A-B | C-D | E-H | I-L | M-N | O-R | S-W

A

Timothy Abraham is a freelance journalist from Liverpool who cut his teeth on the Midlands, Manchester and Merseyside football patches. He has written for virtually every broadsheet and tabloid newspaper in the UK and most frequently for The Times, The Independent, Daily Telegraph and Daily Star. A keen club cricketer, Timothy secured German citizenship via his father only to see his hopes of representing the Deutsche Cricket Nationalmannschaft dashed due to lack of ability. It piqued, however, an interest in cricket in more offbeat locations and he has co-edited the Cricket Round The World section of Wisden Almanack since 2012. Not to be confused with the former Sky Sports cricket reporter of the same name, Timothy has also written for The Cricketer magazine and contributed to BBC radio and online coverage of cricket. He is currently working on his first book Evita Burned Down Our Pavilion about cricket in Latin America – in collaboration with James Coyne – for publication in Spring 2020. He currently lives in Quito, Ecuador.

Chris Anderson played in goal for a 4th Division club in Germany at 17; today he’s a professor at Cornell University. An award-winning social scientist and football analytics pioneer, Anderson consults with leading clubs about how best to play the numbers game. His bestselling book The Numbers Game: Why Everything You Know About Football is Wrong, co-written with David Sally, was published Viking in the UK and has been described as football’s equivalent to Moneyball. It is also a bestseller in the USA for Penguin, and has been sold in many countries around the world. (DL)

Marc Aspland is a sports photographer who has worked for The Times for the past fifteen years and is currently their Chief Sports Photographer. His work has received awards including a Special Award at the Sports Photographer of the Year awards in 2005, Royal Photographer of the Year, and Sports Photograph of the Year for the iconic photo of Beckham celebrating with Owen at the 1998 World Cup in France. He has covered five Olympic Games, World Cup Finals, Open Golf Championships, Wimbledon Finals, World Athletics, Formula 1 and the Rugby World Cup and in 2009 he was awarded his highest honour when he became a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain. His book, The Art of Sports Photography, is published by Prestel and contains more than 100 photographs documenting incredible moments in sport compiled from over ten years of work in the business. It was shortlisted for the Illustrated Book of the Year at the Cross British Sports Book Awards 2015. (DL)

B

Ellis Bacon’s career as a cycling journalist began in 2003 when he joined Procycling Magazine as a Deputy Editor. Since then, Ellis has covered the Tour de France each year for Procycling and, as of 2010, Cycle Sport Magazine. He has also written about cycling for a number of national newspapers including The Times and The Guardian. Ellis is fluent in Danish and French and has translated a number of books, most recently the autobiography of Bjarne Riis, published by Vision Sport in May 2012. His book, World’s Ultimate Cycle Races, was published by Collins in September 2012. Volume Five of The Cycling Anthologies which Ellis edits with Lionel Birnie was published in November 2014 by Yellow Jersey. Ellis’ most recent book, Great British Cycling: The History of British Bike Racing (Bantam Press), was published in August 2014. It was shortlisted for the Cycling Book of the Year at the Cross British Sports Book Awards 2015.  (DL)

Rob Bagchi has worked at The Guardian since 2002 as an editor and journalist on the sports desk and has a weekly sports column. He has also written for The Times, The Independent and First Post. Rob is the author of four sports books, including the Sunday Times sports bestseller, The Unforgiven: The Story of Don Revie’s Leeds United, published in 2002 and reissued in 2009, Frank McLintock’s autobiography True Grit(Headline, 2005) and Norman Whiteside’s Determined (Headline, 2007). Rob is currently working on a comprehensive biography of Leeds United, to be published by Vision Sport Publishing.  (DL)

Guillem Balague is a key fixture in Sky Sports’ coverage of Spanish football, appearing regularly both on live match coverage and on the weekly round-up show, Revista de La Liga. He is also the UK Correspondent for AS, the Madrid-based Spanish sports newspaper and El Larguero, Spain’s most popular sports radio show, attracting some 1,5 million listeners. His work appears regularly in The Times and in Champions Magazine, where he writes a regular column on international football. Guillem’s most recent book, Pep Guardiola: Another Way of Winning, has just been published by Orion. His previous book is the bestselling A Season on the Brink (Orion, 2006). Guillem’s biography of Messi, was published in December 2014 by Orion and was shortlisted for the Football Book of the Year at the 2014 British Sports Book Awards.  His biography of Cristiano Ronaldo was published in November 2015 by Orion, and won the Football Book of the Year at the Cross Sports Book Awards. Guillem’s title, Brave New World:  Inside Pocchetino’s Spurs, was published by Orion (October 2017). It was shortlisted for the Cross Football Book of the Year at the Sports Book of the Year awards 2017. (DL)

Patrick Barclay is one of the UK’s most highly respected journalists and writers. Former Chief Football Commentator for The Times and Sports Journalist of the Year, he previously worked for The Sunday Telegraph, The Guardian, The Independent and The Observer. In 2005, Patrick wrote the critically acclaimed and extremely successful Mourinho: Anatomy of a Winner (Orion), which was updated and republished in 2011. More recently, he wrote Football – Bloody Hell!: The Biography of Alex Ferguson for Yellow Jersey. Barclay has travelled widely, covering seven World Cups, eight European Championships, and four African Nations Cups. Barclay was educated in Dundee and is a lifelong supporter of Dundee FC. He lives in London and his latest book, The Life and Times of Herbert Chapman was published by Weidenfeld and Nicholson in January 2014. It was shortlisted for the Football Book of the Year at the Cross British Sports Book Awards 2015.  A fully revised and updated edition of Mourinho: Anatomy of a Winner was published in September 2015. Paddy’s most recent book is a masterful biography of Matt Busby, which Ebury published in September 2017. It was shortlisted for the Cross Football Book of the Year at the Sports Book of the Year awards 2017. (DL)

Mark Baxter is late-comer to the world of publishing. His first book, The Fashion of Football (Mainstream, 2004), which he co-wrote with Paolo Hewitt, was voted as one of just fifty top football books of all time by the magazine 442. His second book,The Mumper, also co-written with Paolo and published by Orion, has recently been made into a film called “Outside Bet” starring Bob Hoskins. Mark and Paolo’s latest book for Prestel, The A-Z Mod, was published in May 2012, and is a unique and highly-desirable illustrated guide to the era. A life-long supporter of Milwall FC, Mark runs Mono Media PR, and lives in South London with his wife, Lou, who is a textile designer. (DL/RW)

Debbie Beckerman was the publisher of Transworld’s sports list, Partridge Press, and was responsible for a number of their bestsellers including autobiographies by Geoffrey Boycott and Brian Clough. More recently, she has turned her hand to writing and has been involved with a number of successful autobiographies by legends such as Ilya Nastase, Patrick Vieira, Didier Drogba and Brian Moore, whose memoir, Beware of the Dog, won the 2010 William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award. She has also acted as Associate Editor and writer on a variety of other titles, including Jon Nicholson’s memoir, Living Without Emma, and health titles such as Professor Lesley Regan’s Your Pregnancy Week by Week, and Expecting a Baby with Dr Penelope Law, which is published by Quadrille. Debbie collaborated with Brian Moore on his memoir, What Goes On Tour, which was published by Simon & Schuster in October 2014. Most recently, Debbie worked with John McEnroe on his autobiography, But Seriously. (DL)

Scyld Berry, cricket correspondent for The Sunday Telegraphy and former editor of Wisden reported his first match for The Observer when still a Cambridge undergraduate. He was sent on the 1977-78 tour of Pakistan, and made cricket correspondent the following summer. Since then, he has missed only one England winter tour and is believed to have attended more England Tests overseas than anyone else in history. He has written six books – five on cricket and an Australian travelogue. His last book was Cricket’s Burning Passion: Ivo Bligh and the Story of the Ashes, co-authored with Bligh’s great-grandson, Rupert Peploe. Scyld’s latest book, Cricket: The Game of Life, is published by Hodder & Stoughton (September 2015). (DL)

Christoph Biermann is an award-winning football writer and one of the most respected voices in the field. His books have twice won Football Book of the Year in his native Germany, where he is a reporter for the magazine 11 Freunde.Christoph Biermann grew up with his three years younger brother in Herne. Together with his father he visited since 1971 football matches of Westfalia Herne. After graduating from high school in 1979, he completed a degree in German studies and history at the Ruhr University Bochum. In Bochum he visited for 15 years – until his move to Cologne 1992 – every home game of VfL Bochum. Already during his studies he was a freelancer for the sports side of the taz and music editor of the Bochum magazine Marabo. After graduating in 1987, he worked as a freelancer for various print and broadcast media (including Stern, Die Zeit). [6] In 1990 he sang a single with the songs German masters will never be the VfL (A-side) and German champion will only VfL (B-side). From 1996 to 1999 he sat in the editorial office of Hattrick football magazine. From 1999 to 2006 he was a sports correspondent for the Süddeutsche Zeitung. He then moved to the news magazine Der Spiegel / Spiegel Online. Since 2004 he has been a columnist for the monthly magazine 11 Freunde and is now a member of the editorial board. On the radio Biermann comments on Mondays between 18 and 20 clock the expired Bundesliga match day in the show 1 Live 911. Since the late 1990s, he publishes loose-leaf books on football. He is a member of the German Academy of Football Culture. Christoph Biermann lives in Berlin.

