Exclusives about Thomas Tuchel and Sarina Wiegman among eight stories shortlisted in Scoop category at SJA British Sports Journalism Awards; 19 more categories revealed in Writing and Open Media sections ahead of gala night at London Palladium on April 27…
Eight of the most impactful sports exclusives of 2025 will battle it out for the Scoop accolade at this year’s edition of the SJA British Sports Journalism Awards.
Two of the stories shortlisted involve England managers Thomas Tuchel and Sarina Wiegman, with football transfers and contracts, horse racing, F1, athletics, and a Europa League policing controversy also featuring in the final rundown.
The shortlist for the free-to-enter category is one of 20 in the Writing and Open Media sections, revealed ahead of the Awards gala night to be held at the London Palladium on Monday, April 27, 2026, sponsored by Canon UK.
It will be the 49th annual staging of the Awards, which date back to 1976 when industry legends Hugh McIlvanney and Ian Wooldridge were jointly named the inaugural winners of the SJA Sportswriter of the Year Trophy.
Andy Elliott, chair of judges and a former SJA chair, said: “All those who entered the SJA British Sports Journalism Awards deserve the congratulations of the Association, of the judges who gave up their time to wade through hundreds of articles, and of the industry itself.
“At a time when the media is accused of being swamped by clickbait, search-driven content, and rehashed, unchecked stories, the SJA Awards show that genuine, well-crafted, quality sports journalism is alive and kicking.
“The shortlists across all the categories display exemplary standards of sports writing and content creation, and would pass the highest test in any period of the industry and not just the digital age.”
In a tweak to the previous format, reflecting the changing face and digital direction of sports media, the Sports Publisher category brings together organisations regardless of platform, format or distribution model.
There are 10 contenders for the crown, including The Athletic and Sky Sports, the most recent winners of the equivalent category for content, and Telegraph Sport and CNN Sports, both recognised for their digital publishing acumen within the last five years.
Daily Mail, ITV Sport, talkSPORT, The Guardian, Times Sport and TNT Sports complete the shortlist in what resembles a royal rumble of big names and reputations.
The stand-alone Newspaper of the Year category is retained, and all five previous print winners in the period since 2010 – many of them being multiple recipients – are up for the prize again.
The Sunday Times are the holders, while the Daily Mail, The Telegraph, The Guardian and The Times will be aiming to recapture the title. The Sunday Telegraph is the only one of this year’s shortlisted entrants yet to be successful here.
In the categories for individual journalists, ‘star players’ mingle with exciting rookies and shortlist newcomers.
Within the group competing for Columnist, there are two from the Times stable and a Guardian pair – 2014 winner Martin Samuel and Owen Slot for the former, and four-time recipient Jonathan Liew and Emma John for the latter.
News Reporter has also been whittled down to eight and includes those on the dedicated football beat this time around.
That’s produced a contest in which three of the last four SJA Sports Journalists of the Year – David Ornstein, Adam Crafton and Martyn Ziegler – will tussle with former category winners Matt Lawton and Steve Scott, as well as Mike McGrath, Rob Harris and Tom Morgan.
For the first time, Feature Writer is split into Long-Form and Short-Form sub-categories, giving wordsmiths a further chance for recognition, and an additional chance to collect gold, silver and bronze SJA awards.
Cricket, Football and Rugby keep their own dedicated Journalist categories, along with Data and Regional, with the separate Women’s Football Journalist shortlist offering a route to glory after a year in which Wiegman’s Lionesses successfully defended their UEFA European Championship title.
Darts, F1 and tennis are among the sports represented in Specialist Correspondent, while the Sport for Change Journalism and Sports Summariser categories reward those who tackle social and environmental issues and some of the most complex stories.
Specialist Sports Publisher supports digital outlets with defined audiences, and there are two categories for sports journalists towards the beginning of their careers – Ones to Watch (Writing), and the SJA Academy Award, supported by talkSPORT.
The winners of the SJA British Sports Journalism Awards will be announced at a gala ceremony, taking place at the London Palladium on Monday, April 27, 2026.
Ticketing details are due to be confirmed this week.
Are you in the running? Download an ‘I’ve Been Shortlisted’ graphic here and use on social media
THE JOHN BROMLEY SPORTS JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
The SJA Sports Journalist of the Year Award, which is named after the Association’s former chairman and first President, is chosen by a vote of national and regional sports editors.
This category does not require a submission, however to be eligible, journalists must be shortlisted in one of the other Writing or Open Media categories.
SJA BRITISH SPORTS JOURNALISM AWARDS 2025 – WRITING AND OPEN MEDIA CATEGORY SHORTLISTS
(Open Media categories recognise excellence in sports journalism regardless of platform. These awards are open to journalists and organisations working across writing, broadcast, audio, digital, photography and emerging formats.)
