The Guardian successful in Sports Publisher category at the SJA British Sports Journalism Awards, sponsored by Canon; The Athletic’s Adam Crafton wins SJA Sports Journalist of the Year title for the second time; The Sunday Times retains Newspaper of the Year crown; see all Writing and Open Media winners…
By the SJA
For the second time in three years, Adam Crafton is the SJA Sports Journalist of the Year.
The reporter takes the title and the John Bromley Trophy after a tremendous 2025 in which he consistently broke stories for The Athletic relating to FIFA, Manchester United, elite athletics, and other major sports organisations and events.
Since relocating to New York City two years ago, Crafton has focused his output on the build-up to the World Cup in the United States, which will be held in June and July.
He was honoured at the SJA British Sports Journalism Awards, sponsored by Canon, held this year at the London Palladium.
The judges said Crafton “has built an enviable contacts book and consistently broken agenda-setting stories. Alongside this, he has demonstrated a tenacious commitment to investigative reporting, delivering a series of striking exclusives.”
It’s the third consecutive occasion that the gala night’s major individual award has been won by an Athletic journalist, with Crafton’s colleague David Ornstein having been the recipient last year.
In a heavyweight contest between the big hitters on the British sports media scene, The Guardian emerged as the victor in the Sports Publisher category.
The judges had a particularly tough task in separating the 10 shortlisted entrants who had showcased their stellar sports coverage in 2025.
Ultimately, the Guardian’s breadth and diversity of content was described as “a selection box of delights, consistently catering for many tastes.”
Meanwhile, The Sunday Times has retained its Newspaper of the Year title. Praising the paper for its “peerless writing, first-class photography, exciting design and layout,” the judges said it was an encouraging sign of how “quality sports print journalism can flourish in the digital age.”
The Palladium provided an extra-special setting for 15 individual category winners who made their way to the stage to collect their trophies in the Writing and Open Media sections.
Four of these went to journalists from The Times & Sunday Times – Jonathan Northcroft (Football Journalist), Mike Atherton (Cricket Journalist), Martyn Ziegler (News Reporter), and Hamzah Khalique-Loonat (Data Journalist).
Northcroft was commended for his “wisdom, insight, and expertise,” while the judges said Atherton “demonstrated typical authority with a style that is always crisp and engaging.” For Ziegler and Khalique-Loonat, it was “agenda-setting scoops” and “concise, accessible explanations” that won the race for each writer.
The Athletic’s Charlotte Harpur was named Women’s Football Journalist of the Year, while Daniel Schofield (The Telegraph) and Daniel Storey (The i Paper) were also first-time winners at the SJAs, in Rugby Journalist and Feature Writer Long-Form respectively.
Storey undertook an extraordinary journey across all 92 Premier League and EFL clubs in a single year, and was praised by the judges for submitting a “masterclass in feature writing… this series combined humour, insight and tireless ambition.”
Jonathan Liew (The Guardian) took back his Columnist crown – his fifth win in this category in eight editions of the SJA Awards – and there was another comeback in Specialist Correspondent, with 2019 winner Riath Al-Samarrai (Daily Mail) returning to the top of the podium, picking up the Mike Dickson Trophy.
The highly coveted Scoop award was won by Jacob Tanswell for his story for The Athletic in October 2025 titled ‘Maccabi Tel Aviv fans not allowed to attend Aston Villa game in Europa League’.
The judges said the winner was “a story of national and international significance. Cutting across sport, politics, and policing, it exposed deeper tensions within government and communities, and quickly led the news agenda, prompting a response at the highest level.”
The Sport for Change Journalism Award, supported by Connect Sport CIC, went to broadcast journalist and commentator Alison Mitchell, for telling the story of the Afghanistan women’s cricket team.
Broadcast on TNT Sports during the Women’s Ashes, the work was the culmination of more than two years of determined reporting by Alison.
Denied the right to play sport in their own country because of their gender and forced into exile following the return of the Taliban, the players had effectively been erased from official records.
The judging panel said Mitchell’s entry was “a powerful example of how high-quality journalism can challenge inequality and champion social justice.”
Also in Open Media, the Sports Summariser title went to Sky News’ Rob Harris, who “excelled at breaking down complex sports stories with clarity and insight.”
Sportsbeat were named Content Agency of the Year, with the judges commending “the wide-ranging and impactful nature of its coverage,” while Opta Analyst were also first-time winners, proving successful in the Specialist Sports Publisher category.
Other Writing winners included the Sheffield Star’s Sheffield Wednesday writer Alex Miller (Iconic Media) in the Regional Journalist category, and The Sun’s Rob Maul (Feature Writer Short-Form).
Charlotte Daly (Daily Mail) and Alice Jackson had previously been announced as the winners of the ‘Ones to Watch – Writing’ (Ian Wooldridge Trophy) and SJA Academy Award categories respectively.
