David Edward Charles Lacey (4 January 1938 – 15 November 2021) was a British journalist and

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 ...

writer. He spent the majority of his career at ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', serving as chief football correspondent from 1973 until 2002.

Early life

Lacey was born in

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...

, Sussex, to Hilda (a librarian) and Leslie Lacey (a journalist), on 4 January 1938. His father was the editor of the local newspaper, the ''

Sussex Express Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

'', and his two brothers, Jeremy and Roger, also went into journalism. He attended Lewes county grammar school.

Career

Lacey completed his national service in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

, but did not fly planes or see combat. His first role in journalism was as a cub reporter for the '' Brighton Evening Argus'', aged 16, and he also worked as a

subeditor Copy editing (also known as copyediting and manuscript editing) is the process of revising written material (" copy") to improve quality and readability, as well as ensuring that a text is free of errors in grammar, style, and accuracy. ''The Ch ...

for the ''

Brighton Gazette Brighton and Hove ( ) is a city and unitary authority area, ceremonially in East Sussex, England. There are multiple villages alongside the seaside resorts of Brighton and Hove in the district. It is administered by Brighton and Hove City Counc ...

''. He joined ''The Guardian'' as a subeditor in 1964, with his

byline The byline (or by-line in British English) on a newspaper or magazine article gives the name of the writer of the article. Bylines are commonly placed between the headline and the text of the article, although some magazines (notably '' Reader's ...

first appearing on 23 November 1964, on a report on a goalless draw between Coventry City and Crystal Palace in the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. Lacey was appointed chief football correspondent for ''The Guardian'' in 1973, a position he held until his partial retirement in 2002; he continued to write for the paper until 2013. He covered ten

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for the paper, covering every tournament from

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

, won by England on home soil, until Korea Japan 2002, won by Brazil. He reported from the Heysel Stadium in Brussels, when 39 people died following a crush in 1985, and was in the ground at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield when 96 people were killed in a similar incident in 1989. In his almost five decades with ''The Guardian'' he published game previews, match reports, profiles, features and columns, and became particularly known for his weekly synopsis and analysis of the weekend's action, published in his Monday column. He was named sports reporter of the year at the

British Press Awards The Press Awards, formerly the British Press Awards, is an annual ceremony that celebrates the best of British journalism. History Established in 1962 by ''The People'' and '' World's Press News'', the first award ceremony for the then-named Ha ...

in 1997 and 2003. He is sometimes described as one of the greats of football writing, and the best football writer in the English language. Lacey died in a care home in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, England, on 15 November 2021, aged 83.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lacey, David 1938 births 2021 deaths The Guardian journalists The Press Awards British sports journalists 20th-century British journalists 21st-century British journalists People from Lewes