Sports journalist and Press Gazette newspaper hall of fame inductee Ian Wooldridge has died in hospital, aged 75.
Wooldridge, regarded as one of the greatest sports writers of his generation, died peacefully after a long battle with cancer.
He first made his name as a cricket correspondent and he went on to cover every major sporting event – including 10 Olympic Games – for the Daily Mail, where he worked for nearly half a century.
His enthusiasm and lightness of touch gained him a worldwide following and a string of awards. He was twice named newspaper columnist of the year, five times sports writer of the year and four times sports feature writer of the year.
In 2005, he was named as one of the 40 most influential journalistic figures of the past 40 years, and inducted into the Press Gazette newspaper hall of fame.
Wooldridge also won two awards for his lifetime contribution to sports journalism and was awarded the OBE for his services to journalism.
In an interview with Press Gazette last year, sports illustrator Paul Trevillion said: “Wooldridge is an artist, not just a writer, because he paints pictures with words. He is the best writer at painting pictures.”
Wooldridge leaves a widow, Sarah, and three sons.
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