Frank Butler (British sportswriter)
Encyclopedia
Frank Butler was a British sportswriter and author
. He was one of Fleet Street
's best-known and longest-serving sports editors, retiring from that position at the News of the World
in 1982, after 22 years' service. Though Butler covered all sports, boxing was always his favourite.
His father, James Butler, was boxing correspondent at the Daily Herald, and introduced Frank to the sport at an early age. As a child Frank watched such stars as Augie Ratner, Mickey Walker and Georges Carpentier
at their training camps, and saw the fights of leading British boxers such as Ted 'Kid' Lewis, Ernie Rice and Harry Mason while perched between two press seats – one occupied by his father, and the other, as he remembered it, by either Charlie Rose or Fred Dartnell – themselves leading boxing correspondents. Before he was 10, Butler had watched innumerable boxing matches at notable venues such as the National Sporting Club
, Premierland, the Blackfriars Ring, the Royal Albert Hall
and Olympia
.
At 16 Butler joined the Daily Express
as a junior member of the Sports Department, and at 18 was reporting boxing and football under his own name. He was encouraged and helped enormously by Trevor Wignall, the newspaper's main sports columnist at the time, and also by the Express Editor Arthur Christiansen
. Butler soon became the newspaper's chief boxing writer and columnist, and in 1941 – at the age of 24 – was appointed sports editor at the Sunday Express (the youngest person to hold that position).
In 1949 the News of The World hired Butler as a sports columnist on a salary dubbed 'the highest transfer fee in Fleet Street'; and he became the newspaper's sports editor in 1960.
In 1954 he was a founder member of the Boxing Writers' Club, and later became its chairman. In 1984 he was made an administrative steward of the British Boxing Board of Control
, and after retiring in 1997, was elected honorary steward.
He was the author of at least four books on the subject of boxing. His first, The Fight Game, was co-written with his father and published in 1954.
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
. He was one of Fleet Street
Fleet Street
Fleet Street is a street in central London, United Kingdom, named after the River Fleet, a stream that now flows underground. It was the home of the British press until the 1980s...
's best-known and longest-serving sports editors, retiring from that position at the News of the World
News of the World
The News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
in 1982, after 22 years' service. Though Butler covered all sports, boxing was always his favourite.
His father, James Butler, was boxing correspondent at the Daily Herald, and introduced Frank to the sport at an early age. As a child Frank watched such stars as Augie Ratner, Mickey Walker and Georges Carpentier
Georges Carpentier
Georges Carpentier was a French boxer. He fought mainly as a light heavyweight and heavyweight in a career lasting from 1908-26. Nicknamed the "Orchid Man", he stood and his fighting weight ranged from...
at their training camps, and saw the fights of leading British boxers such as Ted 'Kid' Lewis, Ernie Rice and Harry Mason while perched between two press seats – one occupied by his father, and the other, as he remembered it, by either Charlie Rose or Fred Dartnell – themselves leading boxing correspondents. Before he was 10, Butler had watched innumerable boxing matches at notable venues such as the National Sporting Club
National Sporting Club
The National Sporting Club was a club founded in London in 1891, which did more to establish the sport of boxing in Great Britain than any other organisation.-Origins:...
, Premierland, the Blackfriars Ring, the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
and Olympia
Olympia, London
Olympia is an exhibition centre and conference centre in West Kensington, on the boundary between The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham, London, W14 8UX, England. It opened in the 19th century and was originally known as the National Agricultural Hall.Opened in 1886,...
.
At 16 Butler joined the Daily Express
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
as a junior member of the Sports Department, and at 18 was reporting boxing and football under his own name. He was encouraged and helped enormously by Trevor Wignall, the newspaper's main sports columnist at the time, and also by the Express Editor Arthur Christiansen
Arthur Christiansen
Arthur Christiansen was a journalist, and editor of Lord Beaverbrook's newspaper the Daily Express from 1933 to 1957....
. Butler soon became the newspaper's chief boxing writer and columnist, and in 1941 – at the age of 24 – was appointed sports editor at the Sunday Express (the youngest person to hold that position).
In 1949 the News of The World hired Butler as a sports columnist on a salary dubbed 'the highest transfer fee in Fleet Street'; and he became the newspaper's sports editor in 1960.
In 1954 he was a founder member of the Boxing Writers' Club, and later became its chairman. In 1984 he was made an administrative steward of the British Boxing Board of Control
British Boxing Board of Control
The British Boxing Board of Control is the governing body of professional boxing in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1929 from the old National Sporting Club and is headquartered in Cardiff.- Councils :...
, and after retiring in 1997, was elected honorary steward.
He was the author of at least four books on the subject of boxing. His first, The Fight Game, was co-written with his father and published in 1954.