By Barry Newcombe
Sir Bobby Charlton’s My Manchester United Years won two categories in the British Sports Books awards ceremony at London’s Cafe Royal last night.
The book, written by The Independent columnist and SJA member James Lawton and published by Headline, was judged best in the autobiography section and was highly commended in the best football book section. Sir Bobby, who had been an honoured guest at the SJA British Sports Journalism Awards at The Brewery 24 hours earlier, is now an ambassador for his club, Manchester United, which he joined as a schoolboy. “I can’t say enough about my club, it has been such an adventure,”Sir Bobby said at the awards ceremony.
Winning is Not Enough, another book by a sporting knight, Sir Jackie Stewart(Headline), was highly commended in the autobiography category.
Former Prime Minister Sir John Major was judged author of the best cricket book for More Than a Game, the story of cricket’s early years (Harper Press). Sir John sent a video message to the ceremony, saying: “Cricket has been a passion of mine for all my life.”
Grovel! The Story & Legacy of The Summer of 1976 by David Tossell (Know the Score Books) was highly commended.
The other awards at this sixth annual ceremony were:
Best Illustrated Title: Goodbye Gay Meadow by Matthew Ashton (GGM Publishing). Highly commended: Sport in the 21st Century by Reuters (Thames and Hudson).
Best New Writer: The Pyjama Game – A Journey into Judo by Mark Law (Aurum Press). Highly commended: We Don’ Know What We’re Doing by Adrian Chiles (Little,Brown).
Best Rugby Book: Ripley’s World by Andy Ripley (Mainstream). Highly commended: Talk of the Toony by Gregor Townsend(HarperSport).
Best Football Book: Provided You Don’t Kiss Me by Duncan Hamilton (Fourth Estate). Highly commended: My Manchester United Years by Sir Bobby Charlton (Headline).
Best Biography: In Search of Robert Millar by Richard Moore (HarperSport). Highly commended: Provided You Don’t Kiss Me by Duncan Hamilton (Fourth Estate).
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