Peter Bills is an award winning sports writer who is known around the world for his contributions to various media outlets as well as his prolific output as an author.  Now the author of nineteen sports books, most of them on rugby union, his most recent media job was chief rugby writer worldwide for the Independent News & Media group. Through his work for this group, he became known and respected for his contributions to papers in London, Auckland, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Dublin and Belfast.  He has covered every Rugby World Cup since the inception of the tournament back in 1987, as well as 5 or 6 Nations rugby tournaments for more than 40 years.  He has reported on Olympic Games, US Masters and US Open plus British Open golf championships, as well as Test cricket matches and European football games.  Through his articles and books, he has worked with some of the greatest names in sport, the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, George Best, Denis Law, Johann Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer, Allan Border, Gareth Edwards, Willie John McBride, Jean Pierre Rives, Dean Richards, Corne Krige, Ashwin Willemse and Bill McLaren. Other sports figures he has interviewed include Arnold Palmer, Greg Norman, Rory McIlroy, John McEnroe, Sir Anthony O’Reilly, Brian O’Driscoll, Sir Graham Henry, Jonny Wilkinson and Dan Carter.  His book, The Jersey, was published by Macmillan in August 2018. (DL)

Lionel Birnie is a journalist, author and publisher who specialises in cycling and who writes for The Sunday Times, Cycle Sport and Cycling Weekly where he has covered the Tour de France since 2001. Lionel has written three books about Watford FC,Four Seasons, Enjoy the Game and The 100 Greatest Watford Wins. He edited The Cycling Anthology with Ellis Bacon which brought together essays by the world’s leading cycling journalists. Volume Six was published in August 2015. Lionel is also one third of The Cycling Podcast team. Their debut title, ‘A Year In Cycling’, was published by Yellow Jersey in Spring 2018. (DL)

Chris Bradshaw is the Online Editor at Europe’s biggest poker magazine, Bluff Europe. He is the author of The Sun Darts Quiz Book, The Sun Soap Quiz Book and The Times Cricket Quiz Book, and is behind The Sun and Sunday Times Quiz Books published by HarperCollins.  Chris is also a regular contributor to iGaming Business Magazine and SabotageTimes.com. He lives in Birmingham. (DL)

David Brayley is a freelance sports writer, born and bred in Swansea, he was educated at Brynhyfryd & Crwys Primary Schools, Bishopston & Gowerton Comprehensives and the University of Wales in Newport and served as a Governor of Casllwchwr Primary School in Swansea from 2001 to 2016. Brayley is an author and education consultant from Swansea who, using his lifetime interest in and around sport, has created a career based on sports writing and delivering school based educational literacy programmes using sport as the driver. Brayley isan award nominated author, specialising in sporting autobiographies, having written “Ashley Williams – My Premier League Diary”(Y Lolfa) in 2011 with Swansea City and Wales captain Ashley Williams and  “There’s Only Two Tony Cotteys” (Gomer Press) in 2008 with former Swansea City, Glamorgan and Sussex footballer/cricketer, Tony Cottey. His debut novel, “Champion of Champions“ was published by Leeds based Scratching Shed Publishing in October 2017, and is an inspirational cycling based tale aimed at teenage readers. Brayley’snext novel, based on the trials and tribulations of a rugby mad youngster facing bullying and harassment in school, is due out in 2019.David Brayley is also an experienced speaker and deliverer of educational workshops from Year 4 at Primary Level, through to Year 11 in Secondary Education. He focuses on a combination of delivering inspirational speeches to young people to inspire them to embrace reading for pleasure as a lifelong hobby and explain my unconventional route to becoming an author.

Simon Briggs is a journalist and author who writes for The Telegraph, primarily about cricket, football, tennis and golf. A revised edition of his tribute to the seamy side of Ashes cricket, Stiff Upper Lips and Baggy Green Caps: A Sledger’s History of the Ashes was published in June 2013 by Quercus. (DL)

Rick Broadbent is a sports writer for The Times, for whom he has covered the Olympics, the World Cup, the Champions League Final, the Ryder Cup, Wimbledon, Six Nations Rugby and a variety of motorsports.  His most recent book, “Endurance:  The Life and Times of Emil Zatopek” is published by Bloomsbury and has been shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award.  Rick has several books to his name.  He  collaborated with motorcycle legend Ron Haslam on his autobiography Rocket Men (Bantam Press) and Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson on Seize The Day (Hodder & Stoughton). He is also the sole author of three further books: The Big If: The Life and Death of Johnny Owen(Macmillan), Looking For Eric (Mainstream) and Ring of Fire: The Inside Story of Valentino Rossi and MotoGP (Bantam Press, July 2009). Rick’s That Near Death Thing: Inside the Most Dangerous Race in the World, was published in June 2012 and was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year. Rick is currently writing his first children’s book for Walker Books. (DL)

James Brown worked on the NME, founded loaded, Jack and Leeds, Leeds, Leeds magazines, and was Editor-in-Chief of British GQ. He is a media entrepreneur, journalist and hosts a weekly show on talkSPORT. His obsession with five-a-side led him to write Above Head Height: A Five-A-Side Life, published in February 2017 (Quercus). He is now down to three matches a week. James is currently working on his next book, Animal House, which will chart his time with Loaded magazine. (DL)

Seth Burkett is an English writer and futsal player and former professional footballer. A defender, Burkett formerly played in Brazil for Sorriso EC, a team in the state league of Mato Grosso. While there, he attracted some attention as the only British footballer playing professionally in Brazil Burkett was born in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire. Despite this, he is described as coming from the neighbouring county of Lincolnshire. Burkett is related to the former professional footballer Charlie Williams, who was also active in Brazil, as a manager with Fluminense and Corinthians. Williams has been described in the media as both Burkett’s grandfather, and his great-grand-uncle. Burkett began his football career with the youth team of hometown club Peterborough United. After leaving the Peterborough youth system, Burkett joined non-league club Stamford, where he was Captain of the youth team. He later made 12 appearances for Stamford’s senior team after making his debut in September 2008. Burkett also spent time on loan at March Town Unitedduring the first few games of the 2009–10 season. In June 2009, while on a tournament with the Stamford youth team in Salvador da Bahia in the northeast of Brazil, Burkett was spotted by a football agent who helped him sign a six-month contract with Sorriso EC, a club from the  state league of Mato Grosso. He made his debut with the club in a friendly match in November 2009. Burkett attracted some media attention in Brazil in January 2010 when Sorriso took him to the Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior, an annual under-18 youth tournament run by the Saõ Paulo Football, as English players are rare in Brazilian clubs. During his six months with the club, Burkett played a total of fifteen minutes for the first-team of Sorriso, which was in a pre-season friendly in January 2010. After the end of his contract, in May 2010, Burkett had negotiations with another Brazilian club side, Taboão. After leaving Brazil in June 2010, Burkett enrolled at Loughborough University.He re-joined Stamford in summer 2010, signing an extension in July 2011.

Phil Burt, Head Physiotherapist at British Cycling and Team Sky Consultant Physiotherapist, has worked with hundreds of cyclists to help them solve a vast array of cycling-related injuries and other issues.  In his first book, Bike Fit,  Phil outlines his methods to help you analyse your position and get the best from your bike.  The right “bike fit” can mean the difference between a good ride and a bad one, but a professional fit can cost more than you paid for your bike.  A must read for any cyclist keen to get a performance advantage.  Phil Burt is published by Bloomsbury, and has most recently worked with Martin Evans on the title Strength and Conditioning for Cyclists, published in September 2018. (DL).

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C

Anthony Clavane was born in Leeds in 1960, a year before Don Revie became manager. He started life as a History teacher and is now chief sports writer for The Sunday Mirror and a former regional journalist of the year. His  most recent book A Yorkshire Tragedy:  The Rise and Fall of a Northern Powerhouse is published by Quercus and completes his trilogy of books that examine the history of football in the North of England.   Promised Land: A Northern Love Story, published in September 2009 by Yellow Jersey, won the British Sports Book of the Year Award and was named Best Football Book in May 2011. Described by David Peace as “an absorbing and compelling dissection of Leeds, the city and the club”, the book has been adapted for the stage and had its premier in Leeds in the summer of 2012. Anthony’s book, Does Your Rabbi Know You’re Here?: A Secret History of English Football, was published by Quercus in October 2012. www.redladder.co.uk (DL)

Lee Clayton left Brampton Manor Comprehensive with a hunger for newspapers, deadlines and breaking stories. His journey through print took him across the Wapping picket lines and coaches with shatter proof glass and metal grates boarded at secret locations, to covering an England riot in Dublin, and sitting in front of Gary Lineker on a coach without shatter proof glass, but one that was being rocked by an angry mob of England fans. He’s been in newspapers now for almost 30 years and is Group Head of Sport for the Mail titles. His first book, working alongside the brilliant Andy Hooper, is entitled Farewell to Upton Park (Hamlyn, August 2016). He is also a West Ham season ticket holder, which helps. (DL)

Nikalas Cook is a writer, coach and athlete based in the Peak District. He specializes in health, fitness, endurance and adventure sports. Having studied a postgraduate degree in Health and Exercise Science, he worked for eight years as a top personal trainer in London. He is the editor of Totally Active magazine and writes for numerous specialist magazines and websites including 220 Triathlon, Outdoors Magic, Trail Running and Trek and Mountain. He also edits the British Cycling member’s website, the Insight Zone. He’s also written for national newspapers and magazines including The Times, The Financial Times, The Daily Mail, GQ, Men’s Fitness and Red Magazine. But he’s probably most proud of being Derbyshire Life’s beer correspondent. Nik has written two books and his third entitled The Road Cycling Performance Manual was published by Bloomsbury in June 2018. He has also worked with Nigel Mitchell on his book, Fuelling the Cycling Revolution, and with Martin Evans and Phil Burt on their book, Strength and Conditioning for Cyclists. (DL)

Jon Cooksey is a leading military historian with a particular interest in the the world wars and the Falklands War. His expertise has also led to him being an experienced battlefield guide, frequently leading tours to battlefields from these wars. He has written a number of books including The Barnsey Pals, Flanders 1915, Calais: A Fight to the Finish and 3 Para Mount Longdon: The Bloodiest Battle, as well as writing for a number of military magazines and currently editing Stand To!. He has also written articles for a number of national newspapers and appears frequently on television and radio. Most recently he has collaborated with David Griffiths on a new collection of diary entries by First World War Private Harry Drinkwater entitled Harry’s War, published by Ebury Press. (DL)

Peter Cossins. A journalist for 20 years, Peter Cossins has written about everything from drug scandals at the Tour de France to butchers battling to be crowned Britain’s pork pie champion. A former Editor of Procycling magazine and still a Contributing Editor for the same title, Pete is the author of many books on cycling including most recently The Yellow Jersey (Random House, 2019) which has been nominated for Cycling Book of the Year by the Telegraph Sports Book of the Year judges,  Full Gas:  How to Win a Bike Race (Yellow Jersey, 2019), which won Cycling Book of the Year at the 2019 awards, and The Monuments: The Grit and the Glory of Cycling’s Greatest One-Day Races (Bloomsbury, March 2015).  His backlinst includes Alpe d’Huez: The Story of Pro Cycling’s Greatest Climb (Aurum, June 2016), Ultimate Etapes: Ride Europe’s Greatest Cycling Stages (Aurum, 2016) and Butcher, Blacksmith, Acrobat Sweep.   Pete’s next book will be The Roads, Cols and Passes of the Pyrenees from Great Northern Books, out this October.  (DL)

James Coyne joined The Cricketer as their assistant editor after working on six editions of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack. He recently returned from Latin America, where he was researching a book on cricket’s long and inglorious history there (plus sampling the coffee and tropical fruits). He can occasionally be found hiking towards a pub, sorting his compost in the garden, or throwing himself about on cricket pitches in Bedfordshire.

