Year in Review - my favourite sports books of 2023.

2023 has been another great year for sports books - not that you'd know it from most 'best of' lists.

Every year around this time, the internet is overwhelmed by ‘best of the year’ lists.  Books are no exception.  However, every year without fail, sports books are overlooked with every other type of book given much more cultural significance and acclaim by newspapers, websites and awards.

I try and do my small part to shine a light on the best sports books with the annual list of the best ones I have read this year. It usually also works as a guide to finding some great presents or holiday reads.  As always, I only read a fraction of the hundreds of sports books out each year so there are tons that might have made the list had I had the chance to read them.    I’ve also included a bunch of titles I love the look of but haven’t managed to dig into just yet.

Please comment, tweet or email me about which books you’ve loved this year. 

My book of the year

And a Bang on the Ear: Reclaiming My Life After a Brain Injury by Phil Quinlan & Steve O'Rourke. A unforgettable book. It's the story of Phil's recovery from a brain injury suffered playing football as a young lad. It's raw, powerful, emotional, and immensely readable. Reminded me of Agassi's book Open in terms of its raw openness and honesty. Phil isn't looking for our sympathy though, but rather our understanding. As well as being a deeply personal story it also shines a light on less appealing aspects of Irish attitudes towards disability and disabled people. Phil's warmth and charisma also shines through in the book. Phil was the third or fourth person to follow me on twitter and he told me 5 years ago he would one day write a book. Together with Steve O’Rourke, he's written a great one.

⚽ Soccer

The Match: The Story of Italy v Brazil by Piero Trellini. An in-depth look at the 1982 World Cup 2nd round match between the eventual winners and one of the greatest teams not to win the World Cup. One of the best written, most engrossing, wonderful soccer books I’ve read in a long time.  Perfection.

The Three Lives of the Kaiser: A Biography of Franz Beckenbauer by Uli Hesse. A really entertaining book looking at the life of one of the greatest footballers of all time who lived a second life as a manager and a third as an administrator. I’d have liked a little more on his fall from grace but overall a great book. Especially the highlighting of the many inconsistencies and inaccuracies in Beckenbauer’s own 5 autobiographies!

Emancipation for Goalposts: Football's Role in the Fall of Yugoslavia by Chris Etchingham. A really interesting, insightful and enjoyable read.

⚽ Some soccer books I’ve yet to read but which look great:

We Play On: Shakhtar Donetsk's Fight for Ukraine, Football and Freedom by Andy Brassell. Timely book from the excellent Brassell is bound to be fascinating.

Echoes of an Italian Summer: Stories from Italia 90 by Paul Grech.  Really enjoy Paul’s newsletter curating great football reads.  I’ve no doubt this book is great and can’t wait to give it a read.

When the Sky Was Blue: The Inside Story of Coventry City’s Premier League Years by Rich Chamberlain. I loved the Coventry team of Keane, Hadji, Huckerby and McCallister and looking forward to checking this book out.

Soccer is always the hardest category for me as I read a lot of soccer books. There were also great books on Ronaldo, the 1992 season, Coventry City, Ryan Baldi’s great books on Ferguson and Wenger, Gallus on Scotland v England etc. the list goes on and on. Reach out if you want some more recommendations!

🏈 American Football / NFL

Kingdom Quarterback: Patrick Mahomes, the Kansas City Chiefs, and How a Once Swingin’ Cow Town Chased the Ultimate Comeback by Mark Dent and Rustin Dodd is an absolutely fantastic book. Combines the story of the Chiefs rise with the backstory of Kansas City itself. Reminded me of the excellent Boom Town on Oaklahoma/OKC. The city’s history is fascinating from its confusing name to the devastating impact of restrict covenants for integration. The team’s rise is likely better known, but expertly and interestingly told. Loved it.

Football is a Numbers Game: The History of Pro Football Focus and How a Data-Driven Approach Changed Football Forever by Matthew Coller.  This look at the origins and development of PFF is a really fascinating insight into the evolution of the sport’s relationship with analytics as well as a compelling business story. 

Friday Night Lies: The Bishop Sycamore Story by Andrew King and Ben Ferree. A look at a strange fraud that led to some bizarre high school football mismatches. Combines well with the great HBO documentary on the story.

🏈Some NFL books I’ve yet to read but which look great:

The American Football Revolution: How Britain Fell in Love with the NFL by Ben Isaacs. Have started it and its very good.

The Nigerian Nightmare: My Power, My Pain by Christian Okoye with Greg Hanlon. Great player and I’ve loved the other books Greg worked on.

⚾ Baseball

The Tao of the Backup Catcher by Tim Brown with Erik Kratz. Chronicles the unsung journeymen of baseball and the special characteristics needed to make a career as the backup man behind the plate. The narrative is built on Erik Kratz, who emerges as a remarkably likeable and relatable guy who put in the work and made sacrifices needed to make it. But more broadly tells the story of a unique position on an MLB roster where the intangibles outweigh the ability to hit. Overall it’s a really enjoyable book that is both a love letter to baseball and a clear eyed reflection on what it takes to make it a career. Loved it.

