The miracle of Sports Pink

[Guller Bull]

Discussing this with the bloke next to me on Wednesday.
How did they get the scores printed onto the paper and delivered to your local paper shop almost by the time you had walked home from the match and had your tea? Incredible for that day and age.

Was it done by magical pixies?

[bfcjg]

I remember the pink, as you say how fast they got them out was amazing.

[Carwin261]

They even had a report on the inside pages on the Reserve team matches,but if there was a goal late in the 2nd half it just had the scorers name ,& the minute they scored in brackets.

[Jel]

I used to deliver these around Barrowford

[Claretmisterg]

I used to deliver them round Foulridge. The newsagent was a Burnley fan and he used to give me a lift home from the match and there would be a bundle of pinks waiting in the shop doorway when we got back. I would bag them up and set off on my round.

[Juan Tanamera]

I used to love Granville Shackleton's reports.
I was brought up in Loveclough village and as often as not the paper lad was just starting his round when I got back from the match.

[Buxtonclaret]

Always be a few waiting just after 6 on Saturdays for the Manchester Pink and Sheffield Green 'Un here in Buxton.
Required reading.

[Silkyskills1]

An early Saturday night ritual for me. Youngest in the family and so I was dispatched along Bury Rd. in Haslingden, whatever the weather, to John Driver's newsagents to collect said newspaper. Early 60's I was sent out just after 6pm and later 60's when The Monkees TV programme had finished. Always the last to read it with two older brothers and dad around but they were wonderfully heady, happy days in my life.

[Stalbansclaret]

"Clarets Go Nap" always a good headline !!! Very detailed first half reports, very sketchy second half
Used to regularly be waiting outside our local paper shop ("Drugstores" on Skipton Road in Colne) waiting for the Pinks to turn up around 6.30

[RammyClaret61]

They use to arrive in Ramsbottom just after 6pm. If I was on the bus, I’d get to Fred Mitchell’s (ex Bacup wicketkeeper) newsagents just before them. Having traveled by bus, these papers would be my first sight of the rest of the results. Fred sold the Sports Pink, the Manchester Football Pink, and the Bolton Football Buff.

[Royboyclaret]

It really was a miracle how they managed to incorporate such detail within some one hour and a bit of the final whistle. For some nostalgic reason (and I'm glad I did) I kept hold of the very last edition of the Pink, it's dated Dec.17th 1983.

There's a lovely little piece on the front page with their " Goodnight, this is the final edition of your Sports Pink."

By the way, we won 4-1 away at Wimbledon in the Third Division and Michael Rumney presented John Bond with a birthday card before the match !.....Yes, even that received coverage in the magical Pink.

[conyoviejo]

A queue used to form outside Croasdales newsagents on Leeds Rd eagerly waiting for the Pink.Quite amazing how they got all the reports out,lancs combination as well.

[ecc]

Discussing this with the bloke next to me on Wednesday.
How did they get the scores printed onto the paper and delivered to your local paper shop almost by the time you had walked home from the match and had your tea? Incredible for that day and age.

Was it done by magical pixies?

Another era and, TBH, one I miss.

[Nonayforever]

It really was a miracle how they managed to incorporate such detail within some one hour and a bit of the final whistle. For some nostalgic reason (and I'm glad I did) I kept hold of the very last edition of the Pink, it's dated Dec.17th 1983.

There's a lovely little piece on the front page with their " Goodnight, this is the final edition of your Sports Pink."

By the way, we won 4-1 away at Wimbledon in the Third Division and Michael Rumney presented John Bond with a birthday card before the match !.....Yes, even that received coverage in the magical Pink.

Michael was in my class at school and he was always happy.....but so was we all as kids.

[1882Clarets1882]

The turn around from results to getting a paper through letter boxes was impressive, but the way it made your hands black was unbelievable!

[Silkyskills1]

It really was a miracle how they managed to incorporate such detail within some one hour and a bit of the final whistle. For some nostalgic reason (and I'm glad I did) I kept hold of the very last edition of the Pink, it's dated Dec.17th 1983.

There's a lovely little piece on the front page with their " Goodnight, this is the final edition of your Sports Pink."

By the way, we won 4-1 away at Wimbledon in the Third Division and Michael Rumney presented John Bond with a birthday card before the match !.....Yes, even that received coverage in the magical Pink.

Remember that game. On the same day a bomb went off at Harrod's and WPC Jane Arbuthnot was killed as a result. There is a plaque dedicated to her at one of the entrances.

[IanMcL]

The Pink rightly deserves the miracle description. A perfect end to a perfect match day.

[DCWat]

Another era and, TBH, one I miss.

Agreed - I was only young if they finished it in ‘83 but still remember it well and fondly. It was especially useful whilst out on shopping days when Burnley were playing away.

Replaced by blokes congregating outside Rumbelows windows watching the Vidiprinter. It was always nice, although all too infrequent, when a Burnley score was followed by the written score - Burnley 7 (seven).

I suppose what we have now, immediate access to the latest scores, scorers, results and even footage, is much better. It’s somehow just not as nice.