Adam Crafton began his journalistic career before he went to Cambridge University to study Modern and Medieval Languages. A writer for the Daily Mail, he has twice been shortlisted for the SJA Young Sportswriter of the Year Award. His debut book, From Guernica to Guardiola: Eighty Years of Los Rojos, was published by Simon & Schuster in Spring 2018. He lives in Manchester. (DL)

D

Fiona Davison is the Head of Libraries and Exhibitions at the Royal Horticultural Society and the author of a forthcoming book that is part detective story and part history.  In 2012, whilst going through some documents at the Lindley Library, she came across a bound volume that contained many letters dating back to 1812 from young, working men, seeking acceptance into the Society’s gardens, including one from a young Joseph Paxton.  Tracing their stories from these first letters, Fiona has written a brilliant and unique history of modern gardening packed with botanical wonders, scandals, spying and intrigue.  The Hidden Horticulturalists was published in April and named as one of the Gardening Books of the Year by the Daily Telegraph.  Fiona is a regular on the festival circuit and in high demand as a speaker by gardeing societies up and down the length of the British Isles.  She is currently working on a new book about women gardeners through history.  RW).

Hope Daniels – see Jenny Molloy.

Matt Dickinson is the award-winning Chief Sports Correspondent of The Times. He studied at Cambridge University then joined the Daily Express from the Cambridge Evening News in 1991. He moved to The Times in September 1997 and became Football Correspondent in 2000. He has covered four World Cups, the Olympics, the Masters and many of the world’s major sports events. He helped David Beckham write My World and assisted Gary Neville with the writing of Red. His latest book project, Bobby Moore: The Man in Full, was published by Yellow Jersey in September 2014. The book received huge praise, and was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2014, as well as winning the Biography of the Year at the Cross British Sports Book Awards 2015.  (DL)

Ben Dirs is a freelance journalist and author who has covered all sport from darts to football, with boxing his speciality. He has written 14 books:  the highly rated We Could be Heroes:  One Van, Two Blokes and Twelve World Championships (with Tom Fordyce, 2009); Karma Chameleons (with Tom Fordyce, 2010); Everywhere We Went:  Top Tales from the Barmy Army (2011); Benn, Eubank and Boxing’s Bitterest Rivalry (2013); and acted as the co-writer on Box to Box:  From the Premier League to British Boxing Champion (by Curtis Woodhouse, 2016); Death Row – The Final Minutes  (by Michelle Lyons, 2018); 401:  The Extraordinary Story of the Man Who Ran 401 Marathons in 401 Days and Changed His Life Forever (by Ben Smith, 2018); Life According to Freddie Flintoff (by Freddie Flintoff, 2018); The World According to Harry (by Harry Redknapp, 2019); Break Point (by Ollie Ollerton, 2019); 999 – My Life on the Frontline of the Ambulance Service (by Dan Farnworth, 2020); What a Flanker (by James Haskell, 2020); Alan Brazil autobiography (by Alan Brazil, 2020), Life According to Freddie Flintoff II (by Freddie Flintoff, 2020). Dirs was the boxing writer for the BBC Sport Website between 2001-2017. In this role, he covered hundreds of world title fights and interviewed fighters including Floyd Mayweather, Ricky Hatton, Joe Calzaghe, Carl Froch, Amir Khan, David Haye, Wladimir Klitschko, Tyson Fury, Bernard Hopkins and many more. (DL).

George Dobell is the Senior Cricket Correspondent at ESPNcricinfo. In the past he has written for the Guardian and Spin Magazine. Most recently, he collaborated with Jonathan Trott on his autobiography, Unguarded: My Autobiography (Sphere, September 2016), shortlisted for the Cricket Book of the Year at the Cross Sports Book awards. (DL)

Andrew Downie is the Brazilian football correspondent for Reuters, and has lived in the country for 15 years. He has written on football for GQ, the Economist, the New York Times and the Guardian among others. His first book was the definitive biography of Brazil legend, Socrates, which was published by Simon & Schuster in March 2017. It has sold into many territories around the world.   Andrew has just delivered his latest book, a history of football in Mexico, which will be published next year by Polaris.  He lives in Scotland with his partner.  (DL)

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E

Sarah Edworthy has been a journalist since 1987 when she began reviewing fiction for The Times. After stints at the London Daily News and Harpers & Queen, she moved to the books pages of the Daily Telegraph, transferring to the sports pages in 1994. Freelance since 2005, she co-wrote The Daily Telegraph Formula One Years with Timothy Collings and El Macca: Four Years at Read Madrid with Steve McManaman. More recently, Sarah worked with Jenson Button on his bestselling Diary of the 2009 Formula One Season for Orion. She co-wrote Hostage: A Year at Gunpoint with Somali Pirates with Paul and Rachel Chandler (Mainstream, 2011). Sarah wrote The Olympic Torch Relay: Follow the Flame of London 2012 and contributed two chapters to Making HIstory at London 2012. In that Olympic summer, she also wrote 21 Days to Glory: The Official Team Sky Book of the 2012 Tour de France, which won Best Illustrated Book of the Year. More recently, Sarah has worked with Team Sky on a book entitled The Pain and the Glory, which was shortlisted for Illustrated Book of the Year at the British Sports Book Awards 2014. After collaborating with Rugby legend Ben Cohen on his autobiography (published by Ebury), she co-wrote This Mum Runs with Jo Pavey (Yellow Jersey), which is shortlisted for Autobiography of the Year in the 2017 Cross Book Awards. (DL)

Rod Ellingworth is currently the GB Elite Road Coach and Team Sky Performance Manager. Having represented GB from 1989 until his retirement in 2001 he then founded and ran the GB Cycling Academy. Then, alongside Dave Brailsford and Fran Millar, he was instrumental in creating Team Sky in November 2008. His memoir, Project Rainbow, which he has written with William Fotheringham, is published by Faber & Faber. (DL)

Christopher Evans has been the Member of Parliament for Islwyn since 2010. Currently a member of the Public Accounts Committee. In the past, he has served on the justice committee and as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Shadow Chancellor. He has been published in Boxing Monthly and many other newspapers and publications as well as appearing on national television as a political commentator. His first book, Fearless Freddie, The Life and Times of Freddie Mills was shortlisted for The Times Biography of the Year at the 2018 Sports Book Awards. Married to Julia, they welcomed their son to the world in January 2017 and are expecting another baby in October 2020. (NW)

Martin Evans is the Physical Performance coach at the Football Association. He has worked with Phil Burt on the book Strength and Conditioning for Cyclists, which was published by Bloomsbury in September 2018. (DL)

F

Dave Farrar is a broadcaster specialising in football television commentary for ESPN and boxing for Channel 5, but is experienced across most areas of sport. His first book, The Perfect Punter: A Year of Losing Everything and Trying to Win it All Back was published by Bloomsbury (March 2012) and has been described by Racing Post as “one of the most entertaining books about sports betting ever published”. (DL)

Peter Fiennes is a journalist and author of several books.  His most recent is the bestselling Footnotes:  A Journey Round Britain in the Company of Great Writers (Oneworld, 2019) which has received countless ecstatic reviews and is one of the most moving, elegiac and funny portraits of the British Isles published in some years.  Shortlisted for the Stanfords Book Awards this year, it will be published in paperback in May.  Peter’s previous book, Oak and Ash and Thorn:  From Ancient Woods to the New Forests of Britain, was published by Oneworld in September 2017 and also garnered countless reviews.  His passion for protecting Britain’s woodlands shines through this book and continues to inform much of what he writes about about. Peter’s first full-length book, To War With God (Mainstream, 2011) was a moving account of his grandfather’s time as an Anglican Chaplain on the Western Front and has been adapted for the stage by the Artless Theatre Company.  Peter lives in London and can be found on Twitter most days @pfiennes – he is also writing a new book about Greece which will be published in 2021. (RW)

Tom Fordyce is the BBC’s award-winning Chief Sports Writer. He has covered multiple Olympic Games, Premier League seasons, rugby World Cups, World Athletics Championships, Wimbledons, Tour de Frances, Ashes series home and away Six Nations and Ryder Cups, as well as a hundreds of other tournaments, matches and championships in between, across digital, radio and television. He ghosted ‘Swim Bike Run’, the autobiography of Alistair and Jonny Brownlee, which was a Sunday Times number one bestseller; The World of Cycling According to G, with double Olympic gold medallist Geraint Thomas, which has sold more than 60,000 copies, and more recently, Thomas’ book The Tour According to G, which was a Sunday Times Bestseller; the critically acclaimed ‘Six Machine’, with Jamaican cricket superstar Chris Gayle; and ‘The Inside Track’, the joint autobiography of Laura and Jason Kenny, respectively the most decorated British female and male Olympians of all time. Tom was also behind Ben Ryan’s tremendous account of the Fiji’s success at the Olympics, Sevens Heaven, and Peter Crouch’s Sunday Times bestseller, How to be a Footballer.  (DL)

Daniel Friebe is one of Britain’s leading cycling journalists and writers. He is also one of the presenters for ITV’s cycling coverage. Previously the Features Editor of Procycling Magazine, widely regarded as the world’s most authoritative English-language cycling magazine, Daniel now is a full-time freelance journalist. Amongst his many books, he has collaborated with cycling superstar, Mark Cavendish, on both of his the best-selling memoirs:  Boy Racer: My Journey to Tour de France Record Breaker and At Speed (Ebury Press). He is also the co-author, with Pete Goding, of Mountain High: Europe’s 50 Greatest Cycle Climbs (Quercus, 2011) and Mountain Higher, both published by Quercus. Other titles include his biography Eddy Merckx: The Cannibal and Allez Wiggo! Daniel is currently working on his latest project, a biography of Jan Ullrich, to be published by Macmillan. He is also one third of The Cycling Podcast. Their debut title, ‘A Year In Cycling’, was published by Yellow Jersey in Spring 2018. (DL)

