Club news
Written by: Joe
The 2025 Rooker Prize is now officially OPEN and we’re delighted to announce journalist Paul Hayward as one of our judges this year.
For those who don’t know, or are new to Lewes FC ownership, the Rooker Prize is a writing competition that asks that you send in just the first 250 words of your story.
If you like to write, think you may have a novel in you but need a bit of encouragement to get it out, or are just a little bit time-strapped, then the Rooker is for you!
Entries for the 2025 Rooker Prize have already started coming in.
How to enter the Rooker Prize
• Type your 250-word opening to a novel and the book title, stating the genre. Please add your work as an attachment, rather than in the body of the email
• Then send the attachment via email to Karen@lewesfc.com with the subject line: ROOKER PRIZE ENTRY, and put your name and contact details in the email
• Closing date is Saturday 5 April 2025
• The competition is only open to Lewes FC owners. If you’re not an owner then you can buy your share in the football club here!
• The winner will be announced on Friday 18 April, and the prize presented at half-time at the women’s match on Sunday 27 April (International Crow and Raven Appreciation Day)
We’d also like to express our thanks and gratitude to Karen for overseeing this amazing project, which has run since 2022, again this year
Rooker Prize Reward
Winners earn a session with an expert editor at Hachette UK to discuss their piece, as well as a £250 payment to a charity of your choice courtesy of Rockonteurs. Of course, they also win a beautiful pen nib trophy.
Judges are asking themselves three broad questions when reading the entries:
• How much do I want to read more of this?
• Does reading this make me feel more human or more alive in some way?
• What is the quality of the writing?
And speaking of judges, not only do we have a former chair of the Booker Prize – Baroness Lola Young – charing this year, but Lewes FC fan owner, multi-award winning author and sports journalist Paul Hayward is joining our panel too.
Paul joins Suzy Wrack, Mark Crick and Georgia Byng, alongside senior commissioning editor at Hodder Books Kit Nevile.
What are you waiting for? The Rooker Prize is open to all owners of Lewes FC, wherever you are. Send your entry into Karen@lewesfc.com by the closing date of 5 April. Good luck!