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Reuters’ football editor steps down after 24 years

Mike Collett, Reuters’ global football editor since 1996, stepped down yesterday after 24 years with the international news agency.

Mike Collett: taking his foot off the pedal

At 63, Collett says it is time to make a change after working for so long in the non-stop, 24/7 world of agency journalism.

“I’m not retiring, just taking my foot off the pedal,” Collett told sportsjournalists.co.uk.

“It’s not normal or necessary for a man in his 60s to be tearing round with a deadline looming every minute. I’m going to keep working because I still love the game despite all the nonsense in it and because people are out there who still want to employ me, but at a less frenetic pace.”

Collett reckons that in his time at Reuters, he covered sport in 52 countries. It saw him cover six World Cups, 23 Champions League finals, five European championships and countless other cup finals and internationals. He still managed to produce the Complete Record of the FA Cup a decade or so ago, working for long hours in his garden shed where he installed his laptop and his vast collection of football books.

he covered sport in 52 countries, coverED six World Cups, 23 Champions League finals, five European championships and countless other cup finals

He began his career under Dennis Signy and Fred Harris on the Hendon Times and after a brief spell at the Press Association, nine years at UPI and five years as a freelance, he landed at Reuters in 1993.

SJA member Collett has survived two bouts of cancer in the last six years but now has a clean bill of health and he remains a member of the national committee of the Football Writers’ Association. He says that he will continue to watch as much of Tottenham Hotspur as he possibly can. “I hope to stay alive long enough to see them win the league, but I’m hedging my bets for the time being in that respect.”