Martin Thorpe, who worked on the Guardian sports desk from 1986 until 2002, has died after a brief illness. He was rediagnosed with cancer earlier this year and passed away at home in Rottingdean, Sussex, on Tuesday. He was 62.
Thorpe, a Scunthorpe United fan who maintained links with the supporters’ club in London, began his career with National RockStar in the mid-70s and found his way to The Times as a casual sub-editor and then Eddy Shah’s Today, where he worked on the launch until moving on to the Guardian soon after. He began as a casual sub, finished up as chief sub and ended his Guardian days as a football reporter, his high-water mark being providing the match coverage of Manchester United’s injury-time European Cup win against Bayern Munich at Camp Nou in 1999.
Thorpe took redundancy in 2002 and went into the property-development business but returned briefly 10 years later before moving on to the Independent and Independent on Sunday, where he worked until their closures in March.
He leaves three sons: James, Sam and Luka.
