A sports journalist who spent 47 years with his hometown daily has died, aged 72.
Mally Richardson worked for the Hull Daily Mail from 1958 until his retirement in 2005. A Hull City fan since boyhood, when he first joined the paper Richardson would report on the Tigers’ junior teams on Saturday mornings before jumping on his bicycle to watch the senior side in action at Boothferry Park.
Eventually he took on responsibility for the paper’s Saturday Green Mail.
The Mail’s sports editor, James Smailes, said: “From fan to reporter, Mally soon became an integral part of the sports desk, developing an unrivalled and almost encyclopaedic knowledge of the local sports scene.
“If you wanted to know about the local darts league, who were the form batsmen in the Hull Cricket League or which were the rising names in athletics, Mally was your man.
“For the generations who grew up reading the Saturday Green Mail, Mally was the man responsible for not just pulling it all together, but for ensuring those tight Saturday teatime deadlines were met.”
Mail news reporter Angus Young said: “I had the pleasure of working alongside Mally for 21 years. A true gentleman, he was a first-class sports journalist with a list of contacts as long as your arm.
“He had an outstanding knowledge of local sport and a particular passion for Hull City, which was only matched by his love of Elvis Presley.”
After his retirement, Richardson continued to contribute to the Mail’s sports pages with his regular ‘Mally’s Memories’ column, drawn from the paper’s archives.
He died at Hull Royal Infirmary in the early hours of Friday, December 4, leaving behind two children, Helen and Mark, and granddaughter Chloe.
- Mally Richardson’s funeral will be held at Chanterlands Avenue Crematorium, Hull, at 10.30am on Friday, December 11. Family flowers only but donations may be left at the service for the family’s chosen charity. All enquiries to A Shepherd & Sons, 48 Beverley Road, Hull, Telephone 01482 323510