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Brendan Gallagher is The Daily Telegraph’s Rugby Union Reporter but he also covers cycling and athletics. He has written numerous books including Sporting Supermen (Aurum Press), and is the co-author of Bradley Wiggins’ autobiography, In Pursuit of Glory (Orion). Brendan also worked on The Games: Britain’s Olympic and Paralympic Journey to London 2012 (John Wiley, 2012). Other works include a definitive photographic history of the Rugby World Cup, published by Bloomsbury in September 2015. Brendan’s most recent title, Corsa Rosa: A History of the Giro d’Italia was published by Bloomsbury in April 2017. (DL)

Kevin Garside is the Chief Sportswriter for The Telegraph having previously covered F1 for the paper for which he won Specialist Correspondent of the Year (2008). He has collaborated on two book projects to date: Amir Khan: A Boy from Bolton: My Story (Bloomsbury), and, with Lou Macari, Football, My Life (Bantam Press), both of which received rave reviews. (DL)

Richard Gillis is an award-winning journalist working for several of the world’s leading newspaper and publishing groups. Formerly editor of SportBusiness International magazine, he then became Cricket Correspondent of the Irish Times covering Ireland’s remarkable 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup campaign in the Caribbean, where his reporting on the untimely death of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer led the global news agenda. He now lives in London, where he is a columnist and feature interviewer for the Irish Times and writes about sport, business and the media for the Wall Street Journal, alongside media and communications consultancy work. His book The Captain Myth: The Ryder Cup and Sport’s Great Leadership Delusion was published by Bloomsbury in August 2016. (DL)

Pete Goding is the co-author of Mountain High and Mountain Higher and works closely with the UK Press Association providing action and portrait photography to newspapers and journals worldwide, including The Times, The Sunday Times, Guardian, Observer, Sunday Herald, Daily Telegraph, Cycle Sport Magazine, Procycling Magazine and Velo News. Pete also travels the globe photographing architecture and the natural world for travel magazines, brochures and advertisements. www.petegodingphotography.com (DL)

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Dan Hall has been running the @HighgateMums Twitter account since 2012. The subsequent book, published by Atlantic in November 2016, is an hilarious collection bringing together the most outrageous snippets of conversation that have been overheard in the shops and cafes of this gentrified North London suburb. Highgate Mums also includes confessions from mothers dismayed by their own upper-middle-class offspring and submissions from fathers making fun of themselves with the hashtag #lattedads, revealing day-to-day life among Britain’s chattering classes as never before. (DL)

Dietmar Hamann. Born in Waldsassen in Germany in 1973, Dietmar Hamann played football for Wacker Munich, Bayern Munich, Newcastle United, Liverpool, Manchester City and MK Dons. Amongst the many honours awarded to Hamann over his career, he won two UEFA Cups, two FA Cups, two League Cups and a Champions League winners’ medal. His memoir, The Didi Man: My Love Affair with Liverpool, with a forward by comedian John Bishop, was published by Headline in 2012 to widespread acclaim. (DL)

Maurice Hamilton was the Observer’s award-winning motor racing correspondent between 1990-2010. Now a highly respected and successful published author, his books include  his phenomenal biography of Formula One racing legend, Niki Lauda; published in the UK by Simon and Schuster in May 2020, it has become a major bestseller in Austria and Germany for Edel Verlag and will be published in the Netherlands later this year.  Maurice’s backlist includes Formula One:  The Champions (Aurum Press), The Art of Racing, McLaren: 50 Years of Racing, Senna, Prost, Hunt, and Grand Prix Circuits, published in October 2015 by Collins.  He is currently working on a new book for Welbeck to be announced shortly.  (DL)

Lance Hardy is a successful author, ghostwriter and senior television producer. The former BBC Sport programme editor (Football Focus, Final Score and Match of the Day) now works for HBS (at FIFA competitions around the world) and other international clients. He has worked at six World Cups, four Women’s World Cups and four Olympic Games during his career. His book, Stokoe,Sunderland and ’73 (Orion) was shortlisted for Football Book of the Year at the British Sports Book Awards and his collaboration with Steve Davis, Interesting (Ebury Press), was shortlisted for Autobiography of the Year at the British Sports Book Awards and was a Sunday Times bestseller. He also co-authored Bobby Dazzler(Orion) with Bobby George and Footballer (Bantam Press) with Kelly Smith. (DL)

Rachael Hearson is the author of the bestselling Handle With Care:  Confessions of an NHS Health Visitor which was published in April by Mirror Books.  It charts her career in the NHS over the past forty years, first as a nurse and midwife before qualifying as a Health Visitor. She has plied her trade in Hackney, Tower Hamlets and, more recently, the West Country where she is now settled.  A firm supporter of the NHS and a passionate advocate for the importance of health visitors in communities, Rachael has continued to work throughout the covid-19 pandemic.   Rachael lives with her husband in Dorset and is mother to two grown-up children. (RW)

Ian Herbert is The Independent’s chief sportswriter, whose deep knowledge of Liverpool Football Club is built on nearly ten years covering sport. He has a reputation within the profession for the high quality of his writing and also for his investigative skill, honed during eight years as a news reporter for The Independent before making the move into sport. He began his career in Liverpool in 1989, where he was both a news and football reporter. He eventually became Deputy Editor of Liverpool Daily Post, before leaving for the nationals. As a football reporter on the Post, he covered the managerial era of Graeme Souness, during which LFC’s decline from the standards of the great Bob Paisley days was the steepest. Ian’s reputation as one of Britain’s foremost sports journalists saw him Highly Commended in the British Sportswriter of the Year category of the British Press Awards last year and in 2012. He was also highly commended in the Sports’ Journalists Association’s Sports News Reporter of the Year award in 2012. Ian’s most recent title is his biography of Bob Paisley, Quiet Genius which was published by Bloomsbury, and was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award 2017 and the Cross Sports Football Book of the Year award. @ianherbs.  (DL)

Mark Hodgkinson is a tennis author and journalist based in London. Mark recently collaborated with Sascha Bajin, Naomi Osaka’s former coach, on a motivational book published in Japanese in July 2019. His backlist includes Lendl: The Man Who Made Murray (Aurum), the bestselling biography of Andy Murray (Simon & Schuster) and Game, Set and Match: Secret Weapons of the World’s Top Tennis Players (Bloomsbury). Mark‘s Fedegraphica, a graphic biography of Roger Federer (Aurum), has been an international bestseller and was followed up with a second book in the series, Serena, published in October 2019. a second book in the series, Serena, will be published soon. A former tennis correspondent of The Daily Telegraph, he edits the programme for the men’s season-ending tournament in London, the Nitto ATP Finals, and writes for Wimbledon.com and the WTA, including ghostwriting for Martina Navratilova. In addition, Mark is a senior editorial consultant for an international shoe brand. (DL)

Oliver Holt was appointed Chief Sports Writer on The Times from 2000 to 2002 before becoming Chief Sports Writer for The Daily Mirror in 2002. In February 2015 he left the paper to join the Mail on Sunday. Holt is a regular guest on the Sunday Supplement. He won the British Press Awards Sports Writer of the Year in both 2005 and 2006, the What the Papers Say Sports Writer of the Year in 2005 and the Sports Columnist of the Year in 2008. Holt is a regular guest on Sky as well as BBC Radio and has a weekly spot on This Morning. He once returned a serve from Roscoe Tanner in the line of duty for the Liverpool Echo. Previous books include End of the Rainbow: England’s Quest for Glory in South Africa (Hodder, 2010), which is widely regarded as the definitive account of the 2010 World Cup. Other books include: If You’re Second You are Nothing: Ferguson and Shankley (Macmillan 2006). Both Made in Sheffield: My Story – Neil Warnock (Hodder, 2007) and Left Field: A Footballer Apart – Graeme Le Saux (Harper Collins 2007) were shortlisted for awards. Holt collaborated with Stan Collymore on Stan: Tackling My Demons (Harper Collins 2005) and co-wrote Growing Up Fast with Theo Walcott. His book, Miracle at Medinah, an account of Europe’s amazing Ryder Cup comeback, was published by Headline in 2012. Holt also worked with Ian Poulter on his book project, which was published in autumn 2014 by Quercus. Most recently Holt has collaborated with Kieren Fallon on his autobiography, which won the Cross Sports International Autobiography of the Year award. (DL)

Raphael Honigstein is the Guardian’s German football correspondent and regularly broadcasts for BT Sport’s Bundesliga and European football coverage.  He is the author of two books: Englischer Fussball: A German View of Our Beautiful Game and, most recently, Das Reboot: How German Football Reinvented Itself and Conquered the World, which was published in September 2015 (Yellow Jersey). Honigstein’s biography of Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp, Bring the Noise, was published by Yellow Jersey in November 2017. It was a bestseller in Germany and has sold into multiple territories. (DL)

Andy Hooper is a five times winner of the UK Sports Photographer of the Year competition who has been documenting major sporting events across the globe and photographing many of the world’s greatest athletes for 20 years. After studying photography at Salisbury Art College he pursued his passion for sport, rising to the position of chief sports photographer at The Daily Mail and MailOnline. He recently worked with Lee Clayton on the book Farewell to Upton Park, a photographic celebration of West Ham FC’s former ground. (DL)

Damian Hughes started his career at Manchester United and now combines his practical and academic background within sport, organisation and change psychology to work as an adviser to the business, education and sporting elite, specialising in the creation of high performing cultures. He is the author of several bestselling books on leadership and three acclaimed sports biographies of Sugar Ray Robinson, Thomas Hearns and Marvin Hagler.   www.liquidthinker.com (DL)

Simon Hughes (not the cricket analyst or the MP). Instead, he is a football journalist, writing for the Daily and Sunday Telegraph and The Independent, as well as Liverpool Football Club’s official magazine. Simon is the author of Secret Diary of a Liverpool Scout (Sport Media, 2009) and Red Machine (Mainstream, 2013), winner of the Premio Antonio Ghirelli prize as Italian soccer foreign book of the year in 2014. The Men in the White Suits: Liverpool FC in the 1990s was published in the spring of 2015, and the third instalment of the Liverpool series, Ring of Fire: Liverpool FC in the 2000s, was published in August 2016 to huge success.  He is currently working on a new book about the club for publication this Autumn 2019. (DL)

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Tom Isitt is an award-winning journalist and author with more than 30 years experience in consumer publishing.   His latest book, Riding in the Red Zone, is published by W&N and has attracted some stellar reviews.  He has been the editor of a number of leading magazines in their fields and specialises in cycling, motorcycling, boating and adventure-sports. As a freelancer for the last decade, Tom has been published in the Guardian, Rouleur, Cycle, Cycling Active and a host of boating magazines around the world. Previous titles include The World of Harley-Davidson (Magna, 1993), Superbikes from Around the World (Paragon, 1998) and Secrets of The Queen’s Closet (Ashford, 1988). (NW)

