By Sarah Lagan
The Birmingham Mail’s Saturday football paper the Sports Argus will close after 109 years at the end of the season, Trinity Mirror has announced.
Mail editor Steve Dyson today announced to staff that: “A huge reduction in the number of sporting fixtures kicking off at 3pm on a Saturday has resulted in declining sales of the Argus.”
Two full time staff working for the Argus, including editor Jason White, are now in consultation with the company over possible redundancy.
The Argus covers three Premiership teams: Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham City. It also covers Wolverhampton Wanderers and has extensive coverage of non-league football.
The paper’s NUJ father of chapel Guy Newey said: “This has come as a big blow to my members and to the staff here, it’s a massive own goal. We are worried about the signals it sends out to our readers and we are worried about leaving the market place open for someone else.”
Printed in the West Midlands, the Argus, which used to be the biggest selling Saturday sports paper in the country, will cease publication from 13 May – Cup Final day.
The move follows closures of many regional sports papers, including in Coventry and Newcastle. Trinity said it will incorporate some of the Sports Argus coverage into the main body of the Mail’s Saturday paper.
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