Apr 8, 2021
Born in Galloway, Scotland, Stuart Barker graduated from Strathclyde University in 1996 and began working as a motorcycle journalist for Motor Cycle News. Freelance since 2001, he has written for most of the major motorcycling titles and was editor of the Isle of Man TT programme for eight years. He has written eight books including a best-selling biography of Barry Sheene and a biography of Evel Knievel which is set to be made into a major Hollywood movie. Other woks include biographies of Niall Mackenzie, Steve Hislop, David Jefferies, Valentino Rossi and Marc Màrquez. Barker has also written a history of the Isle of Man TT races (‘TT Century’) and penned the best-selling ‘Ragged Edge: The Brutal True Story of the Isle of Man TT – The World’s Most Dangerous race.’ His latest book ‘Win, Lose or Die: Inside the Lethal Sport of Motorcycle Road Racing and the Isle of Man TT’ will be released by Bonnier Books in May 2026. He lives in Kettering, Northamptonshire.
Mar 28, 2022
Wayne Barton is an author, ghost-writer and producer based in Manchester. He has written numerous books on Manchester United and was described by former United chairman Martin Edwards as ‘the pre-eminent writer on the club’, and by the Independent as ‘the leading writer on Manchester United’. His biographies of Eric Cantona and George Best were best-selling titles. Barton produced and co-wrote BT Sport Films adaptations of his books Too Good To Go Down and True Genius. In 2022 his book True Genius was long listed for The Sunday Times Football Book of the Year award. Wayne’s next book to be published was Eternal: An Intimate Portrait of Manchester United’s Lost Genius – Duncan Edwards in 2023.
He has also worked as a ghost-writer to musicians and actors in the US.
In March 2025, Wayne wrote Football, Taught by Matt Busby which was published by Reach Sport and his latest book is Manchester United After Munich: How Tragedy Forged One of the World’s Greatest Football Clubs. Published by Bloomsbury Sport in November 2025.
Oct 19, 2020
Debbie Beckerman was the publisher of Transworld’s sports list, Partridge Press, and was responsible for a number of their bestsellers including autobiographies by Geoffrey Boycott and Brian Clough. More recently, she has turned her hand to writing and has been involved with a number of successful autobiographies by legends such as Ilya Nastase, Patrick Vieira, Didier Drogba and Brian Moore, whose memoir, Beware of the Dog, won the 2010 William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award. She has also acted as Associate Editor and writer on a variety of other titles, including Jon Nicholson’s memoir, Living Without Emma, and health titles such as Professor Lesley Regan’s Your Pregnancy Week by Week, and Expecting a Baby with Dr Penelope Law, which is published by Quadrille. Debbie collaborated with Brian Moore on his memoir, What Goes On Tour, which was published by Simon & Schuster in October 2014. Most recently, Debbie worked with John McEnroe on his autobiography, But Seriously.
Oct 19, 2020
Scyld Berry, chief cricket writer of the Telegraph, is believed to be the only person to have covered 500 Test matches apart from the late Richie Benaud. He began on The Observer in 1976 and covered his first England tour in 1977 to Pakistan. He has since written ten books, mostly about cricket. He has been writing for the Telegraph since 1993, and was Editor of Wisden for four years.
Oct 19, 2020
Christoph Biermann is an award-winning football writer and one of the most respected voices in the field. His books have twice won Football Book of the Year in his native Germany, where he is a reporter for the magazine 11 Freunde.
Christoph Biermann grew up with his three years younger brother in Herne in the Ruhr area. Together with his father he started visiting football matches in 1971 first at local club Westfalia Herne and from 1974 on at VfL Bochum his favourite club to this day. After graduating from high school in 1979, he completed a degree in German studies and history at the Ruhr University Bochum. During his studies he was music editor of the Bochum magazine Marabo and was running the independent music label Nielsen2 Schallplatten. He became a freelancer for the sports section of the Die Tageszeitung in the mid-1980s and after graduating in 1987, he worked as a freelancer for various print and broadcast media (including Stern, Die Zeit, Playboy). In 1990 he sang a single with the songs German masters will never be the VfL (A-side) and German champion will only VfL (B-side).
In 1992 he moved to Cologne and from 1996 to 1999 he sat in the editorial office of the Freiburg based Hattrick football magazine. From 1999 to 2006 he was a sports correspondent for the Süddeutsche Zeitung. He then moved to the news magazine Der Spiegel / Spiegel Online until 2010. Having been a columnist for the monthly magazine 11 Freunde from 2004 he became a member of the editorial board in 2010. Since 2018 he has been a reporter at the magazine.
From the early 1990s on, he has published 14 books on football. Die Fußball-Matrix (2009) and Wenn wir vom Fußball träumen (2014) were voted Football Books of the year. He is a member of the German Academy of Football Culture and a member of the board of trustees of the the cultural foundation of the German FA. Christoph Biermann lives in Berlin.
Twitter: @chbiermann
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