Graham Hunter secures two sports book nominations

A SCOTS football journalist, based in Spain, has had a book about Barcelona football club nominated not once but twice in an UK-wide sports book awards competition.

Graham Hunter, originally from Aberdeen and now based in Barcelona, has been shortlisted in the ‘Best New Writer‘ and ‘Football Book of the Year‘ categories of the British Sports Book Awards, for ‘Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World’.

Say his publishers, BackPage Press, the book is now in its sixth print run and has been sold to 12 territories.

They continue: “Hunter, who covers Spanish football for Sky Sports, the BBC and ESPN , still writes a regular column for the Scottish Mail on Sunday and contributes to the Sunday Herald. He has already picked up the Football Supporters Federation Book of the Year.”

Says Martin Greig, BackPage Press director: “The book has its roots in Scotland as we first approached Graham to write it after reading an article he wrote on Xavi Hernandez for the Sunday Herald in 2011.

“FC Barcelona is one of the greatest sporting stories of the modern era and we wanted Graham to document its development from his unique perspective, having lived in the city for ten years.

“The response has been overwhelming. The book has managed to engage younger people around the world who do not normally read, which was one of our main intentions.”

Hunter is currently working on his second book, on Spain’s three major championship successes – at Euro 2008 and 2012, plus the 2010 World Cup. He worked as a TV producer for FIFA at all three tournaments. The book will be published in November of this year.