William Hill Press Office

Greatest Manager England Never Had Lands Greatest Sports Book Prize

Brian Clough, believed by many to be the greatest manager the England football team never had, is the subject of the winner of this year's 19th annual William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award, the most valuable prize of its type in the world.

Provided You Don't Kiss Me - Duncan Hamilton

Provided You Don't Kiss Me - Duncan Hamilton

'Provided You Don't Kiss Me' (4th Estate) by former Nottingham Evening Post writer, Duncan Hamilton, an analysis of the phenomenon that was Clough, based on the story of his twenty-plus year relationship with the maverick manager, carried off the Ł20,000 Award, announced on Monday afternoon at a ceremony held at Waterstone's bookshop in Piccadilly, London.

'The judges were as close to unanimous in their decision as any panel is ever likely to be' said William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe. Hamilton held off the challenge of the other five short-listed books to pick up the Award, which consists of Ł18,000 cash; a Ł2000 free bet from the sponsors and a specially commissioned, hand-bound copy of his book.

The other short-listed titles were: Sir Bobby Charlton's (with James Lawton) autobiography, 'My Manchester United Years' (Headline) ; Kevin Cook’s ‘Tommy’s Honour (HarperSport)’, the extraordinary story of golf’s founding father and son combination; American writer Chuck Culpepper’s tale of his induction into the world of English football fandom, via Portsmouth FC, ‘Up Pompey’(Weidenfeld & Nicholson); Duncan Hamilton’s analysis of the football phenomenon that was Brian Clough, who he got to know very well as a local paper writer, ‘Provided You Don’t Kiss Me’(4th Estate) ; Nick Ward’s untold story of the tragic 1979 Fastnet sailing race, ‘Left For Dead’, (A & C Black) written with Sinead O’Brien; and Simon Wilde’s penetrating take on the inimitable Shane Warne in ‘Portrait Of A Flawed Genius’ (John Murray).

‘This was perhaps the strongest short list ever assembled for the Award and is proof of the success of the Prize in encouraging publishers to commission high quality writing as well as the block-buster ‘kiss and tell’ titles’ said William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe.

Further information from Graham Sharpe on 0780 3233702.

**Judging panel for the Award:writer Paul Hayward; broadcaster/ writer John Inverdale; broadcaster/writer Danny Kelly; writer Hugh McIlvanney; sportswriter Alyson Rudd. Chairman of the Panel is John Gaustad, founder of the Sportspages Bookshop.