Having already landed the News Reporter Award as well as silver medals in the Feature Writer and Specialist Correspondent categories, the Daily Mail journalist was already enjoying a successful evening at the SJA British Sports Journalism Awards, sponsored by the National Lottery.

But Al-Samarrai capped it all off at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge with the Writing section’s major honour to cement his place among the industry greats.

The judges praised his “news-breaking talents, deep knowledge of sport and his rich ability to write strong, incisive articles”.

Meanwhile, the Telegraph was named Newspaper of the Year for the fourth consecutive year.

The judges said: “In an extremely competitive field, the winner delivered the perfect combination of impact, breadth and depth in its reporting, tackling the biggest issues but also telling the personal stories that bring sport alive.

“Not only did the Telegraph break many of the biggest stories, it also regularly sets the agenda.”

The Mail on Sunday’s Rob Draper had been pipped by stablemate Al-Samarrai to the News Reporter prize but did claim two of his own, both in newly-created categories – Football News Reporter award and Social Media Journalism.

The latter was for Draper’s coverage of the chaotic Champions League fina in Paris, with the judges noting how he “demonstrated perfectly not only the effectiveness of social media journalism but also how it can be done to make a real difference in a live situation… his knowledge and the timings of his reports were fundamental to refuting the claims made by the French Interior Minister.”

Along with Isaan Khan‘s Ian Wooldridge Award triumph in ‘Ones to Watch’ – announced last week but presented on the night – it meant a fabulous five top gongs in Writing for the Mail Sport desk, which had received 15 shortlist nods in total.

The Times and Sunday Times had been next on that list with 13, and they were able to celebrate a treble as Henry Winter (Football Journalist), David Walsh (Feature Writer) and Mike Atherton (Specialist Correspondent) all returned to the winners’ circle.

For the third time in five years, Jonathan Liew (The Guardian) was named SJA Columnist of the Year, while BBC Sport Wales’ Dafydd Pritchard is a first-time winner in the Regional Journalist category.

The inaugural SJA Academy Award in association with Sky Sports went to Shubi Arun.

The hotly-contested Scoop award was secured by Talk TV’s Piers Morgan Uncensored programme for its exclusive and explosive interview with Cristiano Ronaldo in November.

The judges said: “There are times when the proof of a story’s impact comes from the way other media outlets follow it up, analyse it and ask their columnists to weigh in with their opinions… there can be no doubting the massive impact that the Scoop of the Year had across all parts of our industry.”

The Digital Publisher award was won by The Athletic, with the judges noting how the football website offered “an absolute breadth and depth of high-quality information with great insight and a great use of language”.

Chapman, Murray and Scott reclaim titles as McCoist takes Pundit crown at British Sports Journalism Awards

It was a night for comebacks as several previous Broadcast winners recaptured categories at the SJA British Sports Journalism Awards 2022 – but there were lots of new faces atop the podiums too.

Five years on from his triumph in 2017, Mark Chapman was again named SJA Presenter of the Year.

The judges called the BBC Sport anchor “a titan of sports broadcasting with a commanding presence on not just one medium but two, adding that he is “the best presenter for asking the questions the audience wants to hear”.

Chapman’s BBC colleague John Murray of 5 Live Sport collected his third Commentator trophy following wins in 2016 and 2018.

“Murray always hits the right notes,” said the judges, “whatever sport he’s covering.

“He brings listeners into the action, always locating them in the middle of the play. He delivers the highs and the lows without strain with his smooth, comforting voice.”

2021 Broadcast Journalist winner Steve Scott of ITV News / ITV Sport just edged out last year’s recipient Dan Roan in another tightly-contested category.

The popular Pundit winner, decided upon by a vote of SJA members, was talkSPORT’s Ally McCoist.

Among the commendations was a note of McCoist’s ability to “talk sense in an amusing way… he is funny, informed and a joy to listen to. He enriches without excess or irrelevance”.

The six shortlisted competitors vying for the new Sports Content Organisation award, which sits across Writing and Broadcast categories, were invited to make presentations and answer questions from the judges.

The panel praised the “high quality” of all six but ultimately decided that the “emphatic winners” to emerge from the process were Sky Sports.

There were two Audio-titled trophies up for grabs, and it was The Athletic Football Podcast‘s in-depth exploration of the Kanjuruhan stadium disaster that took first prize in Documentary, while Saturdays on 5 Live Sport claimed the Show category.

BBC Radio Leicester’s Brown Gal Can’t Swim was named Podcast of the Year. Judges described the entry as “local radio at its finest”, adding: “The podcast was captivating, informative and made you will the subject on to succeed throughout.”

On screen, there was success for ITV Sport’s Qatar World Cup 2022 coverage in the Broadcast Event Coverage category. In TV Show, it was BBC Sport’s Football Focus that came out on top while the TV Documentary of the Year was the remarkable and inspirational ‘Rob Burrow: Living with MND’ from BBC Breakfast.

According to the judges, the latter documentary “is a hard watch, which says much about its impact… we see the central hero and so many other heroes around him, all together in the battle against his condition. This goes beyond sport – it’s family.”

The winners of the two Ones to Watch categories in Broadcast had previously been announced and were presented on the night. In ‘On Air’, BBC 5 Live Sport commentator Pien Meulensteen was placed first by the judges, and in ‘Off Air’, they chose audio producer Abi Paterson of The Athletic.


Botterill bags the big one as iconic World Cup images are celebrated at Canon Photography Awards

 

Getty Images photographer Shaun Botterill had never previously won a Canon Photography Award but after 36 years in the industry, he claimed a category at last – and then promptly followed it up with the Ed Lacey Trophy for SJA Photographer of the Year.

It was a similar story to the previous British Sports Journalism Awards ceremony when David Davies did the same.

The judges hailed Botterill as “one of the most highly respected and versatile sports photographers in the world, and an inspiration to so many in the photographic community”.

It put the seal on an incredible 2022 for Botterill who has seen his shot of Leo Messi lifting the FIFA World Cup trophy in December become the most popular post in Instagram history.

At the time of writing, there are a staggering 75m likes on that post – and it wasn’t even part of Botterill’s winning Canon Portfolio entry!

Instead, he selected a different, wide shot of Messi sitting on the shoulders of Sergio Aguero as Argentina partied at the Lusail Stadium, in his set of 10 photographs in the category representing a variety of sports and disciplines.

That Messi moment also proved a winner for Michael Regan who took first prize in the 10-strong Picture shortlist – a category the judges said was “overflowing with wonderful images”.

They chose Regan’s for its “joy, passion and impact… it’s a celebration centered on the genius of an amazing footballer, pictured in a sea of fans, teammates and media.”

There were plenty more stunners from Qatar among those shortlisted in the Football Portfolio category. Catherine Ivill was named winner here, her entry also including a joyous shot of the Lionesses’ raising the UEFA Women’s Euros trophy at Wembley. Botterill, Regan and Ivill are all from the Getty Images stable.

An underwater rescue secured AFP’s Oli Scarff the News Picture Award. His shot of coach Andrea Fuentes assisting US artistic swimmer Anita Alvarez after the latter lost consciousness at the bottom of the pool during the FINA World Championships in Budapest most impressed the judges.

A vibrant and varied selection of cycling photographs saw freelancer Alex Broadway claim the Specialist Portfolio category, and there were also two tremendous track cycling shots in Will Palmer‘s winning entry for Young Photographer, which was announced in advance of awards night.

View all the images in every shortlisted portfolio and category here