This weekend will properly demonstrate how sport can go from the sublime to the ridiculous, barely pausing for breath along the way. This evening, Chris Robshaw will lead out the England team at Murrayfield, the captaincy of his national side the apogee of a rugby player’s career.

Then, tomorrow lunchtime in the members’ bar at Robshaw’s first club, Warlingham, on the outskirts of Croydon, there will be a launch party for a sports book: My Life As A Hooker.

Steven Gauge’s book title must be a delight for publishers Summersdale in this age of easy click Amazon sales, as I am told that the market for Belle de Nuit material remains vast. The market for comedy books about sport is somewhat less so, though Gauge’s efforts deserve to correct that in the coming months.

The sub-title might put off a few of the dirty mac brigade as they trawl the internet for a bit of semi-respectable porn (or even just for a semi): “When a middle-aged bloke discovered rugby”.

But the sub-title also serves as a perfect summary of this autobiographical traipse through a mid-life crisis and weekends with the third worst team in Surrey.

I ought to declare an interest at this stage. I am in this book. It is a fleeting appearance, in keeping with my brief display on a rugby pitch alongside Gauge. After the second match, I was persuaded not to play again: having myopically managed to concuss our team’s best player with the first headbutt of my life, it was suggested that I was too much of a danger to my own side.

I had been lured into thinking I could even contemplate taking to the rugby pitch by the personable Gauge, who happened to be coaching my younger lad in the under-12s on a Sunday morning. He somehow mentioned in passing that he spent his Saturday afternoons captaining the seniors’ 4th XV. The 4ths was a relatively new side at Warlingham, set up by Gauge especially for those who, according to his own motto for the team, “don’t give a sh*t about being sh*t”. It sounded ideal.

Since Gauge’s rugby career has lasted a good deal longer than two games, he is able to recount in full life in the casual nether reaches of British sport. It is a world that is light years away from Premiership football, and pretty far removed even from life in Warlingham’s 1st XV in the ninth (or is it eighth?) rung of English rugby.

It is a much more real, and warm world, apart from Saturday afternoons in January, a world where most of the changing rooms have a unique odour, a bizarre mix of Wintergreen and diarrhoea which is guaranteed to make your eyes water – not a good look just before you run out to play in the rough and tumble world of fourth team rugby.

It is 50 years since Michael Green published his Art of Coarse Rugby, one of the rare sports comedy books that fulfilled both sides of its remit. That book made me laugh out loud, and Gauge’s book did so, too.

That might have  something to do with Gauge’s descriptions of some of the characters he had encountered along the way, some of whom Gauge has opted to change their names for the purposes of this book. If this has been done on the basis of libel advice of some sort, then Gauge had better engage another solicitor, because his descriptions of “Smudger” and a game of musical beds when on tour in Paris, or of referee “Hamish McKilt”, are hilariously recognisable, and thoroughly actionable.

Gauge has a tidy line in self-deprecation throughout the book, so the fact that he used to be chief executive of the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, or that he managed Nick Clegg’s campaign at the last general election, or that he once used the word “Existentialism” as a line-out call get barely a mention.

Humour, though, is a notoriously difficult thing to judge, and probably more difficult to write. So you may want to read this sample passage, about the aforesaid Scottish referee, to judge for yourself.

Very occasionally Hamish went the extra mile to ensure harmony on the pitch. In one game we were playing a side called London French. There are a number of sides in London with historical links to other countries or counties, including London Cornish and London Irish. Many others have links to schools and universities. But with falling player numbers most clubs will take anyone who wants to play regardless of nationality or old school tie.

London French’s lower side didn’t appear to have any French players whatsoever but Hamish refused to acknowledge this aberration. He took great pains to offer his judgements and rulings in both English and very poor sub O-level French. As his grumpiness grew throughout the game and his angry Glaswegian/Gallic instructions grew louder and louder, he ended up shouting violently in fluent Franglais at the opposition captain: ‘Penalty pour les mains dans le ruck… Retournez dix metres maintenant or else c’est le sin bin pour vous.’