SJA SPORTS JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR (THE JOHN BROMLEY TROPHY)
Winner: Adam Crafton
SPORTS PUBLISHER
CNN Sports; Daily Mail; ITV Sport; Sky Sports; talkSPORT; Telegraph Sport; The Athletic; The Guardian; Times Sport; TNT Sports
Winner: The Guardian
NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR
Daily Mail; Sunday Telegraph; The Guardian; The Sunday Times; The Telegraph; The Times
Bronze: The Telegraph; Silver: The Times; Winner: The Sunday Times
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
Bronze: Jonathan Liew – The Guardian; Silver: Craig Hope – Daily Mail; Winner: Jonathan Northcroft – The Times & Sunday 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
Bronze: Suzanne Wrack – The Guardian; Silver: Kathryn Batte – The Telegraph; Winner: Charlotte Harpur – The Athletic
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
Bronze: Nick Hoult – The Telegraph; Silver: Simon Wilde – The Times & Sunday Times; Winner: Mike Atherton – The Times & Sunday Times
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
Bronze: Alex Lowe – The Times & Sunday Times; Silver: Charlie Morgan – The Telegraph; Winner: Daniel Schofield – The Telegraph
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)
Bronze: Neil Allen – Portsmouth News; Silver: Jon Colman – Newsquest Cumbria; Winner: Alex Miller – Iconic Media
SPECIALIST CORRESPONDENT (THE 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
Bronze: Chris McKenna – Freelance; Silver: Tom Kershaw – The Times & Sunday Times; Winner: Riath Al-Samarrai – Daily Mail
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
Bronze: Owen Slot – The Times & Sunday Times; Silver: Paul Hayward – The Observer; Winner: Jonathan Liew – The Guardian
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
Bronze: Andy Bull – The Guardian; Silver: David Walsh – The Times & Sunday Times; Winner: Daniel Storey – The i Paper
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
Bronze: Adam Bate – Sky Sports; Silver: Seb Stafford-Bloor – The Athletic; Winner: Rob Maul – The Sun
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
Bronze: Tom Morgan – The Telegraph; Silver: Matt Lawton – The Times & Sunday Times; Winner: Martyn Ziegler – 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
Bronze: Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track fails – Adam Crafton, The Athletic, and Wiegman fury as Earps quits – Kathryn Batte, The Telegraph; Silver: Christian Horner’s emotional exit speech – Sky Sports News; Winner: Maccabi Tel Aviv fans not allowed to attend Aston Villa game in Europa League – Jacob Tanswell, The Athletic
CONTENT AGENCY
Hayters; KontentHaus Photo Agency; PA Media; Sportsbeat; Stats Perform; The Gold Studios
Bronze: Hayters; Silver: Stats Perform; Winner: Sportsbeat
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
Bronze: James Sharpe – Daily Mail; Silver: Ryan Benson – Stats Perform; Winner: Hamzah Khalique-Loonat – The Times & Sunday Times
SPECIALIST SPORTS PUBLISHER
City AM; Opta Analyst; Sébastien Chapuis’ Substack; Sports Media LGBT+; Telegraph Women’s Sport; The Cricketer; The Cutback
Bronze: Telegraph Women’s Sport; Silver: City AM; Winner: Opta Analyst
SPORTS SUMMARISER
Alex Crook – talkSPORT; Kaveh Solhekol – Sky Sports News; Matt Slater – The Athletic; Philip Buckingham – The Athletic; Phil Hay – The Athletic; Richard Hoiles – ITV Sport; Rob Harris – Sky News
Bronze: Matt Slater – The Athletic, and Phil Hay – The Athletic; Silver: Richard Hoiles – ITV Sport; Winner: Rob Harris – Sky News
SPORT FOR CHANGE JOURNALISM, SUPPORTED BY CONNECTSPORT CIC
Alison Mitchell – Freelance; David Dubas-Fisher and Nick Sommerlad – Reach PLC; ITV Racing – ITV Sport; Miriam Zara Walker-Khan – Freelance; Rob Harris – Sky News; Tanya Aldred – Freelance
Bronze: ITV Racing – ITV Sport; Silver: Miriam Zara Walker-Khan – Freelance; Winner: Alison Mitchell – Freelance
ONES TO WATCH – WRITING (THE 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
Bronze: Megan Feringa – The Athletic; Silver: Um-E-Aymen Babar – Freelance; Winner: Charlotte Daly – Daily Mail
SJA ACADEMY AWARD, IN ASSOCIATION WITH talkSPORT
Alexander Richard Lancaster-Lennox; Alice Jackson; Emma Seligman; George Nash; Joseph Saunders; Ruqayyah Fombo
Highly Commended: Emma Seligman; George Nash; Winner: Alice Jackson
Read more about the Writing and Open Media sections in the shortlists announcements article.
Not yet an SJA member? Join the Association for the annual membership fee of £30. Full info here.
The SJA is interested in your sports media industry news and views. Keen to reach an engaged audience, including over 70,000 followers across social media? We welcome your enquiries – contact us here. We also offer advertising and sponsorship opportunities.