Times farewell video for Blackmore includes Mourinho

In the old days, when hacks left a newspaper, they might be “banged out” on the compositors’ tables, and if they were really lucky, they’d get a mocked up front page.

Now we’re in the digital age, it seems that bespoke farewell videos are de rigeur, though others may struggle to match the sporty glitz and glamour of the 10-minute (yes, 10) mini-movie provided to commemorate the 27 years at The Times of outgoing deputy editor Keith Blackmore.

Blackmore, recruited to Wapping by Tom Clarke and who rose from deputy sports editor to the giddy heights of senior management, received tributes from members of the sports team past and present, including Ollie Holt, Alastair Campbell, Lynne Truss, Michael Atherton, the newly ennobled Lord Finkelstein of Stamford Bridge, plus Bill Bryson and Simon Barnes.

And notably, he even gets a word from Jose Mourinho and Frank Lampard.

No one quite matches the video contribution of Robert Thomson, though…