It sort of sums up how much society has become a must have now culture. Patience is becoming a rare thing as there’s less and less need for it with many things - which probably doesn’t help situations when patience is required!!

[Royboyclaret]

Remember that game. On the same day a bomb went off at Harrod's and WPC Jane Arbuthnot was killed as a result. There is a plaque dedicated to her at one of the entrances.

And which was the first newspaper to offer a full page report on the incident ?..just four hours after it happened ?

You guessed it.....the Sports Pink.....full back page," 9 dead and 75 injured in Harrod's horror. Thousands flee the scene in terror."

Hard to believe it was almost 40 years ago.

[Claretlad]

Saturday sent down to the shops 20 parkdrive tipped and a pink.

[longsidetrumpet]

Search ‘sports mail’, five posts down, and you’ll find a good discussion on this subject from July, when the last surviving ‘sports pink’, the Portsmouth News’s Sports Mail, was published for the final time

[vinrogue]

Mr Greens Newsagents top of Beaufort St/Chapel House Road, Nelson. As a kid I loved going to get it with my dad and a quarter of sweets if we were lucky......happy days

[Top Claret]

Mi father always used to buy it from a seller in Bacup centre back in the 70s

The good old days ha ha, not really

[Rowls]

There were a few local “pinkens” that kept going into the mid 90s. Sheffield had an edition.

Miraculous bit of logistics to get these things printed in time.

The match reports had to be written as the game was in progress and then dictated straight through to the printing office over the phone.

God know how they set the plates up so quickly.

When a game changed course late on you’d get strange sentences like “Burnley ground out a deserved draw against Stoke but the midlands side scored late to earn a share of the points.”

[vancouverclaret]

Used to pick ours up in Ashton on way home from the match, that's how we found out scores from other matches.

[Royboyclaret]

Just reading through the final edition yet again (for what must be the umpteenth time) and remarkably it's 15 pages in length. Still they always managed to have the finished article at the newsagents on Guy St. Padiham by five past six without fail (hardly 60 minutes after the final whistle).

Just wish I could share this with everyone on here, it really is a work of art, particularly with the tragedy at Harrods on the same day which is reported in depth.

[Dressinggown]

Peter Higgs
Keith McNee

I have no idea why these names appeared in my very disjointed mind.

Did they report for the Pink ?

Can anyone shed any light on this ?

[Healeywoodclaret]

Happy Days! As a youngster my main interest not 60 minutes after the final whistle was the league table. Now its all there at our finger tips . Great trip down Memory Lane this thread.

[groove]

Why were they pink? Any particular reason?

[Royboyclaret]

Peter Higgs
Keith McNee

I have no idea why these names appeared in my very disjointed mind.

Did they report for the Pink ?

Can anyone shed any light on this ?

Both Peter Higgs and Keith McNee reported on Burnley games, home and away, over a period of many years.

In fact it was Keith who was responsible for the extensive report on our Wimbledon win in the very last edition of the Sports Pink.

As to why the colour was Pink......goodness only knows, unless it was merely to distinguish it as a Sports paper from the standard newspaper.

[Steve1956]

All the Rossendale Clarets on here will remember the legendary Jimmy Cockerill selling the "Last Sports" outside the Pavilion
Another Rossendale character sadly missed.

[Vino blanco]

Wasn’t Granville Shackleton the ace Burnley FC reporter at that time? Having said that I don’t know if he worked for the Pink or not. My dad used to get the Pink for us after the match on Saturday evenings and I used to love reading the report of the match I had seen a couple of hours earlier: they also had all the four leagues results with attendances plus the league tables, all of which I studied closely in my youthful eagerness.
Regarding Granville Shackleton, my father was a good friend of his, having worked together and I also know Granville’s son well: his son was a drinking pal of mine in the Rose and Crown and General Williams, not that I could keep up with him, as could none of the regulars in there.

[AmbleClaret]

I was mid-teens,late '70s. Leave the Turf ,run to bus station,back to Clitheroe and would buy the Pink from Ainsworths newsagents on the walk home.

[houseboy]

Used to get back into Rawtenstall after the bus ride from the match and the guy used to stand outside the picture house next to the bus station selling it. Happy days.

[houseboy]

All the Rossendale Clarets on here will remember the legendary Jimmy Cockerill selling the "Last Sports" outside the Pavilion
Another Rossendale character sadly missed.

Sorry I missed your post. Jimmy Cokerill, I’d forgotten his name. It was the Picture House though bud, the Pavilion was on Queens Square. I think.

[Jamesy]

I used to have to get down to Burnley bus station for my dad and buy a pink for him in the early 70’s. I’m sure they were on sale between 6pm and half past? I would get home from the home games have a bit of tea then down to the bus station. Luckily we only lived half a mile from the bus station.
Once I started watching Burnley regularly away in the 70’s he had to get down and get it himself every other week.

[Bfc]

In the early 60s a bloke called George, I think his surname was Heywood had stood under the Culvert for years. He always seemed to have a fag hanging in the corner of his mouth and his hands were Black from the still damp print ink. Someone else used to walk around the Lyndhurst Rd area above the ground with papers shouting " Peeall Pink" and people came out to buy it. It maybe cost 6p old pence. I was a kid and kept the paper to cut out reports, for my scrap book. Someone worse the wear from drink asked if he could buy it off me. Firstly I said no, but when he got a 10 shilling note out and gave it me, I soon took it. That was a lot of money to me then.

