My Biography

Anthony was born and brought up in Leeds. He went to Sussex University and taught History in various schools for six years. He then became a journalist, first writing for the East Anglian Daily Times as a news and feature writer and then The Independent as an arts and culture writer. He now writes about sport for the Sunday Mirror and has covered three Olympics and two World Cups.

He has won Press Gazette Feature Writer Of The Year and BT Regional Sportswriter Of The Year awards. He wrote the music for Still Waiting For Everything, a highly-acclaimed play which toured England in 2005, and teaches journalism, feature writing and non-fiction courses for the Arvon Foundation.

His book ‘Promised Land: A Northern Love Story’ – published in 2010 and out as a paperback in September 2011 – was described as “glorious” by The Guardian and named both Football Book Of The Year and Sports Book Of The Year by the National Sporting Club – as well as sports book of the year by The Radio 2 Book Club.

http://www.britishsportsbookawards.co.uk/book/86/237/Promised-Land

Promised Land — The reinvention of Leeds United

British Sports Book of the Year

Promised Land

The reinvention of Leeds United

WINNER OF CATEGORY

Author: Anthony Clavane

Publisher: Yellow Jersey Press

  • Daily Telegraph sports books of the year (2010)

    "For the year’s most successful marriage of social history and sporting drama, turn to Promised Land. Anthony Clavane’s enchanting evocation of his four decades as a Leeds United supporter. Clavane writes translucent, simple prose, full of vivid details. Leeds United becomes a prism for the city: the “New Jerusalem” that could never quite escape the stain of its industrial past. Both insightful and humane, this is sportswriting at its very best."

  • James Lawton, The Independent

    "Brilliantly sculpted. Absorbing and superbly wide-ranging. Most impressive is that, when you put down the book, you feel you know not just the story of a football team but the city it represents."

  • Henry Winter, Daily Telegraph

    "A well-written, emotional and thoughtful chronicle."

  • Praise for Promised Land

    "Clavane, erudite, educated, an adopted southerner, hardly ascribes to the Elland Road stereotype, yet there is an emotional intravenous drip connecting him to Yorkshire’s West Riding. A wordsmith’s ability, coupled with a history teacher’s instinct, and framed by a deep passion for all things from the city of Leeds, has resulted in an extraordinary book."

    Janine Self, SJA website

  • "Even if you're not a Leeds fan, read Promised Land by Anthony Clavane - wonderfully written."

    Patrick Barclay, The Times

  • "One of the best football books I've read for a long time."

    Brian Glanville

  • "A compelling read."

    Henry Winter, Daily Telegraph

  • "A riveting, and ultimately very moving book."

    Caryl Phillips

  • "Fascinating beyond mere football."

    Ben East, Metro

  • "Superbly written and a great read."

    Robert Endeacott, Leeds Leeds Leeds magazine

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