Eventually the London French skipper replied, ‘I’ve no idea what you are saying, mate, I’m from Fulham.’

In between providing media training for Macedonian political parties, Steven Gauge is still turning out for the Warlingham 4ths most Saturdays, but he’s no longer captain. The team has been promoted two seasons running and are no longer the third worst team in Surrey. But I doubt very much whether it is quite as much fun as depicted in My Life As A Hooker.

• My Life As A Hooker: When A Middle-Aged Bloke Discovered Rugby, by Steven Gauge (240pp), is published by Summersdale, priced £7.99

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Based in the talkSPORT offices near London’s South Bank, you will be expected to identify what makes a brilliant story for talksport.co.uk and why it’s different to other sites, as well as being able to write clean and original copy to tight deadlines. The hours aren’t always sociable, but this is a fantastic opportunity for someone wanting to further their career in an exciting industry.

The successful applicant will have experience of filming interviews and events single-handed, using medium sized pro camcorders such as the Sony HXR-NX5E. Ideally, you will need to be proficient using Final Cut Pro editing software, and knowledge of Motion would be an advantage. Adobe Photoshop skills are essential.

You will also be required on occasion to work on Sport magazine, the free weekly print publication.

Please send a covering letter telling us why you believe you are the right candidate for the role, an up to date CV, three examples of your work, and three feature ideas you’d like to see on talksport.co.uk.

All applications should be made via email by Friday 10 February 2012, to recruitment@talksport.co.uk.

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They are responsible for day-to-day story selection and editorial priorities in compliance with the digital strategy for Sport, for planning and breaking news. The role will also include supervision of a small team of staff or freelancers. It may also include working on the core News side as editorial needs dictate, for example in a big breaking news situation.

Responsibilities include: Story production — selecting, sourcing, commissioning, writing and editing stories, including text, images, video, in line with CNN editoral guidelines. Working with the Row and CNN Wire on stories. Maintaining the World Sport section. Working with Specials teams to ensure that sponsored content for Sport is properly presented across the site and that special reports are integrated into the Sports section front and the homepage of CNN.com International.

Capitalizing on opportunities to integrate with social media and use social media, including CNN iReport, to engage and grow the audience. Playing a full participatory role in editorial and planning meetings across TV and Digital. Working with TV colleagues to extend TV-originated content for Digital, including liaising with Reporters, Anchors and Producers to generate distinct branded content.

Substantial writing and production experience in a news environment in print, digital or broadcast, including a proven track record in sports journalism. Great writing skills, proven news judgement and applying knowledge to global audiences. Strong collaborator, ability to work effectively with colleagues from other departments, ability to work well and accurately under pressure. A passion for sport and an understanding of its relevance for our audiences.

Degree or post-graduate qualification with a major emphasis on communications, TV/Web production, journalism or new media. Candidates will need to demonstrate: A passion for news and sport, strong writing skills and excellent editorial judgment. An understanding of the top stories and themes the network is following. An eye for strong photography, experience of Photoshop.

Knowledge of digital video production. Involvement and interest in social media and industry trends. The ability to write enticing and accurate headlines and summaries and captions.

Strong time management skills and the ability to work independently with limited supervision. Able to remain calm and work quickly under pressure; able to prioritize and multi-task efficiently, communicating effectively with team members and other departments. Must be detail-orientated with the ability to adapt to new production technologes. Proactive, with a “can-do” attitude, able to work in a collaborative environment. Prepared to work weekends and unsociable hours.

To apply, click here.

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This week saw “hacking” used in an acceptable sense, as Peter Corrigan’s website was launched to appeal to anybody who has ever wielded a golf club with anger, agony or false ambition. I come into all three categories.

You will find it the wittiest and wisest golfing blog on the internet as Peter carries on The Hacker column that has amused and informed Independent on Sunday readers since the end of the last century.

