Dennis Bergkamp, Lord Sebastian Coe and Jimmy Connors are in contention for the 25th William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award.
Arsenal legend Bergkamp's Stillness and Speed: My Story is nominated alongside Coe's Running My Life in a glittering longlist.
Rower Katherine Grainger, who finally scooped her long-awaited Olympic gold in front of a home crowd at London 2012, for Dreams Do Come True, Jimmy Connors, the most successful tennis player of his generation, for his autobiography, The Outsider and Zlatan Ibrahimović, for I Am Zlatan Ibrahimović, which documents the Swedish footballer’s journey from poverty to top-scorer at Paris Saint-Germain.
Other titles making the grade include Philippe Auclair’s acclaimed biography of Thierry Henry and Immortal: The Approved Biography of George Best by William Hill Sports Book veteran Duncan Hamilton. Winner of the Award in both 2007 and 2009, if Hamilton goes on to win again this year, he will make history by becoming the first writer to win the Award three times.
The William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award is the world's longest established and most valuable literary sports-writing prize. As well as a £25,000 cash prize, the winning author will receive a £2,500 William Hill bet, a hand-bound copy of their book, and a day at the races.
The judging panel for this year’s Award consists of: broadcaster and writer John Inverdale, broadcaster Danny Kelly, award-winning journalist Hugh McIlvanney and columnist and author, Alyson Rudd.
The shortlist will be announced on 25 October with the winner announced live on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row on 27 November.
LONGLIST IN FULL
Thierry Henry: Lonely at the Top – A Biography by Philippe Auclair (Macmillan)
Stillness and Speed: My Story by Dennis Bergkamp (Simon & Schuster)
The Boys In The Boat: An Epic True-Life Journey to the Heart of Hitler’s Berlin by Daniel James Brown (Macmillan)
You Don’t Know Me, But… A Footballer’s Life by Clarke Carlisle (Simon & Schuster)
Running My Life: The Autobiography by Seb Coe (Hodder & Stoughton)
The Outsider: My Autobiography by Jimmy Connors (Bantam Press)
The Sports Gene: What Makes The Perfect Athlete by David Epstein (Yellow Jersey Press)
Dreams Do Come True: The Autobiography by Katherine Grainger (Andre Deutsch)
Immortal: The Approved Biography of George Best by Duncan Hamilton (Century)
Bookie Gambler Fixer Spy: A Journey to the Heart of Cricket’s Underworld by Ed Hawkins (Bloomsbury)
I Am Zlatan Ibrahimović by Zlatan Ibrahimović, David Lagercrantz and Ruth Urbom (Penguin)
Fear And Loathing in La Liga: Barcelona Vs Real Madrid by Sid Lowe (Yellow Jersey Press)
Doped: The Real Life Story of the 1960s Racehorse Doping Gang by Jamie Reid (Racing Post)
Henry Cecil: Trainer of Genius by Brough Scott (Racing Post)
The Metaphysics of Ping-Pong by Guido Mina di Sospiro (Yellow Jersey Press)
Seven Deadly Sins: My Pursuit of Lance Armstrong by David Walsh (Simon & Schuster)
Domestique: The True Life Ups and Downs of a Tour Pro by Charly Wegelius and Tom Southam (Ebury Press)