Eamonn Magee story named on William Hill Sports Book of the Year shortlist

Paul Ferris’s autobiography and a new Tiger Woods book also nominated for award

Eamonn Magee celebrates victory over Jimmy Vincent in 2003. Photograph: Inpho/Getty
Eamonn Magee celebrates victory over Jimmy Vincent in 2003. Photograph: Inpho/Getty

Tiger Woods will go toe-to-toe with Eamonn Magee after the shortlist for the 30th William Hill Sports Book of the Year was announced.

Paul Gibson's The Lost Soul of Eamonn Magee, which chronicles the extreme highs and lows of the Belfast fighter's life, is one of seven contenders for the award.

And Gibson's book is joined on the list by The Boy on the Shed, the autobiography of former Newcastle United prodigy Paul Ferris.

Lisburn-born Ferris became Newcastle’s youngest ever player at the age of 16, before suffering a serious knee injury and leaving the club - later returning in 1993 to work as a physio under Kevin Keegan.

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Tiger Woods is the first major biography tracking the rise and fall of the 14-time Major winner, and is based on three years research by journalists Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian.

The full shortlist for the award is as follows (alphabetically by author’s surname):

1 - Fear and Loathing on the Oche: A Gonzo Journey Through the World of Championship Darts by King ADZ (Yellow Jersey)
2 - Tiger Woods by Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian (Simon & Schuster)
3 - The Boy on the Shed by Paul Ferris (Hodder & Stoughton)
4 - The Lost Soul of Eamonn Magee by Paul D. Gibson (Mercier Press)
5 - A Boy in the Water by Tom Gregory (Particular Books)
6 - Berlin 1936: Sixteen Days in August by Oliver Hilmes (The Bodley Head)
7 - Sevens Heaven: The Beautiful Chaos of Fiji's Olympic Dream by Ben Ryan (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)