I deliberately use the “last century” phrase because Peter is still – after decades of divot demolition – gallantly trying to break 100 for the first time in competition play.

He is exactly the sort of player that the SJA’s Golf Days warmly welcome. I am told by a little birdie (not something you often hear about at SJA Golf Days) that this year’s SJA Spring Golf Day is to take place at Surbiton GC on Monday April 16 – booking details to be announced on this site shortly. It’s  the sort of event which will provide Corrigan with perfect material for his new online home. Sports journalists on the golf course putting action where their mouths are   gives a whole new meaning to that suddenly sordid hacking word.

By going online, Corrigan will undoubtedly be looking for more hacking tales. He has been dragged kicking and screaming from the pages of the IoS to a new home on the internet, where I guarantee nobody will be able to match his fairway (okay, rough) experiences and his self-mocking humour that has entertained newspaper readers for the little matter of 60 years.

Peter Corrigan: hacking away after 60 years as a sports writer

Peter and I go back a long way on each other. We were team mates on the long-gone Daily Herald back in the early 1960s before it morphed into the broadsheet and then tabloid Sun.

His emergence as a new boy on the blogging block gives me the opportunity to revisit some classic Corrigan tales. First, his half exclusive in the summer of 1965. He got a tip-off that Wolves were appointing Les Allen as their new manager in the wake of the sensational sacking of Stan Cullis.

The first edition was due off the stone, and so Peter dashed into print before he could make the proper checks. Next day came confirmation that Allen was indeed being appointed the new master of Molineux … Ronnie Allen. “Oh well,” said Peter through his chagrin, “I was half right.”

We move forward two years to the Arab-Israeli war of 1967 for the facts of my second corrugated Corrigan anecdote.

Now I have seen other versions of this story, borrowed to dress up invented stories. This is the true, original version.

The England under-23 summer tour that year coincided with the Six-Day War, and at the height of hostilities the squad was briefly stranded in Bulgaria. There were16 players, six doddery members of the FA blazered brigade, trainer Wilf McGuinness, manager Bill Nicholson and seven of Fleet Street’s finest football writers. I would say that; I was one of them.

Peter is the central character in the story, a few years ahead of becoming the highly regarded sports editor of The Observer and certainly one of the matchless journalists of my generation. At that time he was reporting for the broadsheet Sun two years before it become the tabloid toy of Murdoch.

As the war reached its peak, it suddenly became impossible to make telephone or telex contact with our London offices. I was earning my daily bread at the time with the Daily Express, and along with my colleagues I sat fretting and frustrated in the team’s hotel headquarters in Sofia as the edition deadlines for our copy approached and disappeared into the distance.

In those Cold War, non-STD days you had to order your telephone calls through the hotel switchboard, and we were informed that all lines were down. You have to remember the mood at the time. There was wild rumour of Russia getting involved and nuclear weapons being used as Israeli tanks and jets destroyed the combined forces of Egypt, Jordan and Syria. We agreed among us that if anybody should be lucky enough to get through we would put over a shared story that could be distributed at the London end.

After two days of total silence, it was Peter who suddenly got the desperately awaited call and found himself being put through to The Sun sports desk from the lobby of the hotel.

It was an appalling line and he was reduced to screaming “Peter Corrigan” into the mouthpiece in a bid to make himself heard at the other end.

The rest of us were gathered around, willing him to keep the precious line open. We couldn’t believe it when he suddenly threw down the receiver without having dictated a word.

On the other end of the line had been a veteran sub-editor with a pronounced stutter. Peter, tearing out what little hair he had left, looked at us wild-eyed and said: “Ive just been told that P-P-Peter C-C-Corrigan is in B-B-Bulgaria, and then he put down the phone and cut me off.”

It was around about then that the Daily Mail’s exceptional chief football writer Brian James was overheard making the dismissive remark: “The No2 football reporters these days are such an insignificant lot.”

