A history book on rugby club Rosslyn Park, originally penned to raise money for a war memorial, could be in-line for a major award.

Author and historian Stephen Cooper's book, The Final Whistle, was last week nominated in the The Times British Sports Book of the Year category.

Mr Cooper originally decided to write the book to help raise money to fund a new war memorial dedicated to the 86 Rosslyn Park Rugby Club players who lost their lives during the First World War.

The club lost its original memorial when it moved from Richmond to Roehampton in 1956, inspiring Mr Cooper to document the players' lives.

Mr Cooper, who was head of youth at Rosslyn Park for five years, chose the individual stories of fifteen players, a full rugby team, as a snapshot of the sacrifice made by all 86 men.

He said: "These fifteen players told the whole story of the war, chronologically, across all the military forces and in postings across the world."

Two years of work unearthed stories like that of Jimmy Dingle and Nowell Oxland, two great friends whose lives and deaths were intertwined.

They died within days and yards of each other at Gallipoli in 1915. In a tragic end to their friendship, the retreat of Mr Dingle's platoon resulted in the death of Mr Oxland and many of his fellow soldiers.

Club president, Peter Berryman, 82, said: "We’re very proud of what Mr Cooper has done. It’s a piece of Rosslyn Park history."

To nominate the book visit www.britishsportsbookawards.co.uk/vote-for-the-times-sports-book-of-the-year/ and nominations close on June 7.

Stephen Cooper will be talking as part of the Wandsworth Heritage Festival at Putney Library, Disraeli Rd, June 12 from 6:30pm