This special anniversary edition is a celebration of the last 25 years of rugby. Twenty five leading rugby writers and broadcasters each remember what was special for them in one of those 25 years — Sir Ian McGeechan remembers the successful Lions tour of South Africa in 1997 and Sir Clive Woodward, not surprisingly, shares his memories of England's World Cup glory in 2003. Others remember a year for less obvious reasons — John Inverdale has special memories of the year that Italy beat France and Ireland in Rome and finished above both of them in the final table. There are memories of Grand Slams for Wales and Ireland and European Cup successes for Bath and Leicester as well as Premiership successes for Sale in 2006 and for Saracens in 2011. Among the contributors are Ian Robertson's former BBC colleagues Eddie Butler, Alastair Hignell, Miles Harrison, Alastair Eykyn, Andrew Cotter and Chris Jones.
2021 marks the appearance of the 25th edition of the Wooden Spoon Rugby World which began its life in 1997 when what had for eight years been the Whitbread Rugby World transformed itself into a major fundraiser for the rapidly growing Wooden Spoon, the children's charity of rugby. Editor Ian Robertson has been an active supporter of Wooden Spoon since it was founded in 1983 and throughout the last 25 years has spoken at or hosted numerous Wooden Spoon dinners and the events in support of the book. Wooden Spoon Rugby World has become an established and eagerly awaited annual publication and one of the few sporting yearbooks to have survived in recent years.