Instead of getting angry and precious we No2s were highly amused, and at an impromptu meeting agreed to form a club called The Insignificant Seven. We took it very seriously and had a special tie manufactured by Spurs maestro Dave Mackay (his sideline: he had the sports market tied up).

Brian James was installed as President, and we had plans for golf days and liquid-propelled jaunts. The Insignificant Seven founder members were Peter Corrigan (Sun, later Mail), Steve Richards (Sun), Harry Miller (Mirror), Brian Scovell (Sketch, later Mail), Bryon Butler (Telegraph), Peter Blackman (Evening Standard) and – most insignificantly – me.

Sadly, our little club fell apart because too many insignificants proved themselves somewhat magnificent in the pursuit of the written word. To this day I have been threatening our dishonourable treasurer Corrigan with legal action, because when the club folded there was to my certain knowledge seven shillings and sixpence still in the kitty. Time for a share out of that 37.5p, Pete.

One last Corrigan tale. We both harboured ambitions to become comedy scriptwriters, and we got ourselves a top agent in Ted (Voice of Them All) Kavanagh. This was circa 1966, when one or two things were happening on the football front as something of a distraction.

There was a comedy series on ITV at the time called Mr Aitch, starring Harry H Corbett in the lead role, not as a rag and bone man as in Steptoe and Son, but as a Cockney spiv (it always amused me how a Wythenshawe, Manchester boy could be passed off as a Cockney).

It was the first sit-com ever produced by an independent company, and was brilliantly scripted by the masters Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The independent company, run by a Mr Aitch-type character called Johnny Arrow, hit funding trouble and could no longer afford the great G&S team.

Arrow was pointed in our direction, and he said he wanted one full script and seven synopses for the rest of the series before the end of the week. He told us this as we sat swanking in the back of his Rolls Royce, feeling like the next Galton and Simpson, but more like Bart and Homer Simpson. We were suitably seduced.

Peter and I were each paid 50 quid up front and spent the next day in Harry H. Corbett’s bedroom. His latest lady sat in bed alongside him while we ran through a shaft of ideas.

By the end of an exhausting week we had a full 30-minute script written about Mr Aitch running London’s buskers as if he was Lew Grade; there were also seven outlines for the rest of the episodes.

We took the scripts to Johnny Arrow’s office only to find it locked. The production company had gone bust and Mr Arrow disappeared from our lives.

As with all good comedy, there was a punchline. A month or so later Clive Toye resigned as chief football reporter on the Express to become a soccer pioneer in the United States. I was promoted to his role, and my pal Peter Corrigan was interviewed for the job that I vacated and which was later filled by Steve Curry.

Years later, I asked sports editor John Morgan why he had not given Peter Corrigan the job. He drew heavily on his Mr Aitch-style cigar, and said: “Clive Toye tipped me off that if I appointed Corrigan to work with you, all you’d be interested in was writing comedy scripts.”

It’s a funny old game (a catchphrase, incidentally, that Greavsie always insists I put into his mouth). Happy hacking, Cogs. Total insignificance at last.

• Read Norman Giller’s previous columns for the SJA website by clicking here

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Atlanta-based AroundtheRings.com, edited by Ed Hula, has been covering Olympic matters online since 1992, and provides in-depth interviews, background material and leads on IOC, LOCOG and other Games matters.

Today, they announced, “We’re delighted to make this special offer: 50 per cent off the regular rate!

“For an individual subscription, that would be six months for $98, one-year for $158 or two years for $298. Enter the promo code: LDN2012 to get 50 per cent off our already low subscription rates.”

The ATR subscription offer is only available during February.

To take advantage of this offer, click here, and remember to use the subscription offer code LDN2012.

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“I have a big problem. I can’t write… I can’t work a computer, I don’t know what an email is, I’ve never sent a fax and I’ve never sent a text message. I’ve never wrote a letter in my life. I write like a two-year-old and I can’t spell. I couldn’t even fill a team sheet in” Harry Redknapp, Tottenham manager, during evidence at his on-going tax court case.

