The Times and Sunday Times invites applications for the Simon Greenberg apprenticeship

“Simon was my shadow, my friend and a man of trust during my first spell at Chelsea. We laughed together, we celebrated together and we also disagreed on occasion. But as good as he was, and as hard as he tried, he couldn’t convince me to love cricket. I will miss him. Rest in peace, my friend.” – Jose Mourinho

Simon Greenberg was one of the youngest sports editors in Fleet Street history. This two-year apprenticeship with The Times Sport seeks to give an opportunity to someone with a similar tenacity, creativity and passion for sports journalism as our beloved friend and former colleague.

Simon made his name as a young reporter on the Mail on Sunday, breaking one of the biggest stories in the history of British sport.

George Graham was a major force in football management, winning six trophies in eight seasons at Arsenal. But he was fired at Highbury in 1995 after Simon exposed the fact that Graham had accepted a £425,000 bung from a Norwegian agent, Rune Hauge, as part of a transfer deal three years earlier.

It was an award-winning story that would launch Simon’s journalism career aged 25. Soon after he became the sports editor of the London Evening Standard.

Later, he became director of communications and public affairs at Chelsea in 2004, working alongside Jose Mourinho during that extraordinary period of success at Stamford Bridge.

From there he became Director of Corporate Affairs at what was then News International, before taking on the role of head of corporate development at The Athletic.

Simon died in August 2021 after a short illness. He was 52 with a young family. This bursary is in his honour, aimed at supporting the successful candidate in becoming a sports news reporter with the same drive and passion Simon brought to the job.

The two-year apprenticeship is based in London and we are looking for candidates with originality, talent, commitment and a love of sports journalism.

The successful applicant will complete a part-time NCTJ course and receive on the job training, mentoring and guidance from award-winning journalists at The Times and The Sunday Times. You’ll learn everything we can teach you about how to create engaging sport content, how to tell and share stories, and how to attract, grow and capture an audience.

If you are offered the apprenticeship, you will start work in January 2025.

What we’re looking for from you:

• You are passionate about sports journalism and eager to forge a career in sports writing
• You have a strong interest in all sports and an appetite for sports news and investigations
• You have tenacity in telling a story and persistence
• You have at least five GCSEs, including in English and Mathematics
• You have a can-do attitude and are willing to go the extra mile to reach your goals
• You are unflappable and reliable under pressure

How to apply

Please upload in one rolling document:

• Your CV
• A cover letter that explains why you are the best candidate for the Simon Greenberg apprenticeship (Max. 500 words)
• Your answers to the 3 questions below (no more than 300 words per answer)
• What areas of sports journalism are you most interested in and why?
• What is the biggest sports news story from the past year and why?
• Which sports journalist do you admire the most and why?

To apply you must have the right to work in the UK.

Applications close Sunday 6th October.