Sunday Sport

History

Founded by David Sullivan, the Sunday Sport first appeared on newsstands on 14 September 1986. It quickly became known for its outlandish and farcical content, with headlines such as "Adolf Hitler Was A Woman", "Aliens Turned Our Son Into A Fish Finger", and "Donkey Robs Bank". Its editors have included Michael Gabbert, Tony Livesey, Paul Carter, and Nick Appleyard. A sister daily title, the Daily Sport, launched in 1991. Livesey's 1998 book Babes, Booze, Orgies and Aliens: The Inside Story of Sport Newspapers offers an insider's perspective on the tabloid's first decade.

The Sunday Sport capitalised on the popularity of The Suns Page 3 feature by making sexualised content its primary focus. Topless glamour models were printed across multiple pages and a "nipple count" was published to highlight how many exposed breasts the issue featured. The tabloid courted controversy by featuring 15-year-old aspiring glamour models in scantily clad poses, counting down the days until it could legally show them topless on their 16th birthdays, as it did with Linsey Dawn McKenzie and Hannah Claydon, among others.

The Sunday Sport circulation reached an all-time high of 167,473 in 2005, and Sullivan sold his Sunday Sport and Daily Sport titles in 2007 for £40 million. Circulation declined markedly thereafter, with the new owner, Sport Media Group, withdrawing the titles from the newspaper industry's monthly circulation audit in 2009. In the same year, Sullivan stepped in to save Sport Media Group with a £1.68 million loan. The company entered administration on 1 April 2011, at which point publisher Richard Desmond refused to continue printing the titles because of outstanding debts. The Sunday Sport returned to newsstands several weeks later on 8 May 2011, after Sullivan reacquired it for £50,000. The Daily Sport was sold off separately to Grant Miller.

Sullivan's new company, Sunday Sport (2011) Limited, continued to publish the Sunday Sport as a single weekly title until 2013, when it added a Wednesday edition, the Midweek Sport. , the paper appears three times a week as the Sunday Sport (Sundays), the Midweek Sport (Wednesdays), and the Weekend Sport (Fridays).

In July 2025, the online version of the Sunday Sport was taken down due to the Online Safety Act requirement that it provide age verification for users accessing the service. A message posted online encouraged readers to buy physical copies from newsagents.https://www.sundaysportonline.co.uk/

Website as retrieved on 18/September/2025 reads:

"Due to age verification process coming into affect on 25th July we are no longer able to provide a digital edition.

We thank our digital customers for their custom over the years and ask them to contact their local newsagent to deliver/reserve a physical copy going forwards. Any who has made a payment in the last month will be refunded in full.

All future PayPal subscriptions will be cancelled.

We ask customers to cancel their payment to us in their PayPal account AFTER they have received their refund!"

Controversies

The tabloid contains extensive advertising for sexual services, mainly adult telephone chat lines. In 2016, the Advertising Standards Authority banned sexually explicit advertisements for chat lines from the back page of the Sunday Sport over concerns that children could easily see them.

References

References

1. (10 August 2011). "David Sullivan could launch Friday edition of Daily Sport guardian.co.uk". Guardian.
2. (4 April 2011). "R.I.P. Daily and Sunday Sport". BBC News.
3. flavellflave. "Flave interviews Daily Sport owner Grant Miller and his ring girls".
4. Turvill, William. (3 September 2019). "Co-op ditches Sunday Sport and lads' mags as modesty bag deadline passes".
5. (16 July 2013). "The pornification of Britain's high streets: why enough is enough".
6. (2014). "Design for Media: A Handbook for Students and Professionals in Journalism, PR, and Advertising". Routledge.
7. (17 August 2006). "You couldn't make it up: 'Sport' editor quits for BBC".
8. Baxter, Steven. (4 April 2011). "Farewell to the unloveliest newspaper". New Statesman.
9. (17 June 2020). "Page Three: the naked truth about fame game".
10. (1 April 2011). "Daily Sport and Sunday Sport owner in administration". BBC News.
11. (8 August 2007). "David Sullivan sells stake in Sport titles for £40m".
12. Burrell, Ian. (1 April 2011). "A headline you can believe: The 'Sport' closes". The Independent.
13. McNally, Paul. (1 April 2011). "Daily Sport ceases publication and calls in administrators". Press Gazette.
14. Sweney, Mark. (4 June 2011). "David Sullivan paid just £50,000 for Sunday Sport". The Guardian.
15. (2019-09-11). "Daily Sport launches 'The Bet' for all wagering audiences".
16. Stronach, Dia. (2025-07-28). "Sunday Sport axes online editions and urges readers to order from 'brilliant' newsagents".
17. Jackson, Jasper. (21 September 2016). "Sexually explicit Sunday Sport ads banned despite 'censorship' claim". The Guardian.
18. (21 September 2016). "Sexually explicit Sunday Sport ads banned despite 'censorship' claim".