The Times scooped three top honours at the Sports Journalists’ Association (SJA) awards last night, including the highest accolade - the inaugural Sports Newspaper of the Year.
Mike Atherton, our Chief Cricket Correspondent, won Columnist of the Year for the second year running.
Matthew Syed was honoured with Feature Writer of the Year for the second time.
Owen Slot, our Chief Sports Reporter, was highly commended in the features category.
A panel of leading figures in sports journalism voted The Times the best in its field after a brilliant year that included unrivalled coverage of the Ryder Cup. Judges complimented the newspaper on its all-round sports coverage, especially the football supplement the game, but highlighted the exceptional cricket writing of Atherton and Gideon Haigh during England’s victorious Ashes campaign.
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The Times is the first winner of the new award, with The Guardian second and The Daily Telegraph third.
On presenting the award, Barry Newcombe, chairman of the SJA, said: “The winner was acclaimed by all the judges for its all-round sporting content and quality day after day. Individual writers were praised but this paper’s cricket coverage seems to have been the attraction. Michael Atherton led from the top of the order but one judge described Gideon Haigh as ‘a beautiful writer, more than just a journalist, and a true successor to Cardus’.
“Simon Barnes and Patrick Barclay had their supporters among the judges, while one described Matthew Syed as ‘a star in the making’. The winner, by a considerable margin, and the first winner of the SJA’s Newspaper of the Year award, is The Times.”
Atherton’s award was earned thanks to five columns that were submitted across a broad spectrum of subjects.
“Where poverty turns defeat into a priceless gift” focused on the social problems Bangladesh faces and how cricket helps to keep the nation ticking. “Here in Bangladesh, cricket transforms, it inspires and it is absolutely central to the very notion of national identity and shared experience. And what can be more important than that?” Atherton wrote.
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He suggested that the England football team would benefit from listening to one of the great sport coaches of our time during the World Cup in his piece entitled “England footballers can learn from Wooden gospel“. “Wooden’s methods worked: with small teams - his first championship side was tiny by basketball standards - and with big egos,” Atherton wrote.
In “Perfect storm throws up lesson for cricket“, Atherton applauded the absence of the Decision Review System (DRS) in the Bangladesh mini-series, which “allowed for the return of the natural rhythms of the game”, while “Hail the humble hero who changed game” paid respect to Muttiah Muralitharan when the Sri Lanka spinner retired from Test cricket.
“Why the culture of greed has a vice-like grip” was the fifth of Atherton’s columns put forward, talking about how only strong leadership can change a deep-rooted and rotten culture of dishonesty within a team.
Matthew Syed earned his accolade with five equally brilliant pieces.
“Rainbow Nation finding the pot of gold elusive” speaks of the uncertainty of South Africa’s future when the World Cup is over.
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“Trading nations: the pass-sport to riches” asks how much of Britain’s sporting success is really down to bought-in foreign talent?
“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee: the awful betrayal of Ali” is a plea for all to remember what Muhammad Ali really brought to the world.
“Asian Games dancing to tune that shows how Olympics lack popular touch” suggests that the multisport format of the Asian Games trumps the more popular Olympics.
“I will never escape its shadow” is an exclusive interview with Nelson Piquet Jr, the driver at the centre of Formula One’s greatest scandal.
Serial winners
Mike Atherton
SJA Sports Writer of the Year 2009
British Press Awards Sports Journalist of the Year 2010
SJA Columnist of the Year 2009, 2010
SJA Specialist Correspondent 2008
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Matthew Syed
British Press Awards Sports Journalist of the Year 2009
SJA Feature Writer 2007, 2010