William Hill names 15-book longlist for Sports Book of the Year 2025

William Hill announced on Thursday 25th September 2025 the 15-strong longlist for this year’s William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award, billed as the world’s longest-running and most valuable literary prize for sports writing.

Running since 1989, the award has previously gone to authors including Duncan Hamilton, Michael Holding, Jeremy Wilson and Lauren Fleshman. Last year’s winner was Conor Niland, who took the prize for The Racket, an account of his time on the ATP tennis tour.

The longlist

This year’s selection, chosen by William Hill’s reading panel from a wide pool of entries, spans football, cricket, athletics and broader sporting culture. The 15 titles are:

• Finding the Edge by Jimmy Anderson
• Ultra Women by Lily Canter and Emma Wilkinson
• I Can’t Stop Thinking About VAR by Daisy Christodoulou
• The Warrior by Christopher Clarey
• States of Play by Miguel Delaney
• More Than a Shirt by Joey D’Urso
• European Football’s Greatest Grounds by Leon Gladwell
• Chasing Salah by Simon Hughes
• The Last Bell by Donald McRae
• Engulfed by James Montague
• Go to War by Jon Spurling
• The Escape by Pippa York and David Walsh
• Test Cricket by Tim Wigmore
• The Power and The Glory by Jonathan Wilson
• The Art of Batting by Jarrod Kimber

Judging process

The judging panel for 2025 will be chaired by Alyson Rudd, joined by Clarke Carlisle, Elis James, Gabby Logan, Mark Lawson, Dame Heather Rabbatts and Michelle Wilder. They will now reduce the longlist to a shortlist, due to be announced on 30th October, ahead of an awards ceremony on 25th November where the winner will be revealed.

Neil Foggin, Media Manager at William Hill and a member of the reading panel, said the range of subjects covered by this year’s entries had again impressed the panel, spanning technical aspects of cricket and football alongside broader cultural and personal sporting stories. He noted that narrowing down the entries had been difficult given the strength of the field, and congratulated the longlisted authors on their achievement. He also wished the judging panel well in compiling the shortlist.

Prize and past winners

The overall winner will receive the William Hill Sports Book of the Year trophy along with £30,000 in prize money. The remaining shortlisted authors will each receive a leather-bound copy of their book and £3,000.

Donald McRae, longlisted this year for The Last Bell, previously won the award in 1996 and 2002. A further win would equal the record for most victories, currently held by Duncan Hamilton with three wins.