A sports writer who has spent more than 40 years in journalism will finally retire from the industry this weekend.

Doug Gillon has been athletics correspondent for The Herald, Glasgow, since 1977, having previously spent nine years at the Sunday Post.

He has enjoyed countless ‘iconic’ sporting highlights over the years, reporting on every single Commonwealth Games and every Olympics since 1972 and seeing many key moments in sports history.

His final day in the job will be on Sunday when he reports on the National Athletics Championships and trials for the Commonwealth Games.

Said Doug: “I have covered more than 60 sports in more than 40 countries. One of the recent highlights was seeing every race that Chris Hoy rode in Beijing.

“I have been really privileged to witness just about every iconic moment in Scottish sports outside football, which I no longer cover, over several decades. It has been a globe-trotting experience.

“I am not chucking it in entirely. I am going to write a couple of pieces a week. When you have been addicted to sport and journalism for so long, it is hard to go cold turkey.”

Doug will continue to write his regular column every Wednesday and will also spend a month reporting from the Commonwealth Games in Delhi later this year.

During his career, he has won a number of awards including three from the Sports Journalists’ Association and a lifetime achievement prize at the Scottish Press Awards.

He said he has seen many technological changes in the industry over the years, remembering the days when he had to take a typewriter to football matches.

But Doug also has concerns about the way the industry is going, with all the cuts being made – fearing there will not be enough experienced journalists around to train up young reporters.