THIS week’s St Helens Star features a 16-page supplement celebrating the newspaper’s coverage of the town’s rugby league club over the past half a century.
Later this year will mark 50 years since the newspaper launched.
And throughout 2023, the Star’s team are producing a series of features to celebrate the anniversary.
In this week’s print edition, Mike Critchley, who has been the Star’s Saints correspondent for more than 22 years, discusses how times have changed in the way we have covered the club over the years.
He has crafted a series of features reflecting on major moments in Saints’ history – and the characters that have shaped them – since the Star hit the streets in 1973.
Writing in an introduction to the feature, Mike says: “In the past 50 years reporting on Saints has been an integral part of our paper’s coverage, bringing news, nostalgia, opinion and analysis.
“Times have changed radically in that time, both in terms of rugby league and also in our industry.
“As part of a multi-media news organisation, the St Helens Star has moved on from those hot metal days, with black and white pages and the broadest of broadsheets.
“But we’ve always enjoyed delivering the Saints news - from a time when sports editors like Frank Martin, and the late Rod Winstanley looked after the pages, allowing Saints reporters Neil Barker, Ron Barker and Denis Whittle to put their mark on the paper.”
Mike reflects on how for the past 22 years he has had the daily privilege of writing the lines to describe the team experiencing its golden age, which has included four successive Super League titles and this year’s World Club Challenge victory in Australia.
He also reflects on how the changing world of local journalism and the days of the live blogs, on the whistle reports and immediate reaction from the coach is a far cry from when people first digested their sports news and insights from the printed product.
St Helens Star editor Andrew Kilmurray said: “Covering the ups and downs of Saints have been a key ingredient of the Star’s success over the last half a century and we want to celebrate that with our readers ahead of our 50th birthday.
“We’ve been fortunate to have some brilliant sports editors and correspondents down the years and the Star’s position as the voice of sport for St Helens is testament to their talent and endeavours.
“In Mike Critchley, we’re fortunate to have one of the most respected voices in rugby league writing, while the expert photography of Bernard Platt illuminates the many magic moments we see on the field.
“There are some brilliant features inside – from recalling the season of the legendary Mal Meninga, to looking back on Daniel Anderson’s magnificent class of 2006, to the challenges of the Covid season in 2020, which ultimately ended with glory and incredible drama.
“It’s one for all Saints fans to enjoy. We know Mike would love to have feedback from all the St Helens followers…so if you want to get in touch drop him an email to mike.critchley@newsquest.co.uk”
The St Helens Star is available in shops and newsagents, priced 80p.
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