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Fitting send-off for football-loving North-East journalist

Friends and colleagues attending the funeral of a popular journalist who died suddenly last week have been asked to wear the colours of his beloved Sunderland football club to the service.

Ian Laws, digital editor at the Sunderland Echo, died at home last Thursday from a heart attack at the age of 41, leaving behind wife Kelly and three young children.

His funeral will be held at Holy Trinity Church, Gateshead on Monday, followed by a committal at Sunderland Crematorium.

People who knew Ian are then invited to share their memories of him and to celebrate his life at Sunderland FC’s Stadium of light.

His family have requested that those attending wear football shirts or bright colours, saying this what Ian would have wanted

Ian’s death left colleagues shocked and this week Echo sports writer Graeme Anderson paid tribute to him in a column published in the Echo this week.

Wrote Graeme: “It’s remarkable to think how many times a mention of his name in company would bring a smile to the faces of those present, for he had a rare ability to get on with pretty much anyone.

“He was a character, but not in a loud, brash way.

Ian laws (left) during his time as sports writer with Graeme Anderson in the press box at the Stadium of Light

“He was bloke-ish, loved the banter and crack of his mates or any fans he got into conversation with, but always listened twice as much as he spoke.

“And when he did speak, it was invariably worth listening to. When I think of him, it’s always with him with a smile or a big grin on his face and he loved to laugh.

He added: “As a journalist, he was the sort of guy who gives reporters a good name.”

Graeme also recalled a time when boxing promoter Frank Maloney once famously refused to start a press conference because Ian was running late, telling the disbelieving press corps: “We’ll wait a few minutes until Lawsy gets here.”

Ian worked on the Echo sports desk from 1999 until 2010.  His last interview was carried out the week of his death, when he talked to footballer Julio Arca ahead of Sunderland’s game with Middlesbrough .

Tributes have since come from Julio, as well as numerous other people from the football and boxing world.

Added Graeme: “Throughout his life, his deep love for Sunderland Football Club, shone through.

“So there was a strange appropriateness to the fact that when he died on Thursday night, he was wearing a Sunderland shirt.”

 

2 comments

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  • February 3, 2012 at 9:47 am
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    I remember Ian, ‘Pod’ to his colleagues when I worked with him on the Scarborough Evening News in the 1990s. He was a great bloke, so easy to get on with and never without a smile on his face. He was a news reporter in those days, but was passsionate about sport and Sunderland AFC in particular. So sorry to hear this terrible news. Ian was one of the good guys, all that you would want a local reporter to be. In the years that I knew him, he was a credit to his profession. A top, top man who will be very sadly missed.

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  • February 3, 2012 at 12:44 pm
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    I was so shocked and saddened to hear of the sudden death of Ian ‘Pod’ Laws. I was probably the first person that Ian met when he came to the Scarborough Evening News and I have very fond memories of him. He was part of an editorial crowd who really loved to socialise and I remember many excellent karaoke nights! My husband comes from the north east and we often ferried Ian up and down to Sunderland as and when we were visiting relatives. Needless to say the only conversation in the car was all about Sunderland FC! Ian landed his dream job when he left the SEN to go back north and report on his beloved Sunderland. A truly lovely man, one of life’s nice guys, a wicked sense of humour and now a great loss to journalism. Many condolences to his family. RIP Ian.

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