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William Hill Sports Book of the Year has joint winners for first time as 'The Lost Soul of Eamonn Magee' and 'A Boy in the Water' both land award

By Chris Cutmore for MailOnline

Published: 11:36 EST, 27 November 2018 | Updated: 11:58 EST, 27 November 2018



The William Hill Sports Book of the Year award been shared for the first time.

The judges could not separate The Lost Soul of Eamonn Magee by Paul D Gibson and A Boy in the Water by Tom Gregory, so the prestigious award, and its £30,000 prize money, has been shared.

The Lost Soul of Eamonn Magee tells the story of the boxer from Northern Ireland, whose extraordinary life has seen him encounter shocking violence both inside the ring and outside, having been raised in Belfast during the Troubles. The joint winners of the 2018 William Hill Sports Book of the Year, announced on Tuesday

A Boy in the Water is an autobiographical recollection of the author's record-breaking swimming of the Channel at the age of just 11 years and 333 days in 1998.

'A fantastic collection of books yet again. It was impossible to decide between the two winners,' said Clarke Carlisle, the former Burnley defender and chairman of the PFA, who was one of the judges.

There were 141 books in total entered, with the shortlist boiled down to just seven: The seven shortlisted books for the William Hill prize, from which the two winners emerged

'It's absolutely thrilling to be honest with you. It's up there with swimming the channel,' said Gregory of his win.

Graeme Sharp, chairman of the judges and co-founder of the award, said: 'The astonishing story of how and why Tom Gregory swam the Channel at such a young age is a memorable and truly one-of-a-kind tale.

'We were plunged into the deep waters above and below an impressionable young man being almost coerced into a feat beyond the capabilities of most adults by his maverick coach. We found Tom's story, his debut book, to be captivating, entertaining and beautifully told, in just 180 brilliantly crafted pages.

'Equally compelling is the shockingly violent and addiction-prone story of "The Terminator", boxer Eamonn Magee. Paul D Gibson's rivetingly raw account of Eamonn's life is packed with tragedy, triumph and wanton self-destruction.

'It is ultimately a powerful and cautionary tale of one man's sporting success despite himself. Astonishing and utterly gripping, we felt this was a story which attracted and repelled in equal measure but which demanded to be heard, and could not be ignored.'



William Hill Sports Book of the Year award has joint winners for first time