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Steve James played cricket for Glamorgan and England, and rugby for Lydney and Gloucestershire. He is now the Times’ cricket news and rugby reporter having previously covered both sports at the Daily and Sunday Telegraph. He has written an autobiography, Third Man to Fatty’s Leg, and has ghosted two books for former England coach, Duncan Fletcher. His book, The Plan, published by Bantam Press, received glowing reviews and was named Book of the Year by the Cricket Writers’ Club. It has also been shortlisted for The Cricket Society and MCC Book of the Year. Steve has also worked with British and Lions Rugby captain Sam Warburton on two projects, including Refuse to be Denied: My Grand Slam Year. His other titles include the critically acclaimed The Art of Centuries, published in April 2015 (Bantam Press). Steve most recently worked with British and Irish Lions legend Sir Ian McGeechan on his new project, The Lions: When the Going Gets Tough, which was released ahead of the 2017 Lions tour to New Zealand. (DL)

Pete Jenson has been covering Spanish football and the fortunes of Spanish and South American players in the Premier League since 2003. He writes for various UK national newspapers including The Independent and The Daily Mail and is a regular contributor to BBC Radio’s Five Live. Along with The Guardian’s Sid Lowe he was the first person to interview Luis Suarez after his move to Liverpool in 2012, and together they worked with Luis on his autobiography, Crossing the Line. They also collaborated on Iniesta’s hugely successful autobiography, published by Headline in September 2016. He also translated Diego Torres’ 2014 book about Jose Mourinho entitled: The Special One, the dark side of Jose Mourinho, from Spanish into English. (DL)

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Oliver Kay is chief football correspondent for The Times, a position he has held since 2009. Previously he was the newspaper’s northern football correspondent, primarily reporting on Manchester and Merseyside. His job takes him around the country and around Europe, reporting on the biggest matches, living out the ambition that took hold once it dawned on him at a young age that these were the only football dreams he would be able to realise. Forever Young: The Story of Adrian Doherty, Football’s Lost Genius (Quercus, May 2016) is his first book, and was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award. It also won the Football and Overall Sports Book of the Year at the Cross Sports Book Awards. He lives in Yorkshire with his wife and family. (DL)

Martin Kelner is a journalist, author and broadcaster. His column, “Screen Break”, has been running in The Guardian for 14 years. Alongside his print work, Kelner is a well-known broadcaster and presents the breakfast show on BBC Radio Leeds, as well as making regular appearances on Five Live’s Fighting Talk and the Richard Bacon Show. Kelner’s book, Sit Down and Cheer, a history of sport on TV, was published by Wisden Sports Books in October 2012 and is available as an audio download. Martin lives in Yorkshire with his wife and four children.www.martinkelner.com (DL)

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Mark Law is a journalist and the author of The Pyjama Game: A Journey into Judo(Aurum, 2007). He started his career in journalism at The Mail on Sunday and went on to write for The Times and The Daily Telegraph. He was the Comment Editor of The Sunday Telegraph until 2004 and, until recently, Editor of The First Post. The Pyjama Game is widely regarded as the first literary sports book on the most popular martial art, winning him Best New Writer at the 2008 Sports Writers of the Year Award. (DL)

 

Amy Lawrence has been writing about football since the early 1990s. She was the Observer’s deputy football correspondent for over a decade, and most of her work is for the Guardian and the Observer. She is also a columnist for the BBC Sport website, and a regular contributor to BBC Radio 5 Live and MOTD2 Extra. Amy has covered the Premier League, Champions League, continental football and attended several World Cups and European Championships. She has also written a number of football books, including a study of Arsenal’s ‘Invincible’ team of 2003-4, which was based on in depth interviews with the players, staff and Arsene Wenger. Elsewhere, she also worked with Ray Parlour on his autobiography, and she recently collaborated with the Arsenal photographer Stuart McFarlane to produce a photographic history of Arsene Wenger. In her work she covers Arsenal regularly and that is regarded as something of a specialist subject. She was awarded ‘Football Writer of the Year’ in 2014 by the Football Supporters Federation.  Her next book, again about Arsenal, will be published by Century in 2019. She also worked as a producer on a documentary of the same subject, entitled ’89, which was released in November 2017. (DL)

James Lawton was the chief sports writer for The Independent. He covered 12 Olympics and nine World Cups,was voted sports journalist of the year three times and also won the sports columnist of the year and sports feature writer of the year awards. His collaboration with Sir Bobby Charlton on two volumes of autobiography won British Sports Autobiography of the Year in 2007 and was short-listed for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year. Lawton also worked with Charlton’s World Cup-winning team-mates Nobby Stiles and George Cohen on their autobiographies, plus those of Malcolm Allison, Joe Jordan, and Ian St John. Other books include biographies of Lester Piggott and Lennox Lewis, and a study of gridiron football, The All-American War Game.  His other work includes the wonderful Forever Boys: The Days of Citizens and Heroes which is a hymn in praise of the Manchester City team of the 1960s, published by Wisden. Lawton’s last book, A Ringside Affair: Boxing’s Last Golden Age, and was published by Bloomsbury in November 2017. (DL)

 

Martin Lipton has had a 25­-year-career as a journalist including being Chief Football Writer for the Press Association, Daily Mail and Daily Mirror, covering England at five World Cups and four European Championships plus reporting at Wimbledon, the Ryder Cup, Test and World Cup cricket and two Olympic Games. A graduate of Oxford University, he has also been an active Spurs supporter since attending his first game in 1972. He is now the Deputy Head of Sport at The Sun and his book White Hart Lane: The Glory Years 1899-2017 was published by W&N in October 2017. (DL)

Matt Little has been working in Elite level tennis for over 15 years. During this time he has worked with players and teams of all ages from the bottom to the very top of the game. His career achievements include 10 years as part of Team Murray. Recently undertaking the role of leading Andy’s support team for his incredible world dominating 2016 where he won Olympic gold, Wimbledon and world number one. Matt has also spent 5 years as the strength and conditioning coach for Great Britain’s 2015 Davis Cup winning team, helping them from a relegation playoff in Euro-Africa group 2, to winning the competition 5 years later. Matt is now an internationally recognised leader in his industry and public speaker on a vast range of subjects including youth development, strength and conditioning, soft skills and life skills. He is currently working on his debut book, The Way of the Tortoise, to be published by Michael O’Mara books in 2021. (NW)

Morag Livingstone is a film-maker and writer. She co-wrote, with Jenny Molloy, Hackney Child and Tainted Love, both Sunday Times bestsellers.   www.livingstone-media.com (RW).

Andrew Longmore was an award-winning writer for the Sunday Times, having previously worked for The Times and Independent on Sunday. He was the author of several books, including Best Mate with Henrietta Knight, a biography of Kieren Fallon (Racing Post, 2009) and The Heat of the Moment (Wiley, 2011).   (DL)

Sid Lowe lives in Madrid and writes a weekly column for guardian.co.uk. He also writes regularly for The Guardian, World Soccer, FourFourTwo, and the Telegraph. He is a commentator and panelist for Spanish, Asian and US television and has translated for David Beckham, Michael Owen, and Thomas Gravesen. He translated Fernado Torres’ El Nino: My Story (Harper Collins, 2009). His bestselling Fear and Loathing in La Liga is published by Yellow Jersey and has been shortlisted for the Football Book of the Year at the 2014 British Sports Book Awards. Sid worked with Pete Jenson on the Luis Suarez autobiography, Crossing the Line – My Story. They also collaborated on Iniesta’s hugely successful autobiography, published by Headline in September 2016. (DL)

Ben Lyttleton is a football writer and consultant and the author of Edge: What Business Can Learn from Football (HarperCollins, September 2017) and 12 Yards:  The Art and Psychology of the Penalty Kick (Bantam Press).  More recently, he has teamed up with Alex Bellos to create the brilliant Football School:  Where Football Explains the World for Walker Books.  This bestselling children’s book that teaches you about the world through the prism of football is now in its fourth series and has spun off a number of tie-in quiz and activity books.  Between them, Lyttleton and Bellos have set a new standard for football books that have a purpose whilst also being fun, cheeky and a little bit naughty too!  For more details on the series please visit Walker’s website http://www.walker.co.uk. (DL).

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Gabriele Marcotti is the World Football Correspondent for The Times and UK correspondent for Corriere dello Sport. He is also a columnist for Sports Illustrated and his work appears regularly in La Stampa and the Sunday Herald. He now co-hosts the weekly 606 programme on BBC Radio Five Live as well as being a regular pundit on the same channel. His books include The Italian Job: A Journey to the Heart of Two Great Footballing Cultures, co-written with Gianluca Vialli, which was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award in 2006. His book Capello: Portrait of a Winner (Bantam Books), was described by Simon Kuper as ‘the book Marcotti was born to write’. Marcotti also co-authored with Alberto Polverosi a biography of Ranieri and Paolo Di Canio’s biography. Most recently, Marcotti  has been working with Gianluca Vialli on his personal and inspiring book, GOALS, which Headline will publish in June 2020. He lives in London. (DL)

David Millar is a former Professional road-racing cyclist. He is the only British cyclist to have worn all Tour de France jerseys and only one of six to have worn the yellow jersey. A stage winner in all three Grand Tours he has also worn the leader’s jersey at the Giro d’italia and Vuelta a Espana. He is now one of the co-commentator’s for ITV’s cycling coverage. His riveting and critically acclaimed memoir, Racing Through the Dark, was shortlisted for both the 2011 William Hill Sports Book of the Year and the British Sports Book Awards. An international success it was a bestseller for Orion in 2011 and was published in paperback in 2012. David’s latest book, the highly acclaimed, The Racer, was published in October 2015 (Yellow Jersey). A film entitled, Time Trial (directed by Findlay Pretsell), which takes you into the final races of David’s career, premiered in November 2017. (DL)

Nigel Mitchell has a clinical and sport career spanning almost 20 years. At the 2008 Beijing Olympiad the Olympic British Cycling team became the most successful British Olympic team of all time. His role involves leading and providing specialist nutritional service to British Cycling. Additionally he has had previous responsibility for the development and quality assurance of performance nutrition services to sports in the north of England, this has included helping to establish performance nutrition services to the Royal Yacht Association and British Swimming. His title, Fuelling the Cycling Revolution: The Nutritional Strategies and Recipes Behind Grand Tour Wins and Olympic Gold Medals, was published in June 2017 (Bloomsbury). (DL)

