James Olley's exclusive story “Wembley for Sale” won Scoop of the Year at the SJA British Sports Journalism awards for 2018 on Monday.
Standard Sport’s Chief Football Correspondent was congratulated by the judges for “a huge national and international story, an old-fashioned scoop by the London paper that dominated the news and sports agenda”.
The FA’s proposed sale of Wembley Stadium triggered a national debate from the moment that Olley, working with Jonathan Prynn, revealed the details on April 26. It was a story that split opinion, with many in favour of the plan to deliver unprecedented one-off investment in the grassroots game, but with opponents accusing the governing body of trying to sell its crown jewels for short-term gain.
The Standard followed the story with exclusive interviews with the key men involved in the proposed deal — Fulham owner Shahid Khan and, the day after the controversial proposal collapsed in October, FA chief executive Martin Glenn.
Olley was highly commended by the SJA judges in the category of Regional Sports Journalist of the Year. Also highly commended was the Standard’s Sports Correspondent Matt Majendie for his specialist portfolio on drugs in sport.