[IanMcL]

In the early 60s a bloke called George, I think his surname was Heywood had stood under the Culvert for years. He always seemed to have a fag hanging in the corner of his mouth and his hands were Black from the still damp print ink. Someone else used to walk around the Lyndhurst Rd area above the ground with papers shouting " Peeall Pink" and people came out to buy it. It maybe cost 6p old pence. I was a kid and kept the paper to cut out reports, for my scrap book. Someone worse the wear from drink asked if he could buy it off me. Firstly I said no, but when he got a 10 shilling note out and gave it me, I soon took it. That was a lot of money to me then.

I want my money back!

[Cajun]

Pink or green pages was simply to differentiate from rest of the paper's publications and easy to read typeface against,
Topically, having just played Coventry, the two cuttings below are from the Sept. 1, 1973 Pink when we drew 2-2 against them. Much of the football papers were produced days in advance, and these two articles, one by the previously mentioned Keith McNee and one by Dobo, refer to the great start made to the season in the opening two games.

Pink2.jpg (107.78 KiB) Viewed 1195 times

Pink3.jpg (126.73 KiB) Viewed 1195 times

[Royboyclaret]

A great start indeed to the '73/74. I recall that first game away at Sheff Utd where it seemed half the population of Burnley was there and we simply blew them away. Then followed up with a stunning home win against Chelsea.

[Juan Tanamera]

Pink or green pages was simply to differentiate from rest of the paper's publications and easy to read typeface against,
Topically, having just played Coventry, the two cuttings below are from the Sept. 1, 1973 Pink when we drew 2-2 against them. Much of the football papers were produced days in advance, and these two articles, one by the previously mentioned Keith McNee and one by Dobo, refer to the great start made to the season in the opening two games.

The game at Tottenham if I remember was where Phil Beal (I think) made an horrific tackle on Frank Casper that I believe impacted on the rest of Frank's career.

[Buxtonclaret]

It was a big following at Sheffield that '73 game.
And i definately remember them only losing 2-0 flattered them!

Remember the Chelsea evening game a few days later was the only time I'd ever stood on the Beehole end with my dad!
Been recently mentioned, that side we had then.
Merely 'good' is a massive understatement. So good to watch.

[Royboyclaret]

It was a big following at Sheffield that '73 game.
And i definately remember them only losing 2-0 flattered them!

Remember the Chelsea evening game a few days later was the only time I'd ever stood on the Beehole end with my dad!
Been recently mentioned, that side we had then.
Merely 'good' is a massive understatement. So good to watch.

The game at Sheffield is still vivid in the memory. Doug Collins gave a sensational performance that day, as close to a "Jimmy Mac display" as I've ever seen from a Burnley player either before or since (with the possible exception of Trevor Steven).

[Buxtonclaret]

Don't care if I'm in a minority.
Always rated Doug just as good as Trevor. He turned in some real stella performances in what was an exceptional side.
Had his off days like everyone. But they were rare.

[MT03ALG]

The Pink = highlight of the weekend !!

[It Is What It Is]

Yes Incredible how they got all the results and match reports in within a couple of hours.
Delivered the pink around Rawtenstall when I was a lad in the 60s. Used to walk around shouting " Last Sports', and front doors would open all over the place!
Made about 5 shillings on a Saturday night for a two hours..( 25p for you young un's)! Good earnings that in the day.
Remember the trajectory arrows following the ball into the net?

[longsidetrumpet]

I worked on the Sports Pink, produced from the offices of the Evening Telegraph in Blackburn, from 1979 to 1986. It was a triumph of organisation (sometimes disorganisation!!) on the part of the sportswriters, sub-editors (the people who designed the pages, checked the copy and wrote the headlines) and print and press staff (despite their restricted union practices).
First, about the colour of sports paper pages. Don't know the answer, but it was probably to differentiate from the regular paper. When Bradford City were promoted to the Premier League the editor was wetting himself because we were able to get hold of pink newsprint (newsprint is the paper itself), and so relaunched the Telegraph & Argus Saturday sports paper.
To explain the speed of production, much of the inside paper content was put together during the week before publication. The front 2/3 and back 2/3 pages were the live ones, plus a 'pair' inside for the non league reports.
Copy would be subbed on the run, with the reporters sending chunks every 15 minutes or so, so all that was required on the final whistle was the final score, an intro to lead off the report, and of course the headline.
Then it was down to the composing room staff, the press lads and then the van drivers to get the papers to the shops.
Simple!

[Cirrus_Minor]

It was incredible how fast they got them out.

My neighbours son was a big mate of mine and we would go to the matches together. He would always go out after a game to buy a pink and his mum would say, 'he's been on and paid to watch it and now he's going to read about what he has just bloody well seen'.

Also remember the paper seller under the culvert shouting something indecipherable after a match. Something like 'evnipayparrrs!'.