The very essence of sports journalism is covering sport action and this year we have introduced a ‘live reporting’ category at the 2021 SJA British Sports Journalism Awards, sponsored by The National Lottery.
And what a heavyweight shortlist – Martin Samuel and Jonathan McEvoy of the Daily Mail, Oliver Holt of the Mail on Sunday, Alyson Rudd and James Gheerbrant of the Times and Sunday Times and The Guardian’s Sean Ingle.
This year’s entry has again been record-breaking and of the highest quality. Colin Bateman, chair of the writing judges, said: “In an era when so many consume their news in a 280-character tweet, this year’s entries have once again shown the immense value the longer read in our newspapers, magazines and websites. There is so much good journalism out there, and not an emoji in sight.”
The Guardian’s Jonathan Liew was the John Bromley Sports Writer of the year 12 months ago, chosen by a panel of leading figures in sports journalism. To be eligible for this award journalists must be shortlisted in one of the other competition categories and Liew has again made the columnist category, which he first won in 2018, as well as sports feature writer.
The Football Journalist of the Year category is always keenly contested and will figure a brand new name with Telegraph pair Jason Burt and John Percy, Daily Mail’s Craig Hope and Ian Ladyman, The Athletic’s Adam Crafton, David Hytner of The Guardian and Jonathan Northcroft of the Times and Sunday Times in contention.
The Telegraph have won the Sports Newspaper of the Year for the last two years and have eight contenders in different categories this year. However journalists from the Times and Sunday Times are named 14 times and the Daily Mail/Mail on Sunday have 21 nominations which suggests a battle royal ahead.
The winners will be announced at a gala ceremony, sponsored by The National Lottery, taking place at the Park Plaza, Westminster Bridge on Monday 7 March 2022. Tickets and tables are available to purchase now via the awards website.
www.BritishSportsJournalismAwards.co.uk
CRICKET JOURNALIST
Ali Martin – The Guardian
Isaan Khan – Daily Mail
Lawrence Booth – The Daily Mail
Michael Atherton – The Times & Sunday Times
Nick Friend – The Cricketer
Nick Hoult – The Telegraph
DIGITAL SPORTS PUBLISHER
CNN Sport
MailOnline Sport
Sky Sports
The Athletic UK
The Guardian
The Times
FOOTBALL JOURNALIST
Adam Crafton – The Athletic UK
Craig Hope – Daily Mail
David Hytner – The Guardian
Ian Ladyman – Daily Mail
Jason Burt – The Telegraph
John Percy – The Telegraph
Jonathan Northcroft – The Times & Sunday Times
LIVE REPORTING
Alyson Rudd – The Times & Sunday Times
James Gheerbrant – The Times & Sunday Times
Jonathan McEvoy – Daily Mail
Martin Samuel – Daily Mail
Oliver Holt – The Mail on Sunday
Sean Ingle – The Guardian
REGIONAL SPORTS JOURNALIST
Dafydd Pritchard – BBC Sport Wales
David Dubas-Fisher – Reach PLC
Jon Colman – Newsquest Cumbria
Mark Taylor – Cambridge Independent
Neil Allen – Portsmouth News
Phil Smith – Sunderland Echo
RUGBY JOURNALIST
Alex Bywater – Daily Mail
Alex Lowe – The Times & Sunday Times
Kate Rowan – The Telegraph
Michael Aylwin – The Guardian / Observer
Nik Simon – The Mail on Sunday
Stephen Jones – The Times & Sunday Times
SPECIALIST CORRESPONDENT
Craig Lord – Freelance
Donald McRae – The Guardian
Jeff Powell – Daily Mail
Jonathan McEvoy – Daily Mail
Nick Hope – BBC Sport / Freelance
Riath Al-Samarrai – Daily Mail
Sean Ingle – The Guardian
SPORTS COLUMNIST
Fiona Tomas – The Telegraph
Ian Herbert – Mail +
Jonathan Liew – The Guardian
Martin Samuel – Daily Mail
Matthew Syed – The Times & Sunday Times
Oliver Holt – The Mail on Sunday
SPORTS FEATURE WRITER
Adam Crafton – The Athletic UK
Andy Bull – The Guardian
Daniel Taylor – The Athletic UK
Donald McRae – The Guardian
James Sharpe – The Mail on Sunday
Jonathan Liew – The Guardian
Stuart James – The Athletic UK
SPORTS NEWS REPORTER
Jeremy Wilson – The Telegraph
Martyn Ziegler – The Times & Sunday Times
Matt Hughes – Daily Mail
Matt Law – The Telegraph
Matt Lawton – The Times & Sunday Times
Molly McElwee – The Telegraph
Nick Harris – The Mail on Sunday
SPORTS SCOOP
“You’re a coward”, Matt Ritchie’s bust up with Steve Bruce – Craig Hope – Daily Mail
FA opens investigation into new allegations against former referee David Elleray Sam Cunningham – i Newspaper
Lamont Marcell Jacobs, the ‘nutritionist’ and ‘Operation Muscle Bound’ – Matt Lawton & Mark Palmer – The Times & Sunday Times
Racing’s Dirty Secret – Bullying accusations made by jockey Bryony Frost – David Walsh – The Times & Sunday Times
The big six secretly join the European Super League – Martyn Ziegler – The Times & Sunday Times
WADA investigate ‘private’ British Cycling test – Nick Harris – The Mail on Sunday
THE SPORTS NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR
Daily Mail
The Daily Telegraph
The Guardian
The Sunday Telegraph
The Sunday Times
The Times
YOUNG SPORTS JOURNALIST (The Ian Wooldridge Trophy)
Frankie Christou – The Sun
Isaan Khan – Daily Mail
Nathan Salt – MailOnline
Sana Noor Haq – CNN
Taha Hashim – Cricket Properties Ltd
Tom Kershaw – The Independent
The winner of the Young Sports Journalist of the year will be announced on the SJA website on February 28. The winner and all those shortlisted will be invited to attend the awards as a guest of the SJA.