Redknapp: hand signals

“You winding me up? Have you ever played football? I can’t believe you have asked that question. Why would I be disappointed for Evra?” Kenny Dalglish, Liverpool manager, and the only person at Anfield who appeared to think that the wholesale jeering of Manchester United skipper Patrice Evra had anything to do with football.

“If shaking the hand of the opponent is a farce, if it is more than anything an invitation to hypocrisy, what does it says about the inherent decency and sportsmanship of our national game?” James Lawton, The Independent‘s chief sports writer on the decision to cut out the handshakes between QPR and Chelsea over the race row involving John Terry and Anton Ferdinand.

“If AFC have to be 2-0 down every week to come out and play like that, I”ll have some of that!” Ian Wright on Twitter after Arsenal fought back from two goals down to knock Aston Villa out of the FA Cup.

“You’ve got perfect hair” Spectator to Robert Rock on his way to winning the Abu Dhabi golf championship

“There were some crazy guys out there shouting some pretty weird stuff but I got a lot of support and it was quite surprising, and kind of nice” Rock.

Novak Djokovic: picked himself up in Melbourne to reinforce his world No1 status

“We took the last drop of energy we had from our bodies. It was outrageous” Novak Djokovic after winning an epic Australian Open final against Rafa Nadal.

“If England are the best Test team in the world, how come Pakistan thought it would only take an indoor cricket total to beat them?” Martin Samuel asks the question in the Daily Mail.

“I’d struggle to think of a loss that has hurt more than this… and then you aren’t able to nail the final nail in the coffin” Andrew Strauss nails it after England are skittled for 72 in Abu Dhabi.

“I’ll say this, there’s plenty of room to park the car”  David “Bumble” Lloyd, Sky pundit.

“There was nothing wrong with his timing, he was just a bit late” Mark Bright, BBC football expert.

“I’ve never said the word ‘never’” Barry Hearn, snooker supremo, interviewed on Radio 5.

“The way it was pounced on by some people you’d have thought I was the bloke at RBS getting a £1 million bonus” Ian Holloway, Blackpool manager, recalling the revelation that he received a slice of Charlie Adam’s £7 million transfer to Liverpool.

“Paul is a good guy. Very tough, nasty in the right way. We were talking about life and family. It was a reunion” Paolo di Canio, the Swindon manager, still gets his message across after friend Paul Konchesky of Leicester somehow escaped a red card for a dreadful tackle in their FA Cup tie.

“There are very strong views in Parliament that there must be stronger limits on the power of the press and this would therefore, in my mind, open a Pandora’s box” Lord Hunt, chairman of the Press Complaints Commission, at the Leveson Inquiry.

“Once you allow the state into this area, whatever the best intentions may have been, you are by definition standing on the top of a slippery slope. Twenty, 25 years later, things change, politics change, it is quite possible a less permissive and liberal state, less conscious of our freedoms, might try to take advantage of that legislation to do things that would be offensive to the principle of freedom of expression” Sir Christopher Meyer, Lord Hunt’s predecessor at the PCC, argues against legislation to control the press.

“It would be far preferable if the written media themselves could clean out the stables, and I assume that there would be a consensus for that proposition. It would be clouded with a certain amount of doubt as to whether or not it would happen but that would be the most hopeful way forward” Lord Patten, former Conservative party chairman, now chair of the BBC Trust.

“There are some great British managers in the Championship and Leagues One and Two, but they will never get a chance because Premier League clubs look abroad” Steve Evans, the Crawley Town manager, overlooks the fact that there are only five foreign managers in England’s top flight.

“He’s only 21 so it’s a long-term project” Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United manager, defends struggling goalkeeper David de Gea – again.

“It’s about working hard, keeping my head down and getting on with it. It won’t be a dictatorship by any means” Chris Robshaw, named England rugby captain for the Six Nations after winning just a single Test cap.

