‘Provided You Don’t Kiss Me’

Provided You don’t Kiss Me is the title of the book by Duncan Hamilton, about his time spent with Brian Clough. Hamilton spent 20 years in the company of the Great Man as a journalist with the Nottingham Evening Post and decided to write about his time with ‘Old Big Ead.’ Today, he picked up the coveted prize of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year, along with a cheque for £20,000.

There were five other books for the judges to chose from. They were. Sir Bobby Charlton’s (with James Lawton) autobiography, ‘My Manchester United Years’ (Headline) ; Kevin Cook`s ‘Tommy`s Honour (HarperSport)`, the extraordinary story of golf`s founding father and son combination; American writer Chuck Culpepper`s tale of his induction into the world of English football fandom, via Portsmouth FC, ‘Up Pompey`(Weidenfeld & Nicholson); Duncan Hamilton`s analysis of the football phenomenon that was Brian Clough, who he got to know very well as a local paper writer, ‘Provided You Don`t Kiss Me`(4th Estate) ; Nick Ward`s untold story of the tragic 1979 Fastnet sailing race, ‘Left For Dead`, (A & C Black) written with Sinead O`Brien; and Simon Wilde`s penetrating take on the inimitable Shane Warne in ‘Portrait Of A Flawed Genius` (John Murray).

Part of the £20,000 prize includes a £2,000 free bet for the author. Forest for promotion might be a good bet. Judges on the panel for William Hill, included broadcasters Danny Kelly and John Inverdale. If anyone wants to buy me this for Christmas, please feel free.