Fleshman, Scanlan and Jacobs shortlisted for £30k William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award

Lauren Fleshman’s Good for a Girl (Virago), Kathryn Scanlan’s Kick The Latch (Daunt Books) and Sally H Jacobs’ Althea (St Martin’s Press) have been shortlisted for the £30,000 William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award.

For the first time in the prize’s history, books by female authors dominate the shortlist, which was selected by a panel of experts in sports and journalism.

Sam Peters’ Concussed (Allen & Unwin) is also featured on this year’s list, alongside Unbreakable by Ronnie O’Sullivan (Seven Dials) and Unfair Play by Sharron Davies with Craig Lord (Forum). The books were selected by the panel, led for the fifth year by sports journalist Alyson Rudd, from more than 150 entries.

Rudd said: “This is arguably the most exciting shortlist in the history of the award. It has something for everyone, and the quality is exceptionally high. There is a way above average autobiography in the form of the page turner that is Ronnie O’Sullivan’s book and a compelling biography of Althea Gibson, the tennis pioneer too few sports fans know about. Sam Peters, meanwhile, bravely and eloquently details how concussion has blighted rugby. 

“At long last women are being commissioned to write about sport and this is reflected in the fact that four of the shortlisted authors are female and two of them, Sharron Davies and Lauren Fleshman, have produced books that cut, courageously, to the heart of the challenges facing women’s sport. And, finally, Kathryn Scanlan has summoned a genre busting book that captures the raw energy of sporting passion.” 

The winner will be declared on 30th November 2023 at an award ceremony at the BAFTA venue in Piccadilly, London. Each of the shortlisted authors will receive a £3,000 prize and a leather-bound copy of their book.