COLUMNIST
Emma John – The Guardian
Jonathan Liew – The Guardian
Kate Mason – Metro
Martin Samuel – The Times & Sunday Times
Oliver Brown – The Telegraph
Owen Slot – The Times & Sunday Times
Paul Hayward – The Observer
Riath Al-Samarrai – Daily Mail
CONTENT AGENCY
Hayters
KontentHaus Photo Agency
PA Media
Sportsbeat
Stats Perform
The Gold Studios
CRICKET JOURNALIST
Lawrence Booth – Daily Mail
Mike Atherton – The Times & Sunday Times
Nick Hoult – The Telegraph
Simon Wilde – The Times & Sunday Times
Stephan Shemilt – BBC Sport
Tim Wigmore – The Telegraph
Will Macpherson – The Telegraph
DATA JOURNALIST
Conor O’Neill – The Athletic
Hamzah Khalique-Loonat – The Times & Sunday Times
James Sharpe – Daily Mail
Kevin Blake – ITV Sport
Mark Carey – The Athletic
Ryan Benson – Stats Perform
FEATURE WRITER – LONG-FORM
Andy Bull – The Guardian
Caoimhe O’Neill – The Athletic
Daniel Storey – The i Paper
David Walsh – The Times & Sunday Times
Donald McRae – The Guardian
Jack Lang – The Athletic
Molly McElwee – Freelance
FEATURE WRITER – SHORT-FORM
Adam Bate – Sky Sports
Chris Collyer – The Rugby Paper
Rob Maul – The Sun
Seb Stafford-Bloor – The Athletic
Siddharth Thakur – Freelance
FOOTBALL JOURNALIST
Craig Hope – Daily Mail
Daniel Storey – The i Paper
Henry Winter – Freelance
James Ducker – The Telegraph
James Horncastle – The Athletic
Jonathan Liew – The Guardian
Jonathan Northcroft – The Times & Sunday Times
Rory Smith – The Observer
NEWS REPORTER
Adam Crafton – The Athletic
David Ornstein – The Athletic
Martyn Ziegler – The Times & Sunday Times
Matt Lawton – The Times & Sunday Times
Mike McGrath – The Telegraph
Rob Harris – Sky News
Steve Scott – ITN
Tom Morgan – The Telegraph
ONES TO WATCH (WRITING) – IAN WOOLDRIDGE TROPHY
Charlotte Daly – Daily Mail
Harry Latham-Coyle – The Independent
Jacob Whitehead – The Athletic
James Regan – ESPN
Kit Shepard – The Times & Sunday Times
Matt Roller – ESPNcricinfo
Megan Feringa – The Athletic
Um-E-Aymen Babar – Freelance
REGIONAL JOURNALIST
Alex Miller – Iconic Media
Heather Dewar – Freelance – Scottish Daily Mail
Jon Colman – Newsquest Cumbria
Matthew Lindsay – The Herald
Neil Allen – Portsmouth News
Sam Morshead – The Moonraker (founder/self-employed)
RUGBY JOURNALIST
Alex Lowe – The Times & Sunday Times
Charlie Morgan – The Telegraph
Daniel Schofield – The Telegraph
Gavin Mairs – The Telegraph
Jessica Hayden – The Observer
John Davidson – The i Paper
Nik Simon – Daily Mail
William Kelleher – The Times & Sunday Times
SCOOP
British horse racing to go on strike over betting tax rise – Tom Kershaw, The Times & Sunday Times
Christian Horner’s emotional exit speech – Sky Sports News
Erling Haaland signs new nine-and-a-half-year Manchester City contract – David Ornstein, The Athletic
Isak Bombshell – Craig Hope, Daily Mail
Maccabi Tel Aviv fans not allowed to attend Aston Villa game in Europa League – Jacob Tanswell, The Athletic
Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track fails – Adam Crafton, The Athletic
Thomas Tuchel’s “Repulsive” Revelation – talkSPORT
Wiegman fury as Earps quits – Kathryn Batte, The Telegraph
SPECIALIST CORRESPONDENT (MIKE DICKSON TROPHY)
Brian Smith – talkSPORT
Chris McKenna – Freelance
Donald McRae – The Guardian
Megan Wellens – Sky Sports
Molly Hudson – The Times & Sunday Times
Riath Al-Samarrai – Daily Mail
Tom Kershaw – The Times & Sunday Times
Tumaini Carayol – The Guardian
SPECIALIST SPORTS PUBLISHER
City AM
Opta Analyst
Sébastien Chapuis’ Substack
Sports Media LGBT+
Telegraph Women’s Sport
The Cricketer
The Cutback
SPORTS PUBLISHER
CNN Sports
Daily Mail
ITV Sport
Sky Sports
talkSPORT
Telegraph Sport
The Athletic
The Guardian
Times Sport
TNT Sports
SPORT FOR CHANGE JOURNALISM
Alison Mitchell – Freelance
David Dubas-Fisher – Reach PLC
ITV Racing – ITV Sport
Miriam Zara Walker-Khan – Freelance
Rob Harris – Sky News
Tanya Aldred – Freelance
SPORTS SUMMARISER
Alex Crook – talkSPORT
Kaveh Solhekol – Sky Sports News
Matt Slater – The Athletic
Phil Buckingham – The Athletic
Phil Hay – The Athletic
Richard Hoiles – ITV Sport
Rob Harris – Sky News
NEWSPAPER
Daily Mail
Sunday Telegraph
The Guardian
The Sunday Times
The Telegraph
The Times
WOMEN’S FOOTBALL JOURNALIST
Angelina Kelly – talkSPORT
Charlotte Harpur – The Athletic
Jessy Parker Humphreys – The Observer
Kathryn Batte – The Telegraph
Kit Shepard – The Times & Sunday Times
Megan Feringa – The Athletic
Suzanne Wrack – The Guardian
Tom Garry – The Guardian
SJA ACADEMY AWARD (in association with talkSPORT)
Alexander Richard Lancaster-Lennox
Alice Jackson
Emma Seligman
George Nash
Joseph Saunders
Ruqayyah Fombo
- What happened in Writing section last year
- Photography shortlists announced
- About the British Sports Journalism Awards
- Past winners
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