For the second year in a row, we’re proud to be the official charity partner of the Telegraph Sports Book Awards, which celebrates the best in sports writing.
Arsene Wenger the former Arsenal football manager scooped two gongs - The Telegraph Sports Book of the Year Award and The Sports Bestseller of the Year, for his autobiography, My life in Red and White.
The boxer Ruqsana Begum’s inspiring read, Born Fighter, won the prestigious Sports Autobiography of the Year Award and writer Ed Caesar bagged the inaugural Clay’s Sports Writing Award for The Moth and the Mountain, a tale of daring adventure.
“It’s been a real pleasure to judge an outstanding and varied group of books for the Best Sports Writing Award for 2021 and I’m delighted that the National Literacy Trust are the charity of choice as they do a wonderful job of increasing access to books and spreading the joy of reading”.
Clare Balding, broadcaster and chair of the judging panel
We also partnered with The Telegraph Sports Book Awards on the Children’s Sports Book of the Year and this year’s award went to former Welsh and British Lions Rugby International James Hook & David Brayley for Chasing a Rugby Dream.
““We’d like to congratulate James Hook and David Brayley, the Children’s Sports Book of the Year winners, for their fantastic Chasing a Rugby Dream. At the National Literacy Trust, we have many programmes and resources that build on the excitement and passion about sport to support children and young people’s literacy, so we’re very thankful the Telegraph Sports Book Awards chose us as their charity partner once again. We’re also thankful to everyone who attended the event and donated to our organisation.”
Tim Judge, head of school programmes
The public was given a chance to vote for the winners for the first time and they voted in four categories. The categories included Sports Entertainment of the Year and Sports Health and Fitness Book of the Year.
Comedian Paul Tonkinson won the Sports Entertainment Book of the Year award for 26.2 Miles to Happiness, his hilarious and inspiring book about running and redemption.
Top boxing promotor Eddie Hearn won the iPRO Hydrate Sports Health and Fitness Book of The Year for Relentless. Contenders in this category included boxer, Tyson Fury, Olympic Gymnastics Gold medallist Max Whitlock and Italian football legend Gianluca Vialli.