About the award
No nation revels in its sporting culture more than the Irish and every year, whether it’s GAA or soccer, rugby or horse racing, a terrific range of high-quality sports books hits the bookshelves. Past winners have included Irish sporting greats such as Ronan O’Gara, Johnny Giles, Brian O’Driscoll and Paul McGrath.
Sponsored by
The 2021 Shortlist
The Sports Book of the Year 2020
Champagne Football
By Mark Tighe & Paul Rowan
For fifteen years, John Delaney ran the Football Association of Ireland as his own personal fiefdom. In Champagne Football, Mark Tighe and Paul Rowan dig deep into the story of Delaney’s career and of the FAI’s slide into ruin. It is a gripping, sometimes darkly hilarious and often enraging piece of reporting by the journalists who finally pulled back the curtain on the FAI’s mismanagement.
Previous Winners
2020 – Champagne Football by Mark Tighe & Paul Rowan
2019 – Recovering by Richie Sadlier with Dion Fanning
2018 – Game Changer by Cora Staunton with Mary White
2017 – The Choice by Philly McMahon with Niall Kelly
2016 – The Battle by Paul O’Connell
2015 – Until Victory Always: A Memoir by Jim McGuinness
2014 – The Test by Brian O’Driscoll
2013 – Seven Deadly Sins by David Walsh
2012 – My Olympic Dream by Katie Taylor
2011 – Inside the Peloton by Nicolas Roche
2010 – A Football Man – My Autobiography by John Giles
2009 – Ronan O’Gara – My Autobiography by Ronan O’Gara
2008 – Trevor Brennan: Heart and Soul with Gerry Thornley
2007 – Back from the Brink by Paul McGrath