Just a few weeks after Patrick Collins, the SJA President, called for women sports journalists to play a more active role in the British Sports Journalism Awards, a regional daily has appointed its first woman head of football.
Alice McKeegan: landed one of top regional football jobs
Speaking at the annual awards ceremony in February, Collins said: “We all know that this country has a large number of quite brilliant women sports journalists. I encourage them to put themselves forward. And I fervently hope that when the next awards dinner comes round, the number of women candidates will accurately reflect the nature of our trade in the 21st century.”
And now the Manchester Evening News has announced that Alice McKeegan will oversee its coverage of Manchester City and Manchester United.
Her appointment comes a fortnight after the National Council for the Training of Journalists launched a campaign aimed at getting more women to pursue a career in sports journalism.
“I’m delighted to be leading the football desk in one of the most exciting football cities in the world,” McKeegan said.
“I’m fortunate to be working with a talented team of journalists in the newsroom and look forward to developing our coverage of Manchester United and Manchester City over the next season and beyond.”
McKeegan joined the title’s parent company MEN Media in 2007 as a trainee reporter on her local paper, the Rochdale Observer. She moved to the Manchester Evening News in 2009 and worked as airport reporter and health correspondent before moving to its news desk in 2013.
Editor-in-chief Rob Irvine said: “Alice is a hugely talented and inspirational leader with a great knowledge of print and digital journalism. She has a great passion for, and a great understanding of, football and the demands and interests of United and City fans both in Greater Manchester and further afield.”
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