LEGENDARY SYDNEY SPORTS JOURNALIST IAN HEADS, 81, DIES

By Dennis Newlyn:

Sports journalism lost one of its all time great wordsmiths with the passing of Sydney’s Ian Heads, 81, on Monday morning, March 25, after a long illness.

Ian was acknowledged as a gentleman of the press, highly regarded and incredibly respected amongst his colleagues as a man of honesty and integrity.

But more than a highly skilled sports writer, he possessed an incredible love and knowledge of Rugby League football after he joined the Daily Telegraph sports department in 1963 and in later years became the newspaper’s sports editor. He could relate facts, statistics, history and in-depth information on the game that set him apart from anyone else. 

He wrote over 40 Rugby League books and his service to the football code was duly acknowledged in July, 2023 when he was inducted into the National Rugby League Hall of Fame.

Ian was honoured with an OAM in 2010 for outstanding long term service to the media as a sports journalist.

He also worked for the Sydney Morning Herald and Sun-Herald while Ian is also remembered for his great years as editor of ‘the bible” Rugby League Week.

SPEEDWAY INVOLVEMENT

I communicated with Ian Heads many times over the years and he once told me that, as a cadet journalist learning the trade, one of his first jobs was to get the Saturday night results from the Sydney Showground Speedway.

Ian was familiar with speedway and he knew the likes of Empire Speedway Director John Sherwood. He also was well aware of American Speedcar legend Bob Tattersall and his incredible performances at the hallowed Sydney Showground.

That made it all the more easier for me when I sent Ian the “Tattersall the Legend” book I co-authored with American journalist Ed Watson in 1991 because I knew he would like a copy. He more than accepted the book, he gave me an outstanding book review in the pages of the Daily Telegraph.

That was the kind of bloke he was.

Ian was also well aware of my proposed speedway book I am currently writing and several years ago, even suggested a book publishing company to try.

Years later my contact with the Heads family continued when his son Phil became Sports Editor of the Daily Telegraph and later sat in the sports editor’s chair at the Sunday Telegraph.

I remember not long after taking the job of Media Manager at Sydney’s Parramatta City Raceway on June 6, 2006, Phil Heads was the first person I contacted.

It was met with a warm conversation over the phone and soon after Phil visited the PCR venue to further check out the sport.

He gave me plenty of speedway column space in the Daily and Sunday Telegraph newspapers during his time at News Limited.

Phil Heads later worked for the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust and after not seeing him for many years, in 2020 we met up for a coffee, ironically at the Sydney Showground located not far from his office. It was a chat not only about speedway, but also sport and his wonderful dad

On behalf of the entire speedway community, condolences to Ian’s wife Joy, children Phil and Katherine, his family and friends.