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April 2, 2025

Observer makes four sport hires as takeover date approaches

Former Observer chief sports writer Paul Hayward and The Athletic's Rory Smith among new hires.

By Charlotte Tobitt

Tortoise Media has made four hires for the sports desk at The Observer as its first edition under new ownership approaches.

The new additions are Paul Hayward as contributing editor, Rory Smith as football correspondent, Jess Hayden as assistant sports editor and Jessy Parker Humphreys as staff reporter.

The news comes a day after Times columnist Rachel Sylvester was announced as the incoming Observer political editor, with current Tortoise political editor Catherine Neilan becoming Observer Whitehall editor.

The Observer’s final edition under Guardian News and Media ownership will be on 20 April, with the new version under Tortoise coming out the following week.

Around half of the existing 70 Observer staff are understood to have taken voluntary redundancy rather than join Tortoise, and around a further six have taken jobs at The Guardian.

Paul Hayward, who has been a sports journalist since 1987, is making a return to The Observer after a stint between 2009 and 2011 including as chief sports writer.

He has also held the same role at the Daily Mail, The Independent and the Daily Telegraph, is a five-time winner of Sports Writer of the Year at the British Sports Journalism Awards and wrote the book England Football – The Biography: 1872-2022. Hayward previously spent nine months as a contributor editor at Tortoise in 2022/23.

Rory Smith joins from The Athletic where he has been senior writer, global sports since November.

Before that he spent eight years at The New York Times (which bought The Athletic in 2022) where he was chief soccer correspondent and global sports correspondent. He has previously written for The Times, The Independent, the Daily Telegraph and ESPN and is a regular contributor on BBC 5 Live.

Smith said: “It’s an honour to be joining The Observer as one of Britain’s most iconic media institutions begins a new and exciting phase of its history.

“The Observer’s tradition of sportswriting is so proud it’s actually quite daunting: it served as home over the years to both the great Hugh McIlvanney and the wonderful Paddy Barclay, among many others.

“As well as its illustrious past, though, what appeals most is The Observer’s future, as a home for the sort of original, in-depth storytelling that is more coveted and more necessary now than ever.”

Also joining from The Athletic is Jessy Parker Humphreys, who has covered women’s football there on a freelance basis since 2023.

They co-host the women’s football podcast Counter Pressed and have previously worked as a producer on The Guardian’s Women’s Football Weekly.

Parker Humphreys is currently shortlisted as “One to Watch” in the writing category of the Sports Journalists’ Association Awards.

Jess Hayden, author of a book published last year going behind the scenes with the England women’s rugby team, has written about rugby for newsbrands including The Guardian, Rugby World, The Times and Metro.

Tortoise executive editor Keith Blackmore, who previously spent 25 years at The Times including as head of sport, said: “The list of great Observer sports writers is long and intimidating but we feel Rory Smith, the best football writer in the country, and Paul Hayward, the greatest of modern sports writers, are worthy additions to that wonderful tradition and will complement the promise of exciting new talents, Jess and Jessy.”

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