Abstract
For many years the journalism on the sports pages of British newspapers was looked upon with condescension, seen as frivolous in comparison with the serious intentions of the news and op-ed departments. However, this attitude failed to recognise the contributions of several sports writers whose use of metaphor and allusions to high culture elevated sports journalism in Britain. This paper examines the contribution and innovation of two of the most important writers in the post-war period, the Guardian’s Don Davies and the Observer’s Hugh McIlvanney. Davies brought a deep knowledge of classical literature and culture in writing about football in his native North-West of England before his death in the Munich air disaster in 1958. McIlvanney, whose inventive use of metaphor and striking turn of phrase saw him revolutionise sports reporting in and become the only sports-writer to be voted Journalist of the Year in Britain.