Book Description

At the heart of this text strides James Catton, less than five feet tall but a giant in the field of sporting journalism. It is the story of his career, from boy reporter in 1870s Lancashire to editor of the influential Manchester-based weekly Athletic News and then grand old man of Fleet Street sports writing in the 1920s and ’30s. The book also presents the story of others, too—the first journalists to turn action into news as raw, carnivalesque, violent pastimes were replaced by codified and commercialised games. Detailing the history of their trade, the book searches for the roots of sports journalism, pushing, for the first time, the newspaper reporter to the foreground in the shared history of the press and sport. Editorial recruitment, training, writing styles, pay, status, rivalry and camaraderie, technology, celebrity, the press box, the player-reporter and drinking culture are all examined, as are the values men like Catton claimed sport, at its best, represented.