Jenny Molloy is the bestselling author (with Morag Livingstone) of Hackney Child – one of the most important books to have ever been written on the subject of life in Britain’s children’s homes.  Her story is nothing short of remarkable and the work that Jenny has gone on to do to bring the issue of “looked-after children” to the forefront of social policy is changing lives every day.  The Simon & Schuster edition of Hackney Child was published in January 2014 and the sequel, Tainted Love in July 2014.  Her latest book, Neglected, is out in paperback.  She is currently working with Sarah Rushton on a book for Jessica Kingsley Publishers.   www.hackneychild.co.u(RW)

James Montague is an award-winning author and journalist from Chelmsford, Essex.  He writes for The Bleacher Report, The New York Times and Delayed Gratification. His latest book is 1312:  Among the Ultras – a journey with football’s most extreme fans which is published by Ebury.  Known for his fearless reporting style, Montague’s cut his teeth on his first book – When Friday Comes about the place of football in the Middle East (Mainstream Books 2009 and reprinted by De Courbetin books in 2011).  It won him the “Best New Writer” award at the British Sports Book of the Year Awards.  His next book, 31-Nil: On the Road with Football’s Outsiders was a remarkable odyssey-like journey to discover the lengths to which clubs would go to qualify for the World Cup.  It included that near-legendary Samoan game which is now the subject of a film starring Michael Fassbender and Elisabeth Moss to be released in late 2020.  His third book, The Billionaires’ Club (Bloomsbury) won the 2015 Football Book of the Year Award at the Cross Sports Book Awards.  James is currently living in Istanbul.  (RW).

Glenn Moore. One of an elite few journalists to hold the Uefa B coaching licence, Moore is the author of Soccer Skills & Tactics and editor of The Concise Encyclopedia of Football. Moore collaborated with ex-Leeds manager, Neil Warnock, on The Gaffer: The Trials and Tribulations of a Football Manager (June 2013, Headline). Moore has been in sports journalism for more than a quarter-century and his experience includes several years touring as a cricket writer, primarily for Reuters. (DL)

Michelle Moore is a former athlete and now combines her role as trustee for the Runnymede Trust (the UK’s leading Race Equality Think-tank) with that of Diversity advisor to the Women’s Sport Trust board.  Michelle is also a trustee of the SportsAid charity, sitting on the Sport England Talent Inclusion Advisory Board and is senior honorary associate lecturer for the University of Worcester.  She has won numerous awards for her work and she is highly sought after both as a coach and leadership consultant.  Michelle is currently working on her first book. http://michellemoore.me/ (RW)

 

Richard Moore is a freelance journalist and author.  His most recently published book, The Bolt Supremacy, was published by Yellow Jersey in July 2015 and was longlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award 2015. Richard has also written a number of cycling titles, including Étape, which tells the story of the defining stages in the Tour de France seen through the eyes of some of the most legendary cyclists of our time. It was very well received, and was shortlisted for the Cycling Book of the Year at the Cross British Sports Book Awards 2015. His first book was In Search of Robert Millar which won the Best Biography category at the 2008 British Sports Book Awards. His second book, Heroes, Villains & Velodromes (HarperSport), was long-listed for the 2008 William Hill Sports Book of the Year. He is also the author of acclaimed Slaying the Badger: LeMond, Hinault and the Greatest Ever Tour de France (Yellow Jersey, May 2011) which was made into a film by John Dower, whilst The Dirtiest Race in History: Ben Johnson, Carl Lewis and the 1988 Olympic 100m Final,  published by Wisden Sports Writing, is also in pre-production.  Richard is also a former racing cyclist who represented Scotland at the 1998 Commonwealth Games and Great Britain at the 1998 Tour de Langkawi. For more information on Richard’s work go to our Film and TV pages. He is also one third of The Cycling Podcast. Their debut title, ‘A Year In Cycling’, was published by Yellow Jersey in Spring 2018. (DL)

Robin Moore is an award-winning photographer, author and conservationist. Since gaining a PhD in biodiversity conservation, Robin has been a powerful voice for amphibian conservation, and has helped to found and grow the Amphibian Survival Alliance. Robin is a Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers and co-founded Frame of Mind to empower youth in Haiti to connect with their natural and cultural worlds through photography and visual storytelling. Robin’s images and stories have graced the pages of many National Geographic publications, the Telegraph Magazine, Conservation Magazine, Photo District News, American Photo, Outdoor Photographer, Wanderlust, Terre Sauvage and TIME for Kids. ‘In Search of Lost Frogs’ (Bloomsbury 2014) is his first book. (DL)

 

Leo Moynihan is a freelance sports writer. He specialises in football and has written on the beautiful game for a number of publications including FourFourTwo, The Sunday Telegraph, and UEFA’s Champions magazine. Leo has also covered a wide variety of other sports from Rugby Union to Curling. His biography of Gordon Strachan was published in 2004 and was short-listed for best new writer in the British Sports Book of the Year awards.  He has since collaborated with David Beckham on the autobiographical Making It Real and is also the author of The Liverpool Miscellany and The Pocket Book of Liverpool.He is currently working on the autobiography of Andrew Cole to be published by Hodder and Stoughton.

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Jonathan Northcroft is the soccer correspondent for the Sunday Times. He is a frequent contributor to BBC Radio 5 Live’s football programs, and a regular guest on Sky Sports’ Sunday Supplement show. Inaugural winner of the Jim Rodger Memorial Award for young sports writers in Scotland, he was shortlisted for Feature Writer of the Year at the Sports Journalists Association awards in 2006 and Football Writer of the Year in 2016. His first book, Fearless: The Amazing Underdog Story of Leicester City, The Greatest Miracle in Sports History was published by Headline in September 2016. It went on to achieve great success both in the UK and in translation.

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Matt Oldfield writes the Ultimate Football Heroes and Classic Football Heroes series (John Blake Publishing). These fun, action-packed biographies are perfect for football-mad kids aged 7-12. The books tell the life-stories of the biggest and best footballers in the world, including Ronaldo, Messi and Neymar, and their incredible journeys from childhood fan to super-star professional player. Matt also works with schools and organisations such as The National Literacy Trust and The National Football Museum to deliver football-based literacy workshops. (NW)

John Osborne graduated from the University of East Anglia in 2004 and is now a hugely successful poet with sell-out shows at the Edinburgh Festival and many other literary festivals and events nationwide. His show, “John Peel’s Shed”, was recorded for Radio 4. John has had poetry published in The Guardian and Spectator and has appeared on Colin Murray’s Radio 1 Show and with Richard Bacon on Five Live. His first book, Radio Head (Simon and Schuster, 2009), was selected as Book of the Week by Radio 4 and was serialised in the Daily Mail. This brilliantly observed memoir of a year listening to virtually every radio station in the UK attracted a raft of stunning reviews. His second book, The Newsagent’s Window, was published by Simon and Schuster in 2010 and has been broadcast on Radio 4. John’s latest book, Don’t Need the Sunshine was published in June 2013 and is the subject of his latest show which received its premiere at the 2013 Edinburgh Fringe.  (RW)

David Owen is a journalist and expert in horse racing. In April 2013, Bloomsbury published Foinavon: The Story of the National’s Biggest Upset , the definitive story of the 1967 Grand National, when the 100-1 outsider picked his way through a field of fallen horses and strolled carefully home, well clear of the field. It won the prestigious 2013 Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award in the United States and was shortlisted for the Racing Book of the Year at the 2014 British Sports Book Awards. (DL)

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Ned Palmer is the author of the incredible, bestselling and marvellous A Cheesemonger’s History of the British Isles (Profile Books, 2019) which has attracted countless reviews and been included on the Andre Simon Food Writer’s Awards shortlist.  It’s a book that takes us on a delicious journey across Britain and Ireland and through time to uncover the histories of beloved old favourites like Cheddar and Wensleydale and fresh innovations like the Irish Cashel Blue or the rambunctious Renegade Monk. Along the way we learn the craft and culture of cheesemaking from the eccentric and engaging characters who have revived and reinvented farmhouse and artisan traditions. And we get to know the major cheese styles – the blues, washed rinds, semi-softs and, unique to the British Isles, the territorials – and discover how best to enjoy them, on a cheeseboard with a glass of Riesling, or as a Welsh rarebit alongside a pint of Pale Ale. Ned worked at Neal’s Yard for seven years selling cheese, talking about cheese and looking after cheese in a cellar in Covent Garden. In 2012 he set up The Cheese Tasting Company to deliver tastings to private and corporate audiences. He has worked with the Jamie Oliver Foundation, The British Epicurean Society, The Vintner, Laithwaites, and craft breweries like Brew by Numbers and Gypsy Hill Brewery. Ned’s tastings feature intriguing and delicious cheese and drink pairings, enticing and esoteric stories of cheese and cheesemaking both ancient and modern, and loads of delicious artisanal cheese.  (DL)

Tom Palmer writes children’s books – for ages 7-13 – that blend adventure and sport, particularly through crime and spy storylines.   He was recently awarded the Ruth Rendell Award for services to literacy and has been shortlisted and awarded many other prizes over the course of his career.  From his bestselling Puffin series (Foul Play, Football Academy, Squad), to his 14 books for Barrington Stoke (the most recent being Armistice Runner), Egmont and Rebellion (Roy of the Rovers series), Tom has sold over 150,000 books and is a huge favourite with public libraries.  He works tirelessly to promote reading for pleasure in schools and his books are frequently chosen by Booktrust, the National Literacy Trust and the Reading Agency for their promotions. For more information on Tom’s incredible list of books please visit his website www.tompalmer.co.uk (DL)

Kenny Pryde is a journalist and author. Born and educated in Glasgow, he has lived and worked in London and Brussels during his 25 year career, writing for Cycling Weekly, Bicycle Action, Winning, Triathlete, VeloNews, Rouleur and was latterly the editor-at-large of Cycle Sport magazine. He has edited mountainbike, motorbike and triathlon magazines in that period as well as writing two volumes of ‘The Fabulous World of Cycling’ before anyone in the UK cared about cycling. Kenny is working on ‘Medal Factory,’ the tumultuous story of British Cycling from poverty-stricken and medal-free irrelevance in 1984 to modern global superpower with attendant problems.   @kenny_pryde (DL)