Making It Home: Life Lessons from a Season of Little League by Teresa Strasser.  A beautiful poignant tale of sport helping overcome grief.  I suffered a pretty tough loss this year and this book was both difficult to read but immensely uplifting as I mourned and remembered my friend.  Teresa has a wonderful way with words and a warmth and kindness shines through her writing.

The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams by Adam Lazarus. I knew very little about either Williams and Glenn and the focus on their friendship is a fascinating approach to exploring their lives.

⚾ Some baseball books I’ve yet to read but which look great:

Smart, Wrong, and Lucky: Scouting Baseball's Unexpected Stars by Jonathan Mayo

Daybreak at Chavez Ravine: Fernandomania and the Remaking of the Los Angeles Dodgers by Erik Sherman

🏀Basketball

Magic: The Life of Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson by Roland Lazenby. The great basketball biographer on the legendary Magic. It’s fascinating, compelling and just a great read.

LeBron by Jeff Benedict. A fantastic bio of the superstar which is particularly good on his early years.

The Education of Kendrick Perkins: A Memoir by Kenderick Perkins and Seth Rogoff. A powerful, compelling book which reflects as much on the experience of being Black in America as on Perkins’ NBA career.

🏀Some basketball books I’ve yet to read but which look great:

Life in the G: Minor League Basketball and the Relentless Pursuit of the NBA by Alex Squadron. Promises to be fascinating look at those players trying to make it in probably the hardest men’s professional league to break into.

When the Game Was War: The NBA's Greatest Season by Rich Cohen. Who doesn’t want to read more about Magic, Bird and Jordan

🥊 Boxing

Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, Fixed Fights, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing by Sean Nam. A look at the rise and demise of star-crossed Philly lightweight Tyrone Everett. A great read on an fascinating piece of boxing, and Philadelphia, history. Highly recommended

Brick City Grudge Match: Tony Zale and Rocky Graziano Battle in Newark, 1948 by Rod Honecker. This is a very an entertaining biography of both fighters as well as capturing a wider cast of characters including Jake La Motta and Marcel Cerdan. Captures the time and place in vivid fascinating detail - a really enjoyable slice of boxing history.

🏉 Rugby

The Men in the Arena: England, Australia and the Battle for the 2003 Rugby World Cup by Peter Burns and Tom English.  Fascinating oral history of the world cup final. 

🏉Some rugby reads high on my to read list:

Hope and Glory: Rugby League in Thatcher’s Britain by Anthony Broxton.  Have started this and am really enjoying it.

World in Union: A History of the Rugby World Cup in XV Matches by James Dixon

James Stafford’s Illustrated History of Rugby books – these books are great and I’ve been meaning to dig into the latest one on Rubgy Rebels, Role Models and Giant Killers.

🏀🏈🏒⚾ General / miscellaneous sports

The Big Time: How the 1970s Transformed Sports in America by Michael MacCambridge. I love these multi-sport looks at a particular time-period and MacCambridge’s books are always must-reads. This one does not disappoint and is thoroughly enjoyable.

The Natural: The Story of Patsy Houlihan, the Greatest Snooker Player You Never Saw by Luke Williams. A great bio and also the story of snooker at a time the game and its' place in Britain was changing. A simply fantastic book.

Dropkick Murphy: A Legendary Life by Emily Sweeney.  A bio of the legendary wrestler who changed lives with his unique approaches to helping athletes both train and battle their demons. A wonderful cast of characters make this a deeply entertaining read.

Game of Edges: The Analytics Revolution and the Future of Professional Sports by Bruce Schoenfeld. A great addition to the growing number of books on sports analytics by taking a multi-sport look at how numbers and stats came to have ever growing influence in every sport. Loved the breath of it, the highlighting of the commonalities between sports.

The Longest Race: Inside the Secret World of Abuse, Doping, and Deception on Nike's Elite Running Team by Kara Goucher and Mary Pilon. Very powerful on the particular challenges facing female athletes and the brutal world of professional running. A damning critique of Nike and treatment of athletes under contract with them who get injured or need support. The Longest Race focuses heavily on Project Oregon and the horrific behaviour of Salazar and Co. Pretty convincing on the likelihood Farah, Rupp and others were doping.

Althea: The Life of Tennis Champion Althea Gibson by Sally H. Jacobs. A great read about a truly fascinating sportswoman.

🏀🏈🏒⚾Some other sports books high on my to read list:

Freedom to Win: A Cold War Story of the Courageous Hockey Team Who Fought the Soviets for the Soul of Its People—And Olympic Gold by Ethan Scheiner. A look at the Czechoslovakia ice hockey team and their battles with the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

⛳Golf

I only read two golf books this year but both Feherty by John Feinstein and Liv and Let Die by Alan Shipnuck are fantastic.

Please let me know which books you loved this year.