Trevor Bond, who served the SJA in several roles including chair, treasurer and secretary, has died at the age of 90; he worked in senior sports editorial roles for the Sunday Telegraph and the Mail on Sunday before retiring in the mid 1990s; here, Trevor’s son Duncan leads the tributes; funeral on Tuesday 25 August – see below for full details…
By The SJA
Trevor Bond, the former chair and secretary of the Sports Journalists’ Association who was greatly admired across the industry, has died at the age of 90.
The Sports Journalists’ Association sends its deepest condolences to Trevor’s family, friends and former colleagues at this sad time.
“Bondy” – as he was known to everyone in the media – began his career on the Essex and Thurrock Gazette at the age of 18, before moving to the Romford Times and then the Stratford Express, which was then one of the biggest-selling weekly newspapers in the country.
He was responsible for their famous headline “West Ham 4, W. Germany 2” on the 1966 World Cup final report from Wembley.
Three years later, he joined the Sunday Telegraph and rose to the position of sports editor. When The Mail on Sunday launched in 1982, he was handed the job of associate sports editor.
By this time, he had already had a spell as a committee member of the then Sports Writers’ Association, and he returned in 1991.
Within a few years, he was serving as chair; then he took on the role of treasurer; and then had an eight-year stint as secretary, during which he won the Doug Gardner Award in 1999 and saw the association’s name change to the SJA.
He also served as AIPS deputy secretary from 2001 to 2005, and was a life member of the SJA.
Trevor’s son Duncan writes: “Dad always supported the association whenever he could. He adored his career in sports journalism.”
There will be a celebration of life for Trevor on Tuesday 25 August 2026 at Bentley Crematorium in Brentwood, Essex (starts 11.30am) followed by a social at the nearby Rose and Crown pub (from 1pm). Full details here.
Here, Duncan shares memories of his father’s life and career…
Our Dad, Trevor William Bond, has played his last innings.
Dad had an amazing career in sports journalism. Firstly on the Stratford Express, following his beloved West Ham United across Europe in the 1960s.
He then became Sports Editor of the Sunday Telegraph in the 1970s, and was Associate Sports Editor of The Mail on Sunday, when it launched in the early 1980s.
The picture below is one of my favourites ever as Dad (second from left), sits opposite Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, on a royal visit to the Sunday Telegraph in the 1970s.
Dad loved his cricket. He never did quite reach a century, but what a glorious innings he played to get to his 90th birthday in April this year.
His highest-ever score of 98 was ended when he was out because his cap fell on the wicket and knocked a bail off. He never wore a cap again after that.
His love of cricket rubbed off on Mark and me. From an early age, we were introduced to the very underrated game of beach cricket.
Pitch up on a beach in Devon, three stumps, a bat and a tennis ball. The deviation you got from bowling into a ridge on the sand was better than anything Shane Warne bowled in his career. Needless to say, I still can’t play spin!
And Dad left us on the same day as one of his cricketing heroes, Sir Garfield Sobers. Two cricket legends leaving the world at the same time. Dad will be happy with that. He’s probably asking him for a Heavenly net as we speak.
He was a loving husband to Jan for over 60 years and found it difficult when Jan went into a care home permanently with Alzheimer’s disease.
He had two sons, Mark and me (Duncan) and was simply Grandpa Trev to three much-loved and adored grandchildren, Liam, Callum and Chloe.
You will be forever missed but always remembered.
Finally, you can now enjoy a Scotch with your dear friends up there. I know you missed them. Now you can all be reunited in the great ‘Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese’ in the sky, and remember happy times and “hot metal”
Former SJA President Patrick Collins writes…
A few years ago, as he watched the guests assemble for an SJA dinner, Trevor Bond was in nostalgic mood. He spoke about thirsty hacks who told their tales and stood their rounds. He recalled legendary publicans, for whom closing time was a moveable feast. And he remembered those distant days when Fleet Street had seemed like the centre of the world.
I argued that journalists had changed; that where we used to decide between lunch at The Albion or The Cheshire Cheese, this generation discussed which gym they should use or which route their lunchtime run should follow. It was a welcome, healthy development.
Trevor was unmoved, but he seemed to be considering the idea. Then he said: “I’ve always liked the Cheese. But, on balance, I reckon I’d take the Albion.”
Trevor adored Fleet Street, whether Sports Editing the Sunday Telegraph or as Associate Sports Editor of the Mail on Sunday. Indeed, the only street which came close in his affections was Green Street, London E7, formerly home to West Ham United.
He was Essex to his bones; West Ham for football and Chelmsford for cricket, the sport he played and dearly loved.
He was a genuine enthusiast, was Trevor Bond; be it for newspapers, sport or, in his later years, the welfare of the SJA.
A colleague once told me that whenever he thought of “Bondy”, a smile would come to his face. Trevor would have settled for that epitaph.
Colin Malam writes…
I shall always be grateful to Trevor for helping me through the difficult time I endured in 1973 at the start of my 30 years as Football Correspondent of The Sunday Telegraph.
It was a stylistic problem, I think. I was coming from three years with the new, brassy, ‘Super Soaraway Sun’, and my version of a front page splash on the growing popularity of professional football did not sit well with the Editor or his assistant.
God knows how many rewrites there were, but enough to bring tears very close to yours truly. I survived largely because Trevor, then assistant to sports editor Roger Fowler-Wright, gently nursed me through all those frustrating visits to the Editor’s office.
Needless to say, it was the beginning of a firm friendship that strengthened as Trevor took over as sports editor following Roger’s untimely death in a road accident.
Helping others came naturally to Trev. Allied to his journalistic professionalism, it certainly made the Sunday Telegraph‘s sports department a happy place to work.
So, too, did the frequent visits of all and sundry to the Kings & Keys pub next door. We are talking here about the hard-drinking Fleet Street of old, and as many problems were solved in that bar as in surroundings of a more sober kind.
Trevor loved those gatherings of fellow journalists over a pint or two. It brought out the sense of fun in him and leaves us with an indestructible memory of the goodness and kindness of the man.
RIP Trev.
Funeral details
From Mark and Duncan Bond…
Trevor’s life celebration will take place on Tuesday 25th August at 11.30am at Bentley Crematorium, Ongar Road, Pilgrims Hatch, Brentwood, CM15 9RZ
…followed by a more informal sociable celebration from 1pm at The Rose and Crown, 390 Ongar Rd, Pilgrims Hatch, Brentwood CM15 9JH.
Dad requested this to be a rejoicing and not a mourning, so you can be as colourful as you like and do not feel obliged to wear black unless you want to – there will be at least one nod to his beloved West Ham on the day!
No flowers please, but there will be a donation box at the Crematorium, and a weblink on the Order of Service, for Leukaemia Research, which is a charity with significant meaning to Dad.
The Crematorium service will be streamed live and available online for a few weeks after the event for those unable to attend, and we can share the details closer to the date.
Thanks and regards, Mark and Duncan Bond
If you are interested in sharing your memories of Trevor via publication on the SJA website, please email us – we welcome your contributions.
Further reading…
The Questionnaire: Trevor Bond (April 2006)
Memories of a local weekly renowned for its training of journalists (Roy Greenslade on The Stratford Express, Media Guardian, October 2016)
Scenes from a Life – Trevor Bond sharing experiences resulting from his surname (Rotary Club of Billericay, 2023)
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