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Brian Reade is an award-winning journalist who writes two weekly opinion columns for the Daily Mirror, on Current Affairs and Sport. He was born in Liverpool in 1957 and began his journalism career on the Reading Evening Post in 1980, working as a football writer and columnist at the Liverpool Daily Post and Echo before moving to the Mirror in 1994. In 2000, he was named Columnist of The Year at The British Press Gazette Awards, and, in 2004, was Sports Columnist of The Year in the Sports Journalism Awards. In 2008, Reade released his first book, 44 Years With The Same Bird, documenting his life spent following Liverpool FC, which became a massive bestseller. More recently, Quercus published another bestseller, An Epic Swindle: 44 Months with a Pair of Cowboys, which charts the ownership of Liverpool FC by Hicks and Gillette. (DL)

Ronald Reng is one of Germany’s most prestigious sports journalists and has written for a variety of publications across Europe. His intimate and insightful memoir of the late Robert Enke, the German goalkeeper who took his life in 2009, won the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award in 2011 and was shortlisted for the British Sports Book Awards in 2012. Published by Yellow Jersey, A Life Too Short was described by the William Hill panel as ‘an outstanding piece of sports writing.’ The book was first published in Germany and has since been translated into several languages. Reng is also the author of The Keeper of Dreams: One Man’s Controversial Story of Life in the English Premiership, the story of the goalkeeper, Lars Leese, and his time at Barnsley. His most recent book, Matchdays: The Hidden Story of the Bundesliga, was published in April 2015 by Simon & Schuster. (DL)

Tina Renton made the headlines in 2011 and has just published a book about her experience entitled You Can’t Hide (Simon and Schuster). After a rocky start and the birth of her two children, Tina decided to return to education and graduated from the University of Essex in Law in 2009. As part of her degree, she specialised in evidence-based cases, and it was then that she first believed she stood a chance of bringing her abuser to justice, in spite of the fact that the abuse had happened twenty years ago. Tina’s brave fight attracted newspaper headlines and her remarkable story is guaranteed to bring hope to the thousands of people who are seeking justice decades after they have been abused. You Can’t Hide was published by Simon and Schuster in February 2013. (RW)

Ian Ridley was voted Sports Journalist of the Year in the British Press Awards, 2007. He is the football correspondent for The Mail on Sunday and the co-author of Tony Adams’ autobiography, Addicted, and the author of Floodlit Dreams. His most recent book, a biography of Kevin Keegan, was published by Simon and Schuster and he collaborated with referee Mark Halsey on Extra Time, published by Floodlit Dreams Ltd, September 2013. (DL)

Stephen Roche is a retired professional road racing cyclist. In a 13-year professional career, he peaked in 1987, becoming only the second cyclist to win the Triple Crown of victories in the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia stage races, plus the World road race championship. In 2012, Yellow Jersey published his his autobiography, Born to Ride. (DL)

Barney Ronay writes about sport for The Guardian where he has had a Saturday column for the last six years and is also a regular on the Football Weekly podcast. He has written several books about sport, including Any Chance of A Game? and the award-winning The Manager: The Absurd Ascent of The Most Important Man in Football, plus some earlier titles with big writing and lots of pictures that he doesn’t like to talk about.  His most recent book is the much-admired How Football (Nearly) Came Home:  Adventures in Putin’s World Cup which was published in 2018 by HarperCollins.  (DL)

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David Sally is one of the world’s leading experts on social interaction and behavioural game theory with a PhD in Economics from the University of Chicago Business School. His research has focussed on analysing the way that people play games, cooperate, compete, communicate and strategise. His bestselling book The Numbers Game: Why Everything You Know About Football is Wrong, co-written with Chris Anderson, is published by Viking, Penguin and has been described as football’s equivalent to Moneyball. It is also a bestseller in the USA for Penguin, and has been sold in many countries around the world. (DL)

Janis Sharp is a musician and filmmaker who is most recognisable in recent years for her extraordinary 11-year campaign to save her son, Gary McKinnon. Charged with hacking into protected government websites, the US attempted to extradite Gary to the United States to face up to 70 years in prison. In October 2012 she finally won her battle when Theresa May announced the extradition would not take place and in December 2012 the Crown Prosecution Service decided that Gary would not face any charges in the UK either. Janis’ memoir, Saving Gary McKinnon, reveals the full story behind the human rights campaign that shook the country, and a mother’s fight to protect her son. (RW)

Sarah Shephard was Features Editor at Sport magazine, and is now deputy head of content at The Coaches’ Voice. During her time at Sport magazine, she oversaw the magazine’s coverage of the London 2012 Olympics and was responsible for securing and interviewing cover stars including Usain Bolt, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Jessica Ennis-Hill, Bradley Wiggins, Serena Williams, and many more. In December 2012 she was named Writer of the Year at the UTV Media Awards. In the same month, she was commissioned by Orion to ghost write the autobiography of British gymnast, Louis Smith. The book was published in July 2013 and reached number eight on the Sunday Times’ bestseller list in its first week of publication. Most recently, Shephard wrote the hugely successful Kicking Off (Bloomsbury, March 2016), which asks the questions at the forefront of the debate on women in sport. (DL)

Matthew Sherry is the founder and editor of Gridiron, the UK’s only NFL magazine. Over the course of his journalistic career, Matthew has reported on wide variety of major sporting events, including the Olympic Games, the Ashes, Premier League football and, of course, the NFL. He has covered every Super Bowl since the 48th edition between the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos, and travels around the United States each year reporting on football and interviewing some of the game’s biggest names. He has excellent relationships with the league, all 32 teams, as well as the Pro Football Hall of Fame and NFL Films – both of whom are providing assistance on the book. Furthermore, Matthew is a regular contributor to NFL coverage in the UK on radio and has been sought for his expertise on BBC News. (DL)

Ben Sillis is a writer and editor who specialises in technology and video games. His work has featured in publications including The Guardian, TimeOut and ShortList. As the editor-in-chief of Red Bull’s gaming editorial since 2012 he has witnessed the spectacular rise of the competitive esports industry and reported on it from the front lines. In 2018 Ben was nominated for Features Writer of the Year at the Games Media Brit List Awards, celebrating the best of UK gaming journalism. He has also been nominated for his work by the eSports Industry Awards and the Games Media Awards. He is the co-writer of an upcoming book on esports due to be released by  Bloomsbury Publishing in 2020, and lives in south-east London with his wife and their family. (NW)

Owen Slot is the chief rugby correspondent for The Times. He has twice been named Sports Feature Writer of the Year and three times Sports News Reporter of the Year. He collaborated with Jonny Wilkinson on his bestselling autobiography, Jonny, which has been widely praised by reviewers and was shortlisted for the British Sports Book Awards. Slot has also had two books published, both romantic comedies: The Finishing Line and The Proposal. Like many sportswriters of the day, he is a converted sportsman, probably best remembered for his 1983 victory in the Dorking under-16 tennis singles. He is also an enthusiastic grower of tomatoes. Slot has also had published two children’s books with Puffin: Running for Gold and Cycling for Gold. April 2017 saw the publication of his latest book The Talent Lab: The Secret to Finding, Creating and Sustaining Success written with the co-operation of Simon Timson and Chelsea Warr, the Performance Directors of UK Sport tasked with achieving success at London 2012 and Rio 2016. It was longlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award. (DL)

Barbara Smit is a journalist and has written for the International Herald Tribune, The Times, Financial Times, The Economist and Time, on a variety of subjects from Business to Sport. Her first book, Pitch Invasion: Adidas and the Making of Modern Sport, was published by Penguin UK in 2006 and went on to sell numerous foreign editions, with HarperCollins winning US rights and publishing the book as Sneaker Wars in 2008. Barbara’s most recent book, published by Profile, is entitled The Heineken Story: The Remarkably Refreshing Tale of the Beer that Conquered the World (November, 2014).  Barbara currently edits two sports magazines and is based in Montpellier, France. (DL/RW)

Rory Smith writes for The New York Times where he is the chief soccer correspondent.  Prior to his move there, Rory wrote for the Times, the Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, reporting on the fortunes of Liverpool, Everton, Manchester City, Manchester United and the myriad of other teams in the North West who make up England’s football heartland. He worked with Rafa Benitez on his 2012 book Champions League Dreams (Headline) and also with Chris Anderson and David Sally on their bestselling The Numbers Game for Penguin. Rory’s latest title, Mister: The Men who Gave the World the Game (Simon & Schuster), was published in May 2016 and was subsequently shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award. (DL)

Tom Southam is a former competitive cyclist who represented Great Britain in five World Championships as well as riding in several UCI ProTour events. Whilst riding he began writing for many publications including Rouleur, The Manzine, Procycling, The Ride Review Australia, Bicycling Australia and Boneshaker Magazine. He is currently the Press Office for Ralph Condor Sharp. He is also the co-writer of Domestique: The Real-life Ups and Downs of a Tour Pro by Charly Wegelius (Ebury) which offers a unique perspective on the life of cycling’s ‘domestiques’. (DL).

Jon Spurling is an Assistant Headteacher, who these days only occasionally teaches History and Politics. He has contributed to several publications at home and abroad over the last five years, including FourFourTwo, When Saturday Comes, GQ Sport, Maxim, Hard Gras (Holland) and many others. In 2005, he chaired a FourFourTwo panel that included Simon Kuper, Jonathan Wilson and David Winner, to select the best fifty football books ever written, which was later published as a supplement. He is also the author of four previous books on Arsenal FC, including Highbury:The Story Of Arsenal In N5 (Orion, 2006). His latest book, Red Letter Days: The Moments That Changed Arsenal was published in October 2014 by Pitch. (DL)

Alex Staniforth is a young adventurer, endurance athlete, inspirational speaker and charity fundraiser who became a published author aged only 20 with his first book ‘Icefall’ in 2016. He was caught up in the two biggest consecutive disasters to date on Mount Everest and has since gone on to complete a number of outdoor endurance challenges, including becoming the fastest person ever to climb to the top of all 100 UK county tops in 2017. He is an active ambassador and mental health advocate, also winning the Pride of Britain Granada Reports Fundraiser of the Year in 2017. Through his challenges and writing, Alex shares his own personal adversity to inspire others in overcoming their own challenges. His next book, Another Peak, will be published by Trigger Press in 2019. (NW)

Ian Stone is a British stand-up comedian, broadcaster and writer notable for appearing as a guest on shows such as the comedy panel show Mock the Week. Stone is also a regular guest on BBC Radio 5’s Fighting Talk. He currently presents the weekday breakfast show on London-based digital and AM sports radio station Love Sport Radio. Stone began his career as a stand-up comedian in 1991. He first performed at the Edinburgh Festival in 1996, in a tour controversially called, A Little Piece of Kike. Stone later appeared on several television shows, including The 11 O’Clock Show, The Late Edition, Never Mind The Buzzcocksand Mock the Week. In 2013 Stone began presenting ‘Off the Ball’ a weekly comedy football show on ESPN with Bob Mills. This format was transferred to BT Sport in time for the 2014 World Cup and renamed The Football’s On. Stone was also co-host on ‘Rock and Roll Football’ on Absolute Radio with Ian Wright, for a brief stint in 2012. Stone currently presents a regular weekday breakfast radio show from 6.30am until 10.30am on Love Sport Radio in London.

