It may be bad taste to mention the word Christmas, but sports books can be bought all year round, and with the release of the Roy Keane and Brian O'Driscoll autobiographies, I asked people on Twitter to select their favourite sports books.
I have compiled a list of 35 books, which are well worth checking out in your local bookshop or online. Some I have read and can highly recommend. Others I haven't read but come highly recommended.
Enjoy...
Soccer
The Damned Utd - David Peace
Only A Game? The Diary of a Professional Footballer - Eamon Dunphy and Peter Ball
A Life Too Short: The Tragedy of Robert Enke - Robert Reng
Back from the Brink: The Autobiography - Paul McGrath
My Father and Other Working Class Football Heroes - Gary Imlach
The Miracle of Castel di Sangro: A Tale of Passion and Folly in the Heart of Italy - Joe McGinniss
Fever Pitch - Nick Hornby
Brilliant Orange - David Winner
A Season with Verona - Tim Parks
Rugby
Engage: The Rise and Fall of Matt Hampson - Paul Kimmage
Stand Up and Fight: When Munster Beat the All Blacks - Alan English
GAA
Kings of September: The Day Offaly Denied Kerry 5 in a Row - Michael Foley
The Club - Christy O'Connor
Hurling: The Revolution Years - Denis Walsh
House of Pain: Through the Rooms of Mayo Football - Keith Duggan
Working on a Dream: A Year on the Road with Waterford Footballers - Damian Lawlor
Golf
A Good Walk Spoiled: Days and Nights on the PGA Tour - John Feinstein
The Greatest Game Ever Played: Harry Vardon, Francis Ouimet, and the Birth of Modern Golf - Mark Frost
Four Iron in the Soul - Lawrence Donegan
Boxing
King of the World - Muhammad Ali and the Rise of an American Hero - David Remnick
Four Kings: Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, Duran and the Last Great Era of Boxing - George Kimball
Undisputed Truth - Mike Tyson and Larry Sloman
The Sweet Science - A.J. Liebling
The Fight - Norman Mailer
Tennis
Open: An Autobiography - Andre Agassi
Cycling
Rough Ride - Paul Kimmage
The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France - Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle
Horse Racing
Seabiscuit: An American Legend - Laura Hillenbrand
Basketball
A Season on the Brink: A Year with Bob Knight and the Indiana Hoosiers - John Feinstein
Hanging from the Rafters: The Story of Neptune and the Golden Age of Irish Basketball - Kieran Shannon
American Football
Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team and A Dream - H.G. Bissinger
Boys will be Boys: The Glory Days and Party Nights of the Dallas Cowboys Dynasty - Jeff Pearlman
Baseball
Ball Four - Jim Bouton
The Boys of Summer - Roger Kahn
Cricket
Beyond a Boundary - C L R James
