 He joined "The Observer" in 1962 as an assistant sports editor and worked at the paper until 1993, interrupted when he took a news and features role in 1972–73 with the "Daily Express", before joining "The Sunday Times" in 1993.His column on the back page of "The Sunday Times" sports section ran until 2016.His writing has been described as striving for perfection – with much attention paid to the detail.