The Telegraph has recruited John Percy from the Wardles agency to beef up its Midlands football coverage.
Percy, who started his career at the Nottingham Evening Post in 1999, takes up his appointment on July 1 after a decade with the northern sports agency.
He joined Wardles in 2002 from the media department at Leicester City, where he had worked for a year.
The Telegraph has been without a staff reporter in the Midlands since last summer, when Sandy Macaskill’s contract was not renewed. Initially, they planned to transfer Rory Smith from Merseyside, but Smith left the paper, first for a job with The Independent and then The Times.
The Telegraph has since been using Wardles to cover the patch. Percy was one of three reporters who contributed regularly. His work caught the eye of head of sport Ben Clissitt and the paper decided once again they needed a dedicated Midlands writer.
The Telegraph has also recruited Russell Cunningham, the production editor at The Guardian.
Wardles is believed to be looking to replace Percy, having lost another long-time staffer, Ian Edwards, during a recent cost-cutting exercise, with Brendan McLoughlin apparently working alone, at least temporarily.
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