“It’s the biggest rip-off in the history of London” angry mother on Mumsnet after hearing that London2012 are insisting even newborn babies will require a ticket.

Great Escape: Not for Alex Partridge

“Meredith…does not feel she can remain with the commission in light of LOCOG’s appointment of Dow Chemical as the stadium wrap supplier” Meredith Alexander‘s statement after resigning from the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 in protest at the £7 million deal with the chemical giant, which has links to the Bhopal disaster in 1984.

“I am 31 and the body’s falling apart” Andy Turner, Commonwealth and European sprint hurdles champion, after revealing his Achilles tendon is so painful he can sometimes only get downstairs sideways.

“Two hours after a 88km bike ride we had a 22km ergo (rowing machine). It’s still 36C and we’re in this room with a corrugated iron roof. It’s like the cooler in The Great Escape. I was praying that our coach would give me a tap on the shoulder to stop. No one got the tap” Alex Partridge does Steve McQueen  on the British Olympic rowing team’s training regime in South Africa.

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The successful candidate will be a highly motivated and creative individual with a passion for news.

You will be an excellent writer with a journalistic background, able to demonstrate strong editorial judgement and you will have clear ideas on the future development of the website.

This is a chance to build up an impressive portfolio of work and have a large degree of creative control over one of the most visited websites in the Channel Islands. Bylines will be included on work on the website in future.

This is an exciting and varied role at the heart of our news operation.

Contact Details
For more information or to apply for the role, please write or email, enclosing a full CV to :

Karen Rankine
Managing Director
Channel Television
La Pouquelaye
St Helier, JE1 3ZD
karen.rankine@channeltv.co.uk

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Last week’s leaked dossier of those who have turned down honours from the Palace included the name of a sportsman who made a remarkable contribution to Olympic competition and in politics.

Philip Noel-Baker: unique achievements in sport and world affairs

Philip Noel-Baker, who turned down recognition as a Companion of Honour in 1965, remains the only man to win an Olympic medal and the Nobel Peace Prize.

A century ago, he was an outstanding athlete. Known then simply as Philip Baker (he added his wife’s name to his own surname in 1943), he was chosen for the British Olympic team at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. He qualified for the final of the 1,500 metres but came in sixth behind his team mate Arnold Strode-Jackson.

While in 1914, Strode-Jackson went off to war to become the youngest brigadier in the British army, Baker was a devout Quaker and so did not fight but joined the Ambulance Corps and served with great bravery, receiving medals from France and Italy as well as Britain.

After the war, Cambridge-educated Baker (he had married Irene Noel in 1915) helped draft the covenant of the League of Nations and helped formulate the Geneva Convention, though he still found time to train for the Antwerp Olympics. He qualified for the 1,500 metres final once again and this time he kept pace with the eventual winner. Albert Hill came home to complete a middle distance double but Baker took the silver medal.

He continued to have a close involvement with the Olympic movement. In 1924, as non-competing team captain, he carried the Great Britain name placard at the Paris Olympics. In 1952, he would be the commandant of the British team at the Helsinki Games.

As the world rolled inexorably towards another war in the 1930s, Noel-Baker was a staunch campaigner for disarmament. “War is a damnable thing that has destroyed civilization after civilization,” he said.

In the run-up to the 1936 Games in Berlin, Noel-Baker was one of those who advocated a boycott of what became known as “Hitler’s Games”, a point of view he later admitted was misguided. When there was doubt about Britain’s participation in the 1980 Moscow Games, he took the side of the British Olympic Association, feeling that the choice should be left to the participants.

Olympic star: Philip Noel-Baker, fourth from the left, at the start of the 1912 Olympic 1,500m final

Noel-Baker was concerned that politicians “be free to use sport for short-term political gain, for nothing nobler than catching votes in an upcoming election”.

Baker was first elected to the House of Commons as a Labour MP in 1929, and he served as an MP for Derby from 1936 until 1970, including holding a junior ministerial office in Winston Churchill’s wartime government. After the war, Noel- Baker, by now Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations in Clement Attlee’s government, was in the British delegation that helped draft the charter of the United Nations, and was also involved with the LOCOG of the day, in the organising of the 1948 London Olympics.

