The merger of sports departments on the Times and Sunday Times has seen the departure of four production and one reporting stalwart from the Sunday title.
Alex Butler (left), sports editor for the last 20 years, has left along with production editor Greg Struthers, chief sub Derek Clements and Saturday regular Warren Shore.
Nick Pitt, a former sports editor who has covered six Olympic Games and who was golf, boxing and tennis reporter, has also been released having joined the paper in 1978 although he left briefly, twice.
The titles were given permission to merge some departments last summer having previously pledged never to so do and the announcement that sport was one of them came in September.
Butler describes himself on Twitter as ‘Former Sunday Times sports editor now free to pontificate on all kinds of froth and nonsense. London, England