Ewing Grahame was generous of heart and his loss is as brutal as his punchy one-liners

A measure of the stature and regard which Ewing Grahame was held within Scotland’s sports writing community is that he went with the moniker, ‘The Commander’.

As tributes are paid to the sudden passing of the 64-year-old on Thursday, as a former Record Sport colleague and friend, the shock and loss are as brutal as his punchy one-liners. Ewing hosted his annual writer’s lunch at the Battlefield Rest in Shawlands last week and as usual his enormous catalogue of tales from a life less ordinary were regaled on an afternoon of laughter.

As well as work at the Daily Record, the boxing fanatic also held roles at The Scottish Sun, The Sunday Times and was chief football writer for The Herald during a career in journalism which began as a teenager with the Sunday Post in Edinburgh in 1977. It was the art of pugilism where Ewing’s writing excelled and he was a familiar face ringside at title fights in Las Vegas, New York, Atlantic City, London and Paris.

A huge presence in the press boxes across Scottish football, Ewing was a former president of The Scottish Football Writers Association and recently rejoined the SFWA association and will be honoured at their annual awards dinner on Sunday. The SFWA said: “The SFWA Committee were deeply saddened today to learn of the sudden passing of Ewing Grahame.

“We send our condolences to Ewing’s family and the SFWA will pay tribute to him at Sunday’s annual awards dinner. The Committee will update members on funeral arrangements in due course.”

Forthright, opinionated and always generous of heart, rest in peace Commander. Ewing is survived by wife Aileen, daughter Niamh and sons Dylan and Adam.