“In the troubled times in which we live, the Games were a bold adventure. They have succeeded beyond all hopes and stand out as something virile, clean and noble,” Noel-Baker wrote.

His work as a peace activitist saw him write several books, his 1958 volume, The Arms Race, winning particular acclaim, and in 1959 he received the Nobel Prize. Noel-Baker’s citation read:

“Frequently when the storm clouds gather – perhaps for that very reason – the world is made aware of the forces of good, rallying to meet the threatened danger. The dark years of this century in Europe started in 1914 and are still with us. Throughout this span of time, for forty-five years, Philip John Noel-Baker has dedicated his efforts to the service of suffering humanity, whether in time of war or in the intervals between wars. But above all else, his efforts to prevent war breaking out have been tireless and ceaseless.”

SJA member and fellow athlete Don Anthony, a man with similar attitude to sport and peace, would ultimately write the biography of Noel-Baker.

No reason is given in the dossier as to why Philip Noel- Baker turned down that Companion of Honour in 1965, but a clue might perhaps be found in a speech he made in Parliament that year. The bombing of Vietnam had already begun. “Further fighting could not advance the warring parties towards a satisfactory peace. To create the right atmosphere for profitable negotiations, the bombing should cease,” Noel-Baker said, in vain.

Noel-Baker did ultimately accept a peerage in 1977 but he was not the only sporting figure to demur at the prospect of an honour. Derek Allhusen, the senior member of the gold medal-winning British three-day event team in Mexico City in 1968, also turned down a gong.

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OMNISPORT is a global sports news syndication service which supplies programming, video feeds, editorial, stills and data too many of the world’s leading broadcasters, platform operators and online and mobile publishers.

We need enthusiastic staff who can hit the ground running in our busy newsrooms and production departments; strong sports knowledge and a passion for working in sports broadcasting are both essential qualities, as is a working knowledge of Avid.

Producers and assistant producers need to be able to edit script and voice packages under pressure and against the clock, while editors will be expected not only to cut packages but add that little bit of magic to ensure our content meets and exceeds our clients’ expectations.

We’re also always on the lookout for talented production managers, project/product managers, production co-ordinators and production assistants to boost our ever-expanding operation.

Some of our current vacancies include:

Operations Manager – We require someone to manage the operations part of our growing Outside Broadcast team. They will work on a variety of sports events both in the UK and internationally, but be based in South West London. The right candidate will have either Unit Manager or Facilities Manager experience, and would be available travel extensively. As part of a fast growing company they will have a hands-on approach to all elements of the work, and will want to be part of an enthusiastic team that are constantly striving to improve and develop both individually and as a company.

Video Editor – Sports News: Experienced Avid on-line editor required to work on sports output across broadcast and new media platforms. The successful candidate is required to be multi-skilled and be able to edit and create visual effects to a high standard; to have created broadcast projects on Avid Nitris/Composer/Adrenaline and be prepared to work on a variety of short and long-form projects and to tight deadlines. It is essential that you are able to oversee the editing and delivery of Performs daily and weekly sports programming to broadcast standards. The role demands working unsociable hours on a rigid shift pattern.

Chief Editor, Italy , Goal.com - This role requires someone based in Italy (preferably Milan), preferably Italian national/Italian as their first language, with five or more experience at major sports publications (preferably online) in Italy, with the aptitude and ingenuity to revamp Goal.com’s presence and editorial strategy in Italy with a team of correspondents to drive the news agenda, columnists and feature writers to provide analysis and a live/match team to provide a uniquely interactive coverage of events online.

International Producer - This role requires someone who is completely fluent in either French, Spanish Italian or German including dialect and annunciation. The role will include managing the production of all sports content alongside international OMNISPORT Ready and International ePlayers. Experience working as a producer in new media/digital media is required.