Luis Suárez is a Uruguayan striker who plays for Barcelona FC. He wrote his autobiography, with the assistance of Pete Jenson and Sid Lowe, which was published by Headline Publishers in November 2014.  Foreign rights are being sold by Headline’s rights’ department and deals have already been struck in several countries including Spain, Uruguay and the Netherlands.  This autobiography was one of the biggest sports books of 2014. (DL)

Herbie Sykes is a journalist and writer.  He lives in Turin, and is currently working on a definitive history of Juventus FC for Random House. A former editor of the official Giro d’Italia guide, he’s authored a number of books about the history of road bicycle racing. His first book, The Eagle of Canavese, was published in 2008. A biography of Franco Balmamion, it was centred around the mythical Giro d’Italia of 1962. He followed up with Maglia Rosa: Triumph and Tragedy at the Giro d’Italia, an illustrated history of the race. Coppi, a biography of the world’s most iconic rider, was published by Bloomsbury Sport and shortlisted for the British Sports Book Awards in 2013. Herbie then turned his attention to Dieter Wiedemann, the defected East German racing cyclist. The Race Against the Stasi was published, to widespread acclaim, by Aurum Press. It was Cycling Book of the Year at the 2015 Cross British Sports Book Awards, was shorlisted in the Outstanding Sports Writing category, and has recently been optioned for film. In 2017, he published The Giro 100. The work featured interviews with 100 of the race’s constituents, and was published by Rapha. (DL).

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Caroline Taggart is one of our most prolific and popular authors.  In fact, keeping her webpage updated with her latest books has become something of a challenge!  Her most recent book, Improve Your Word Power:  Test and Build Your Vocabulary is published by O’Mara and Caroline is regularly called upon by BBC Radio as one of their resident experts on all matters concerning the use of the English language.  She is currently working on a new book – a collection of beautiful words – and her moving Wartime Summer:  True Stories of Love, Life and Loss on the British Home Front  was published in April 2020.    For more information on Caroline’s extensive backlist, and her work as a very skilled editor, please visit her website – www.carolinetaggart.co.uk.  (RW)

David Tossell is the author of 14 sports books and is much further into his fourth decade in sports journalism and communications than he cares to admit. He has been short-listed five times in the British Sports Book Awards, across four different categories, and twice for the MCC/Cricket Society Book of the Year. Among his titles are biographies of Tony Greig, Malcolm Allison, Tommy Docherty, Bertie Mee and Derek Dougan, and the stories of the Wales rugby team of the 1970s, the 1953 FA Cup final, the Arsenal double season of 1971 and the iconic 1976 West Indies cricket tour of England. Beginning his career on local newspapers, he became executive sports editor of the Today newspaper before embarking on a two-decade career at the National Football League, where he is Director of Public Affairs (Europe). His book, Alan Ball: The Man in White Boots, was published in September 2017 by Hodder & Stoughton. He is now working with Jimmy Greaves’ family on a forthcoming biography of the Spurs legend. (DL)

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Jonathan Vaughters was born on June 10th, 1973. He is an American former professional racing cyclist and current manager of the EF Education First professional cycling team.He is a record-breaking mountain climber, and Tour de France stage winner. Jonathan Vaughters began his cycling career in Colorado, eventually racing alongside Lance Armstrong on the infamous US Postal Service team. In the wake of the doping scandals that have plagued the sport, he founded what has become the US-based EF Education First Pro Cycling Team, which he still manages as it competes at cycling’s highest level. Vaughters latest book published in June 2019, One Way Ticket: Nine Lives on Two Wheels, describes a journey from driven teenage prodigy, travelling to races in the back of his Dad’s station wagon, to an obsessive determination to make it big in European racing – whatever the cost. He tells the story of his transformation from poacher to gamekeeper, detailing his painful decision to finally come clean about his own descent into doping – and to persuade others to do likewise – by providing more than enough shocking testimony to USADA (US Anti-Doping Agency) to explode the Armstrong myth.

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Tim Wigmore writes on the business and politics of sports, the globalisation of games and sports science, technology and analytics. His writing covers a wide range of sports, especially cricket and football. He writes for publications including The Daily Telegraph, ESPN, The New York Times, The Spectator and The Economist, and has a weekly column in the ipaper. Tim is a former winner of the CMJ Young Cricket Writer of the Year Award and a runner-up for the Ian Woodbridge Young Sports Writer of the Year Award. His first book, Second XI: Cricket In Its Outposts, was selected as one of The Guardian’s sports books of the year for 2015. He is also a former assistant comment editor of The Daily Telegraph and has also been a contributing writer for The New Statesman, where he was a regular leader writer. Tim read History and Politics at the University of Oxford, graduating in 2012. Tim has co-written a book with Freddie Wilde, an analyst for CricViz, on the history of T20 cricket, to be published in October.

Freddie Wilde is an analyst at the cricket analytics company CricViz – working with broadcasters and professional teams around the world. Freddie started his career as a cricket journalist, specialising in the Twenty20 format. He built a large profile on twitter, and originally managed his workload alongside studying for a degree in politics at the University of Cardiff. On graduating, Freddie moved into cricket data analysis and now lives in London. Freddie’s new book ‘Cricket 2.0’ charts the rise of the T20 format from a gimmick to the modern face of the sport. Freddie has co-written the book with Tim Wigmore, and it is to be published in October by Polaris.

Simon Wilde has been the cricket correspondent of the Sunday Times since 1998 and, before that, was a general sports writer for The Times for 12 years. He was highly commended for his work in the British Sports Journalism awards, 2003. He is the author of six books and is one of only two authors to have been shortlisted for the William Hill sports book of the year on three occasions—for Ranjitsinhji: A Genius Rich and Strange (1990), Letting Rip: A History of Fast Bowling (1994) and Shane Warne: Portrait of a Flawed Genius (2007). He also wrote the autobiography of Graham Thorpe in 2005. In 2013 he collaborated with David Gower to write the autobiography David Gower: An Endangered Species (Simon & Schuster). His biography of Ian Botham (Simon and Schuster, April 2014), was shortlisted for the British Sports Book Awards. Hi book is the biography, On Pietersen, which was published by Simon & Schuster in July 2014. He is currently writing the comprehensive history of England’s test match team (Simon & Schuster, 2018). (DL)

Ben Williams is a former Royal Marines Commando with over a decade of experience. He served in Afghanistan and has trained Commando recruits. Williams has also founded a coaching and performance business, Vanguard Global Solutions, that trains high-profile clients in elite businesses within industries such as global banking, vehicle manufacturing, the music industry, as well as professional sporting outfits, including the England football team. (NW)

Jonathan Wilson.  Editor of the critically acclaimed football quarterly “The Blizzard”, Jonathan is one of the UK’s most successful writers of narrative sportsbooks.  His latest book, The Names Heard Long Ago:  How the Golden Age of Hungarian Soccer Shaped the Modern Game, was published by Blink in September.  Jonathan’s early titles include Behind the Curtain (Orion, 2006), The Anatomy of England: A History in Ten Matches (Orion, 2009), Nobody Ever Says Thank You (Orion, 2011), The Outsider (Orion, 2012), The Anatomy of Liverpool: A History in 10 Matches (Orion, 2013), The Anatomy of Manchester United (2017), Angels with Dirty Faces (2016), and The Barcelona Legacy (2018).  . He is perhaps best know for his bestselling history of the evolution of football tactics, Inverting the Pyramid, which was named Football Book of the Year by the National Sporting Club in 2008, shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award and has sold around the world.  A former football correspondent of the Financial Times, he now writes regularly for The Guardian, Independent, FourFourTwo and Champions in the UK, World Soccer King in Japan and The National in Abu Dhabi. He lives in London. (DL)

Richard Wilson is a Sports Writer based in Glasgow. He spent 10 years at The Sunday Times Scotland as Deputy Sports Editor then Sports Writer, winning the Jim Rodger Memorial Award for Best Young Sports Writer in 2002 and being named Sports Writer of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards in 2003. He is now freelance, working regularly for the Independent on Sunday and the Sunday Herald. His first book, Inside the Divide: One City, Two Teams… The Old Firm, was published by Canongate. (DL)

Henry Winter is chief football writer of The Times after 21 years as football correspondent of the Telegraph and eight years as a football reporter at the Independent. He has been voted SJA Specialist Correspondent of the Year four times and Football Writer of the Year once. He has ghosted books with Kenny Dalglish, John Barnes and Steven Gerrard which was named sports book of the year and spent four weeks at the top of the Sunday times bestseller list. He is a judge for the Ballon d’Or and Premier league manager and player of the month, and was named in the debretts 500 most influential people in the country. His brilliant analysis of English football, 50 Years of Hurt: The Story of England Football and Why We Never Stop Believing, was published in June 2016 by Bantam Press.  Most recently he assisted Michael Carrick in writing his autobiography, Between the Lines, for Blink Publishing. (DL)

Mark Woods is a script-writer and has worked with some of the UK’s best known TV personalities. Now in charge of media relations for Comic Relief, he regularly accompanies celebrities on gruelling treks to raise money for the charity and also finds time to write. His first book, Pregnancy for Men: The Full Nine Months, was published by Crimson in 2010 and the follow up, Babies and Toddlers for Men, was published in April 2012. Most recently, Crimson published two pocket book editions of these titles: Pregnancy for Men 101 Tips and Babies and Toddlers for Men 101 Tips. Mark’s latest book is the long-awaited Planet Parent (Crimson) which looks at the widely varying parenting styles throughout the world.  He is currently updating Pregnancy for Men and writing a new book for parents that is provisionally entitled The Baby Bomb.   (RW)

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