revealed in July and included the inaugural Clays Best Sports Writing award and the Football Book of the Year as judged by the Football Writers' Association. Another new award, Sports Entertainment Book of the Year, was introduced and was taken by Paul Tonkinson's 26.2 Miles to Happiness (Bloomsbury).

For the first time, the public were asked to cast their votes online with the Autobiography of the Year, International Autobiography of the Year, Sports Entertainment of the Year and Sports Health & Fitness Book of the Year all decided by a public vote. 

The 19th Sports Book Awards was sponsored for the third time by the Telegraph and hosted by Sky Sports Golf presenter Sarah Stirk during Ryder Cup week. The awards teamed up again with the National Literacy Trust as official charity partner for 2021 and as a partner on the Children’s Sports Book of the Year. 

The Telegraph Sports Book Awards 2021 winners in full: 

• Pinsent Masons International Autobiography of The Year - True Colours by Barry Geraghty (Headline) 
• Children's Book of The Year, in partnership with The NLT - Chasing A Rugby Dream by James Hook (Polaris)
• Illustrated Book of The Year - This Is Cricket by Daniel Melamud (Rizzoli) 
• iPRO Hydrate Sports Health and Fitness Book of The Year - Relentless by Eddie Hearn (Hodder & Stoughton)
• Arbuthnot Latham Rugby Book of The Year, in association with RUWC - Exe Men by Rob Kitson (Polaris)
• The Heartaches Cricket Book of The Year - Unforgiven by Ashley Gray  (Pitch Publishing)  
• CLOC Football Book of The Year, in association with The FWA - Sacré Bleu by Matt Spiro (Biteback Publishing)
• Sports Entertainment Book of The Year - 26.2 Miles to Happiness by Paul Tonkinson (Bloomsbury)
• VAARU Cycling Book of The Year - Colombia Es Pasión by Matt Rendell (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
• The Telegraph Autobiography of The Year - Born Fighter by Ruqsana Begum (Simon & Schuster)
• Clays Sports Writing Award - The Moth and The Mountain by Ed Caesar (Viking) 
• Sports Bestseller of the Year and the Telegraph Overall Book of the Year - My Life in Red by Arsene Wenger (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)