Assistant Producer – UK ePlayer - The ideal candidates will have both editing or producing experience, and broadcast journalist experience with the ability to voice over their own sports programming. This is a daily sports news service producing content in various forms to tight deadlines.

Operations and Product Manager-OMNISPORT- FTC: The role requires someone to manage the technical operation, delivery and product development within the OMNISPORT business. This is a fixed term contract to cover maternity leave.

Product Account Manager- Special Events- FTC: We are looking for commercial manager to oversee product implementation, client account management and commercial support across the OMNISPORT business. This is a fixed term contract.

Production Assistant 6 Month FTC: assisting with crewing of live events, OBs and shoots, accommodation and flight bookings and call sheets. You will also help with petty cash distribution and reconciliation, whilst updating the live events schedule and completing any other general administration duties.

In return we can offer career progression in a growing company and offer the following benefits:-

25 days annual leave, Bupa Private Healthcare up to Family Cover and discounted Gym membership, Life Assurance (4x annual salary), Pension, Season Ticket Loan, and Childcare voucher Scheme. We also offer free car parking, breakfast, fruit, pastries and soft drinks.

To apply, click here.

• For other recent sports journalism job news, click here

• JOIN THE SJA and benefit from a recognised press card, priority entry to key events and significant discounts and members offers on a range of activities, including massive savings on tickets for the SJA Sports Journalism Awards dinner on March 9
  
• Click here for details of SJA membership and application forms.

This role requires someone with at least approximately five years of experience in UK sports media at a top publication. The deputy will work match hours (evenings, weekends) and specialise in managing output in that hectic environment and commissioning and editing breaking content as well as planning for the following mornings. The deputy must also be experienced in and/or adept at managerial duties such as budgets, rotas, etc.

Having already surpassed the online audience of most of the leading newspapers’ sport sections in the UK – and with a global audience of more than 30 million – we are now seeking the right person to join our team and play a key role in helping take us the next step.

The UK edition is the biggest of the 24 local editions on Goal.com, the world’s largest football website. Now owned by Perform Group and expanding as a fully-fledged, cross-platform, multimedia presence, Goal.com is just outside of the top 10 sports sites in the world and continues to grow rapidly.

Requirements

* Top football expertise in UK and abroad
* 5+ years’ experience in reputable sport/football publications
* Industry/football contacts
* Willingness and ability to work flexible hours in our offices in Feltham, TW13
* Substantial web and computer aptitude
* Exceptional communicator

Reporting to the Chief Editor, your main responsibilities will include:

General Management:

• Budgeting salaries, commissioning, expenses
• Scheduling holidays, sickness and special events
• Holding Management Meetings.
• Editing
• Take a lead role on planning and overseeing match coverage
• Assist the chief editor on planning news and features
• Shaping the editorial agenda
• Overseeing Production
• Content Management
• Sub Editing/Article Production
• Stats Mapping
• Network Collaboration
• Coordinating strategy and production with the worldwide network as appropriate, surrounding stories, features, key events and more.
• Social Media Integration
• Integrating social media communities into overall content strategy.
• Deliver special coverage for key events
• Traffic Analysis
• Observing trends across all kinds of content and pages
• Shaping strategy
• Internship Management
• Recruitment
• Training
• General Management of interns

Benefits

25 days annual leave, Bupa Private Healthcare up to Family Cover with discounted Gym membership, Life Assurance (4x annual salary), Pension, Season Ticket Loan, and Childcare voucher Scheme. We also offer free car parking, breakfast, fruit, pastries and soft drinks. Please Note – some of these benefits will not be available to you, until successful completion of your probation.

To apply, click here.

• For other recent sports journalism job news, click here

• JOIN THE SJA and benefit from a recognised press card, priority entry to key events and significant discounts and members offers on a range of activities, including massive savings on tickets for the SJA Sports Journalism Awards dinner on March 9
  
• Click here for details of SJA membership and application forms.