The ''Daily Sport'' was a tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom by Daily Sport Ltd., which specialised in celebrity news and softcore

pornographic Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

stories and images. The daily paper was launched in 1991 by David Sullivan, following its former Sunday sister title, ''

Sunday Sport The ''Sunday Sport'' is a British tabloid newspaper that was founded by David Sullivan in 1986. It mainly publishes images of topless female glamour models, and is well known for publishing sensationalized, fictionalized, and satirical conten ...

'' (first published in 1986). It ceased publication and entered

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...

on 1 April 2011. Following the purchase on 7 June by the telecom, travel and internet entrepreneur Grant Miller, the new online ''Daily Sport'' was relaunched on 17 August 2011 with sports coverage plus classified advertising for the first time in its twenty-year history. There are not thought to be any plans for a print relaunch; however, ''Midweek Sport'', ''Weekend Sport'' and ''Sunday Sport'' are still published by Sunday Sport (2011) Ltd.

Focus and content

The ''Daily Sport'' did not normally include news, although in 2008

Lembit Öpik Lembit Öpik (, ; born 2 March 1965) is a former British politician. A former member of the Liberal Democrats, he served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Montgomeryshire in Wales from 1997 until he lost his seat at the ...

(then a

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

MP) began a regular weekly political column. Instead, its coverage indulged more in

tabloid journalism Tabloid journalism is a popular style of largely sensationalist journalism (usually dramatized and sometimes unverifiable or even blatantly false), which takes its name from the tabloid newspaper format: a small-sized newspaper also known a ...

, with an emphasis on

celebrities Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

, bad behaviour and

toilet humour Toilet humour, or potty or scatological humour (compare scatology), is a type of off-colour humour dealing with defecation, diarrhea, constipation, urination and flatulence, and to a lesser extent vomiting and other bodily functions. It see ...

. The ''Daily Sport'', like the ''Sunday Sport'', was known for ridiculous headlines to entirely fabricated stories. Later editorial practice meant an end to such stories and an increased focus on celebrity news and sexual revelations. ''Daily Sport'' often published fake nude pictures of celebrities and also

paparazzi Paparazzi (, ; ; singular: masculine paparazzo or feminine paparazza) are independent photographers who take pictures of high-profile people; such as actors, musicians, athletes, politicians, and other celebrities, typically while subjects ...

upskirt Upskirting or upskirt photography is the practice of taking nonconsensual photographs under a person's skirt or kilt, capturing an image of the crotch area, underwear, and sometimes genitalia. An "upskirt" is a photograph, video, or illustrati ...

' and '

downblouse Cleavage is the narrow depression or hollow between the breasts of a woman. The superior portion of cleavage may be accentuated by clothing such as a low-cut neckline that exposes the division, and often the term is used to describe the low neck ...

' or

nipple slip A wardrobe malfunction is a clothing failure that accidentally or intentionally exposes a person's intimate parts. It is different from deliberate incidents of indecent exposure or public flashing. Justin Timberlake first used the term when apo ...

pictures. The fake nude pictures were published with the appropriate disclaimers and captions, although the front cover image was often accompanied by a titillating caption, like "Tender tips make tastier tea". In September 2008, ''The Sport'' was criticised by the

Press Complaints Commission The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) was a voluntary regulatory body for British printed newspapers and magazines, consisting of representatives of the major publishers. The PCC closed on Monday 8 September 2014, and was replaced by the Inde ...

for glamourising suicide by publishing a "Top yourself tourism list". A large portion of advertising was for adult goods and services, such as

phone-sex Phone sex is a conversation between two or more people by means of the telephone which is sexually explicit and is intended to provoke sexual arousal in one or more participants. All parties participate voluntarily; it is typically accompanied b ...

chat lines and Internet chat and sexually intimate sites. A feature of the paper was the classified advertisements, which in reality were a series of short advertisements for massage parlours and escort services across the country. In later years, the classified adverts had also become a place for swingers to advertise. The ''Daily Sport'' pioneered the football crossword in the United Kingdom. The soccer crossword positioned in the back pages alongside the football journalists reports was unique in the fact that the clues were solely devoted to questions which related to the country's national game. After two years of his work appearing in the ''Daily Sport'' the grid also became a regular feature in the ''Sunday Sport'' editions. The ''Sport'' claimed to have launched the careers of numerous models, among them

Louise Hodges Louise or Luise may refer to: * Louise (given name) Arts Songs * "Louise" (Bonnie Tyler song), 2005 * "Louise" (The Human League song), 1984 * "Louise" (Jett Rebel song), 2013 * "Louise" (Maurice Chevalier song), 1929 *"Louise", by Clan of ...

who modeled throughout the 1990s

Linsey Dawn McKenzie Linsey Dawn McKenzie (born 7 August 1978) is an English glamour model, pornographic performer, and television personality who made her topless modelling debut in the ''Sunday Sport'' tabloid newspaper on her 16th birthday in 1994. Known for he ...

, who began posing topless for the newspaper in 1994, and Cherry Dee who began posing topless for them in 2003 when they were both 16 (the legal age for such activity in the United Kingdom at the time). Among recent popular ''Sport'' models were

Kelly Bell Kelly Bell (born 21 February 1982, in Aldershot) is an English former glamour model. Career As a child, Bell appeared as a model in many young teen girl magazines, as well as regular TV appearances. At the age of 16, she entered a modelling com ...

Hannah Claydon Hannah Claydon is an English glamour model from Wakefield, West Yorkshire. Claydon has been modelling since she was 15 years old, and in 2004 she made the Top 100 girls in ''FHM magazines ''"High Street Honeys"'' competition to find the nation' ...

and

Lauren Pope Lauren Grace Pope (born 29 September 1982) is an English model, television personality and DJ. In 2010, she began appearing in the ITVBe reality series ''The Only Way Is Essex''. She left the series in March 2019. Career Television In 2004, Pop ...

; however, very few ''Sport'' models also appeared in the other tabloids which the paper regarded as its rivals. The ''Daily Sport'' and ''Sunday Sport'' were sold by David Sullivan to Sport Media Group in 2007. The papers were relaunched in April 2008 under the editorial leadership of Barry McIlheney and James Brown, the founder of '' Loaded''. In October 2008, Pam McVitie was appointed the first female editor of the ''Daily Sport''. In 2009, SMG had to be bailed out by David Sullivan and Gold Group International, after having been put up for sale by its owners. Publication was suspended from 1 April 2011 after Sport Media Group ceased trading and was broken up by administrators. Entrepreneur Grant Miller acquired the rights to the ''Daily Sport'' and relaunched it online through a new company Daily Sport Limited. Sullivan now publishes the ''Midweek Sport'' (Wednesdays), ''Weekend Sport'' (Fridays) and ''Sunday Sport'', through his company

(2011) Limited.Daily Sport (defunct)
British Newspapers Online. Retrieved 11 June 2013.

Circulation

Circulation levels in 2009 were 84,000 and rising, but they then fell sharply with the company's financial difficulties.''Daily Sport'' withdrawn from ABC sales audit as circulation plummets , Media , guardian.co.uk
''Guardian''. Retrieved on 2011-04-03. The publication now only exists online.

References

External links

"''Daily Sport'' shares plunge"
Roy Greensalde, ''The Guardian'' 22 April 2008
"''Daily Sport'' unveils £1m redesign"
''The Guardian'', 21 April 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Daily Sport National newspapers published in the United Kingdom Publications established in 1991 1991 establishments in the United Kingdom Defunct newspapers published in the United Kingdom Daily newspapers published in the United Kingdom Nudity in print media