Ronald Scott (1947 – 5 May, 2018) was a Scottish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

journalist who worked for ''

The Sunday Post ''The Sunday Post'' is a weekly newspaper published in Dundee, Scotland, by DC Thomson, and characterised by a mix of news, human interest stories and short features. The paper was founded in 1914 and has a wide circulation across Scotland, U ...

'' for nearly fifty years. He was sports editor at the newspaper for 28 years.

Early life

Scott was born in

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

in 1947. Jimmie, his father, worked as a scout for English club Preston North End north of the border. A "promising full-back", Scott earned a trial with St Johnstone, and marked

Willie Johnston William McClure Johnston (born 19 December 1946) is a Scottish former professional footballer. He played over 600 games in a 20 year senior playing career. His 5 Rangers major trophy wins included him scoring 2 goals when winning the 1972 Euro ...

, Rangers' quick

outside left In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

, in his only game.

Journalism

After his football career failed, Scott began work as an apprentice with

DC Thomson DC Thomson is a media company based in Dundee, Scotland. Founded by David Couper Thomson in 1905, it is best known for publishing ''The Courier (Dundee), The Courier'', ''Evening Telegraph (Dundee), The Evening Telegraph'' and ''The Sunday Pos ...

, which was based in his hometown. He reported on his first match, a pre-season friendly, in the summer of 1968. He was present at the

Hillsborough disaster The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal crowd crush at a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the tw ...

of 1989. Scott became Chief Football Writer at ''the Post'' in January 2002. His column was called ''The Voice of Experience''."Proud and fully paid-up member of the old school Ron Scott would’ve had a good laugh at finally being a hit on social media"
– ''

'', 13 May 2018 Up until his retirement in 2012, Scott phoned his match reports to a copytaker. For his retirement celebration, Sir

Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former professional football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as the greatest manager of all time and ...

recorded a tribute message to Scott.

Personal life

Scott was married to Wendy. He had a brother, Bruce, and a daughter, Susan. He was a Dundee F.C. fan, and also served on the committee of Dundee Violet F.C. In 2007, at the age of 60, Scott became the president of the Scottish Football Writers' Association. He remained in the role for three years.

Death

Scott died on 5 May 2018, aged 70, after a short illness. He submitted his last column from his bed at

Ninewells Hospital Ninewells Hospital is a large teaching hospital, based on the western edge of Dundee, Scotland. It is internationally renowned for introducing laparoscopic surgery to the UK as well as being a leading centre in developing fields such as the manag ...

just over 24 hours before he died."SFWA mourns Ron Scott"
– Scottish Football Writers' Association – 7 May 2018 Tributes to his life came from

Gordon Strachan Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player who is currently Technical Director of Dundee. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Sc ...

and

Walter Smith Walter Ferguson Smith (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021) was a Scottish football player, manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Glasgow club Rangers. A defender, Smith's playing career consiste ...

, amongst others, with the latter saying:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Ron 1947 births 2018 deaths Mass media people from Dundee Scottish sportswriters