Remembering Les Barlow, a legend of local sports journalism who refused to sugar-coat the truth
manchestereveningnews.co.ukFor decades Les Barlow was a legend of local journalism. If you read the sports pages of the Rochdale Observer at any time from the late seventies to the mid noughties, you've read Les. Famously dedicated to the cause he travelled the length and breadth of the country reporting on Rochdale FC at a time when highlights, let alone successes, were few and far between. But his commitment, skill and humour meant he was able to document those lean years with verve and colour. Last week Les died aged 75. Here, Richard Partington remembers his friend and colleague and pays tribute to a man who embodied local journalism. After a successful interview for the role of sports editor at the Rochdale Observer in 2005, the group’s editorial chief, Stewart Rigby, took me to one side for a brief pep talk. “Look, the job might call on you to be ...diplomatic,” he half whispered. “You’re going to be working with a couple of old boys.
One of them has been here forever.” He was referring, of course, to Les Barlow, a legend around these parts, who sadly passed away last Friday at the age of 75.
True, Les and the other ‘old boy’, Mike Floyd, might have given Waldorf and Statler, the cantankerous Muppet duo, a run for their money at times, ‘Scoop’, as he was affectionately known at his beloved Norden Cricket Club, had been there and done it as sports editor and his help, knowledge and experience proved invaluable.
In my first few years reporting on Rochdale, back when covering the club meant reporting from games – home and away – I quickly came to realise the lofty esteem in which my colleague was held stretched beyond the realms of Rochdale.
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