Peter Higgs

Burnley Express sports editor Peter Higgs has been named the "Sports Writer of the Year" in a nationwide competition. In the British Sports Journalism Awards, he is the winner of the weekly newspaper category. After being "highly commended" the previous year when he was placed second, Higgs wins the first prize in a competition which is organised jointly by the Sports Council and the Sports Writers' Association and is open to weekly newspapers from all over Britain. Among the articles considered by the four-man judging panel were two feature series about Burnley Football Club. The first, written near the start of 1982, highlighted the "One Hundred Years of Burnley FC"; the second, in November and December, was a current-day look behind the scenes in "Seven Days at Turf Moor".
As winner Higgs will receive a cheque for £250, a scroll of honour and a replica of the trophy. They will be presented to him by the former director general of the BBC, sir Ian Trethowan, at a special ceremony at the Waldorf Hotel, London, on February 15th. Sir Ian, now chairman of the Horse Race Betting Levy Board, was one of the judges. The panel was made up of chairman Bill Hicks (former editor of the Daily Mail), Ian Edwards (ITN Sport) and Brian James (Daily Mail feature writer). The main awards of "Sports Journalist of the Year" and "Sports Feature Writer of the Year" both went, for the second successive year, to Hugh McIlvaney of "The Observer". The other winners were: "Sports Reporter of the Year" - Jeff Powell (Daily Mail); "Provincial Daily Sports Writer of the Year" - Steve Evans (Coventry Evening Telegraph).