Matthew Lindsay

As chief football writer of The Herald, Matthew Lindsay presents sports stories in a colourful, often surprising light, showcasing impressive range.

For the past five years, Matthew has been reporting on how young players in the Club Academy Scotland system are treated by the country’s leading professional clubs. As part of his coverage, he secured an interview with Fraser Wishart, chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association Scotland. In it, Wishart launched a scathing attack on the governing bodies, which led to changes in governance. 

For another piece, Matthew travelled to Naples to report on how Scotland’s Scott McTominay had become a hero to Napoli fans during his debut season in Serie A. His entertaining feature, in which he donned a Scotland strip to gauge reaction, was the cover story in a pullout which increased print sales by 600 copies. The online article attracted over 11,000 page views and nine new subscribers. 

Matthew exclusively revealed how Lutz Pfannenstiel, the former German goalkeeper once dubbed the “craziest man in football”, was a contender for the sporting director vacancy at Aberdeen. The piece was the most read story on the The Herald website for two days, receiving over 8,000 page views.

Judges’ comments: “An excellent example of how sport reporting can be far more than just player ratings and match reports… Impressive people-focused reporting that presents sports stories in a truly unique light.”