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In late November, Gambling Insider attended the 2023 edition of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Awards in Piccadilly, London. When the event was first mentioned in the Gambling Insider office, the assumption was that this award was to reward William Hill’s best sportsbook, given the company is best known for gambling and has launched sportsbooks all around the world. This includes a new upgraded mobile sportsbook app launched through the William Hill sportsbook, in Nevada, back in August 2023... However, in actuality, this event was the 35th anniversary of an annual sports literacy award, which seeks to reward the best in sports writing and is the “world’s longest established and most valuable literacy sports-writing prize,” according to the William Hill website.
Entries for the award were closed in August with a longlist of 150 sports books announced in late September, which was then whittled down over the course of a month to a shortlist of six. This included work from Sharron Davies, Lauren Fleshman, Sally H. Jacobs, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Sam Peters and Kathryn Scanlan. Topics for the sports book entries varied, tackling issues such as women’s representation in sport and concussion in sports such as rugby and football among other areas, with sports writing at the core of the awards.
On the panel making the tough decisions and judging such a vast number of books were Alyson Rudd, Dame Heather Rabbatts, Elis James, Michele Walder, Mark Lawson and former professional footballer Clarke Carlisle.
I think the contribution of William Hill to sporting literature has been enormous and needs to be recognised. I think this prize has transformed sports book publishing; I think it’s raised the standards - Mark Lawson
The event took place at BAFTA, situated in the heart of the iconic West End in London. The BAFTAs, or the British Academy Film Awards, is best known for the annual award given to honour the best in British and international contributions to film, so this was the perfect venue for hosting the best in sportswriting across the past year.
Since 1989, the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award has acknowledged the best writing in sports for a variety of topics, covering a range of sports. This includes rowing, football, boxing and even Aikido, which saw a winner in 1998 with Robert Twigger’s ‘Angry White Pyjamas: An Oxford Poet Trains with the Tokyo Riot Police.’ The types of books have also seen wide variation, not only in what they are about, but in how they are written, such as biographies.
Each of the six final shortlisted books saw either the author themselves or a representative come up on stage to receive a leather-bound edition of their work, answering questions about the topics covered and the influences behind the books. Also appearing on stage, prior to the final winner announcement, was 2022’s winner Jeremy Wilson. He gave a few words on the award and what it means to win, after his work ‘Beryl: In Search of Britain’s Greatest Athlete’ took the prize a year ago.
In the end, Fleshman, the former professional runner who represented the US, crossed the finish line in first. Her work called ‘Good for a Girl: My Life Running in a Man’s World,’ focuses on calling for change in women’s sport and fighting for better for female athletes. This was the first time the award was given to a book about women in sport that was also authored by a woman, highlighting the importance of this 35-year-old award, supported by William Hill.
After the close of the ceremony, Gambling Insider sat down with one of the judges, speaking with broadcaster, writer and journalist Mark Lawson. We covered a wide array of topics relating to the award and the work William Hill does to make it all happen, in what was his 11th year judging the William Hill Sport Book of the Year Awards.
“People think we say this every year, but we really don’t. I mean, Alyson Rudd, the Chair of Judges, said this is the strongest shortlist that she’s seen and she’s done it for about 20 years. I do agree with that. I think it’s the strongest shortlist and I think the reason is we’ve fought,” explains the critic on how this year’s award compares to previous ones.
AI is a topic which continuously comes up for debate across a broad array of subjects; and for writing this is no different, with skepticism surrounding it. But as stated by Lawson, it can actually bring inadvertent benefits to human writing. “AI will produce you a new book by someone or other, but it’s so obvious when you read them, it’s not them. So we did talk about that a lot. The rise of AI has raised the bar for the quality of writing and I think it has to.”
Since 1989, the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award has acknowledged the best writing in sports for a variety of topics, covering a range of sports. This includes rowing, football, boxing and even Aikido, which saw a winner in 1998
On the impact of the awards themselves and the potential for even more entrants in the years to come, Lawson stated: “I hope so. I mean, this is the biggest entry we’ve had and the most varied and the most women. Alyson Rudd has appealed from that podium for many years for more books by women because it didn’t happen. It was an almost entirely male genre.”
The awards have been called the William Hill Sports Book of the Year since its inaugural edition and Lawson expressed what exactly this has meant. “I think the contribution of William Hill to sporting literature has been enormous and needs to be recognised. I think this prize has transformed sports book publishing; I think it’s raised the standards, it’s raised the range of people who do so and you can see that over the years. Even in the 11 years I’ve done this, the type of books, you know, I think at least three would never have been published. It is remarkable that this has always had one sponsor and I think it’s only just struck me as we're talking now. I think they should get credit for how very rare that is,” Lawson added. This was not a gambling award, but the work William Hill does to make this happen is vital to helping promote and tackle issues which are seen throughout the many books. In some ways, this can help to create impact in sport and wider society, such as in this year’s case, potentially helping to give more of a voice to women taking part in sport. Something new was teased by William Hill for next year, but there is no doubt the premise and influence of the awards will be the same and will continue to inspire change and make a difference.
