We glance again on AW’s historical past as we have fun 80 years of the publication in 2025
As we step into 2025, AW is celebrating an enormous milestone – 80 years since it began. Again in 1945, Jimmy Inexperienced had an thought to launch {a magazine} devoted to athletics and it has since grown into the enduring publication we all know in the present day.
All of it started with Inexperienced, a former RAF man, who obtained the ball rolling from the bed room of his bungalow in Kent. When he first launched the journal in December 1945, it was referred to as Athletics, a pocket-sized, 24-page publication.
The quilt featured lengthy jumper Jim Morrish and even though post-war rationing meant no new publications might be launched, Inexperienced discovered a manner across the rule and instructed a small white lie. He referred to as the primary subject “Vol II No.1” with a purpose to get the mission off the bottom.
Because the now late former AW editor Mel Watman wrote, “As his battle service within the RAF neared its finish and ‘Civvy Road’ beckoned, the 36-year-old Jimmy Inexperienced questioned about the opportunity of creating an athletics journal. He sought recommendation and was instructed unequivocally that such a enterprise would by no means pay for itself and he ought to overlook it.”
However Inexperienced ignored the recommendation and went forward anyway, decided to convey one thing new to the world of athletics.
The journal’s mission assertion was to “convey all fans within the athletics world particulars of latest outcomes, the most recent data relating to coming occasions, membership notes and information, outcomes and information from the Colonies and different international locations abroad, and articles of curiosity to the athlete typically”.
By the tip of 1949, AW had offered round 5000 points and demand was rising. To fulfill that demand, Inexperienced made the leap from month-to-month to weekly, with Athletics Weekly making its debut on January 7, 1950, priced at sixpence for 16 pages.
As Watman remembers: “To mark the event Jimmy doubled the scale of the employees by taking up a typist to assist him out.”
Quick ahead one other 75 years and AW has advanced much more. Within the autumn of 2020, it shifted again to a month-to-month format, whereas nonetheless delivering the identical mixture of occasion protection, interviews, coaching recommendation, outcomes and stats that readers have come to count on.
As we have fun 80 years of AW in 2025, it’s unbelievable to assume how far the journal has come from these humble beginnings in Jimmy Inexperienced’s Kent bungalow.
To have fun our 80-year anniversary this 12 months, yow will discover our first ever subject of AW by way of the Athletics Weekly archive, and look by all of our copies through the years.
From the primary ever subject in December 1945 by to the current day, present subscribers to our journal are capable of dip into this useful resource free of charge whereas non-subscribers will pay simply £3.99 per thirty days for full entry.
» Subscribe to AW journal right here, try our new podcast right here or signal as much as our digital archive of again points from 1945 to the current day right here
