**Winner of the Sunday Times Sports Book of the Year Award 2023**
**Winner of the Rugby Book of the Year Award 2023**
**Longlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award 2022**
'Powerful, moving' - The Guardian
'A deeply affecting read [...] among the most important ever' - Daily Mail
'So powerful. This book might just change the way you think about sport forever' - Sir Clive Woodward
'As brave as they come' - Gareth Thomas
'Moving and profound' - The Times
'Heartbreaking' - Owen Slot, The Times
'I'm in my early forties. There are days when I don't remember the names of my wife and four kids . . .'
RUGBY, DEMENTIA AND THE FIGHT OF MY LIFE
In 2003, England won the Rugby World Cup. Steve Thompson was in England's front row, at the heart of the match, and at the heart of the scrum - one of sport's most violent battlegrounds.
But triumph came at a cost. Today, he remembers nothing about playing in that final. In his words, watching the tape back is like watching a ghost.
The years of hurt, and the culture of sucking up punishment and coming back for more, have taken a terrible toll. Steve has been diagnosed with early onset dementia, and serious progressive brain damage. Steve and his wife Steph had a happy family life planned, with decades ahead of them. Now he needs to capture these elusive memories for the sake of his children, before they disappear forever.
With stories contributed by his world-cup winning teammates and his former manager, Sir Clive Woodward, Unforgettable is raw, powerful storytelling. This tale of hope and courage stands as testament to the ultimate strength of the human mind - and to a man no longer pushing himself to the limit for competition, but for his own place in the world. Steve Thompson MBE is a former Rugby Union player and 2003 Rugby World Cup winner. Once England's most capped hooker, Thompson has also played for the British & Irish Lions as well as playing almost 200 matches for the Northampton Saints. The legacy of Steve's life in rugby should be a host of treasured memories. Instead, it is one of trying to recall the names of his wife and four young children. Being lost in a street he has walked down a hundred times. Steve has been diagnosed with early-onset dementia, the result of endless collisions, concussions, and injuries. He is now campaigning to improve the game and safeguard those who play it. Unforgettable is a powerful, affecting and raw story from one of the true giants of British rugby Steve was one of the famous cornerstones of England's historic Rugby World Cup winning side of 2003 - he was beaten only by Jonny Wilkinson to World Player of the Year. The explosive article in the Guardian, in which Steve confessed he cannot remember any of the World Cup, made headlines nationally, and now he leads the charge in trying to improve and safeguard the game for the hundreds of thousands who play the game in the UK. Conversations around head injury in sport may not be new, but they are becoming deafeningly loud. A documentary about Steve's story will air next year on the BBC, which we will aim to publish alongside. This will be the book to kick the door in on sport's most urgent issue. The book will have a foreword from teammate Ben Cohen, and contributions from fellow World Cup winners including Jonny Wilkinson, Phil Vickery, Matt Dawson, and Lewis Moody, plus coach Sir Clive Woodward, sharing their memories. Sincere Rugby books are having a moment, from Rob Burrow, Eddie Jones, Gareth Thomas, Doddie Weir and many others. In terms of storytelling power, raw emotion and prize-winning calibre, Steve's book will eclipse any of them.
