The Club named William Hill Irish Sports Book of the Year
3rd December 2010
Christy O'Connor's The Club has been named the William Hill Irish Sports Book of the Year, seeing off competition from a strong shortlist.
The book, which is about a small hurling club in Clare, Ireland, took first place in the EUR 3,000 (GBP 2,540) prize, while A Football Man by John Giles, a former Irish international footballer turned TV pundit, came in second.
Tony Kenny, public relations manager at William Hill Ireland, commented: 'The Club is certainly the best sports book in Ireland this year and according to many of our judges, one of the best sports books they have ever read.'
Collecting the prize, O'Connor said he was 'absolutely thrilled and honoured' to be handed the accolade, especially when the quality of the other nominated works and past winners is considered.
Other books shortlisted for the award included Declan Lynch's Days of Heaven, which took third place, My Story by Bernard Dunne, Ruby Walsh's Ruby and Screaming at the Sky by Tony Griffin.
Earlier this week, former England and British Lions rugby union hooker Brian Moore won the GBP 22,000 William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award 2010 for his autobiography Beware of the Dog.