Ian Archer
Mark McTaffish
ago?If so,sorry to hear that.
McTaffish
John1967
> Is it true that Ian Archer the sports journalist died a week or so
> ago?If so,sorry to hear that.
>
> McTaffish
Yeah,that's right mate Ian died on Friday 25/1/02.As you say,it's a
very sad loss.I always found him to be very fair in all of his
articles on Celtic in particular and Scottish football in general.
Football writer Ian Archer dies aged 59
IAN Archer, the Scottish sports journalist and author, died yesterday
after a long illness. He was 59.
Born in Maryhill, and a lifelong supporter of Partick Thistle, Archer
was brought up in Warwickshire, acquiring an English accent as a
consequence. He played rugby at Rugby School, and also enjoyed cricket
and golf, but it was as a football writer that he became best known.
After cutting his teeth on local papers in the Midlands, Archer moved
first to the Daily Mail and then to the Glasgow Herald. At that time -
the mid-1970s - football writing was slowly being dragged out of the
Stone Age into modern times, and Archer was one of those most
responsible.
His was a broader vision than most hacks had been capable of up to
that point, and his articulacy combined with an evident love of
football turned him into one of the most familiar faces in the
Scottish media.
First on the BBC radio programme Good Morning, Scotland, and then on
STV's Scotsport, where he would go on to serve for 20 years, Archer
provided insights into the game which were at once entertaining and
informative.
Scotsport gave him a far higher profile than was usual for a humble
scribbler, but he maintained a healthy perspective on his profession.
"Football correspondents," Archer once wrote, "are not born, they are
inflicted upon the world at large."
Undeterred by such self-deprecation, others chose to recognise
Archer's talent publicly. Among his many honours was the Scottish Arts
Council's Munro Award for outstanding journalism, received in 1975.
He moved from the Herald to the Daily Express for a time, but soon
returned to his previous employers to join the Sunday Standard when it
launched in 1981.
After the Standard ceased publication, having proven a critical but
not a commercial success, he worked for a number of titles, most
notably the Mail on Sunday.
Archer's publications, at once caustic and affectionate in their
attitude to the sporting love of his life, included The Jags: A
Centenary History of Partick Thistle, and We'll Support You Evermore,
an assessment of the national team written with Trevor Royle.
Affectionately known by colleagues as 船an' Archer, he was also an
accomplished after-dinner speaker.