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

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

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, N ...

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

Early life

Scott was born in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

in 1947. Jimmie, his father, worked as a scout for English club

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

north of the border. A "promising full-back", Scott earned a trial with

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

, and marked

Willie Johnston William McClure Johnston (born 19 December 1946) is a Scottish former professional footballer, best remembered for his time at Rangers and West Bromwich Albion. He made 22 international appearances for Scotland and was selected for their 197 ...

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

' quick outside left, in his only game.

Journalism

After his football career failed, Scott began work as an apprentice with DC Thomson, 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 human crush during 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 ...

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 football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time ...

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

's Ninewells Hospital 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 and Walter Smith, amongst others, with the latter saying:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Ron 1947 births 2018 deaths People from Dundee Scottish sportswriters