A former regional daily deputy editor has joined a college lecturing team to help lead a new module on sports journalism.

Glyndwr University, based at Wrexham in North Wales, is to introduce a specialist module on sports journalism within its one-year National Council for the Training of Journalists’ accredited course.

It has recruited Jon Simcock, former deputy editor of the Shropshire Star and now editor of bi-monthly magazine Shropshire Today, to help teach the new course.

Jon will be joined by Robert Platt who has worked as a sports journalist for radio, television and newspapers throughout his career including BBC Radio 5Live.

Course leader Janet Jones said: “We have had a regular stream of requests from young people who wanted to study sports journalism as part of a general

news reporting programme at Glyndwr University.

“It is a logical development for our course considering the university’s strong links with sport in the region.”

The course, which is run in partnership with newspaper publisher, NWN Media, gives aspiring reporters the chance to qualify for their NCTJ Diploma in Journalism, the industry standard qualification for trainee journalists.

It includes six months of embedded work experience on NWN Media titles across North Wales and Cheshire. Students spend two days each week in real newsrooms under the supervision of senior journalists from NWN Media.