MailOnline named Sports Website of the Year at SJA 2018 British Sports Journalism awards 

MailOnline has been named Sports Website of the Year at the 2018 SJA British Sports Journalism awards.

It is the first time that MailOnline has won the award since 2013, ending The Guardian’s four-year stranglehold on the prize.

The other contenders for this year’s award were ESPN, Sky Sports, The Guardian, The Independent, The Telegraph and The Times.  

MailOnline has been named Sports Website of the Year at the 2018 SJA British Sports Journalism awards

Sportsmail’s Daniel Matthews (left) collects his award for Young Writer of the Year

Earlier in the night, Sportsmail’s Daniel Matthews collected his award for Young Writer of the Year at the Westminster Bridge Park Plaza.

The 25-year-old, who focuses on boxing for Daily Mail and MailOnline, saw off strong competition to pick up the prestigious Ian Wooldridge award, which is named after the legendary Daily Mail sportswriter who died in 2007.

Matthews impressed the judging panel with two absorbing boxing pieces, one of which was an in-depth look at Tyson Fury’s journey from drugs and depression to a world title shot against Deontay Wilder in Los Angeles.

He also earned praise for an investigation into boxing’s doping problem before Alexander Povektin, who had twice failed drugs tests, took on Anthony Joshua.

Matthews, who has also covered cricket and rugby for Sportsmail, entered a follow-up piece for The Verdict on Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno to round off his SJA submission.

The judges said: ‘Daniel showed an appreciation and understanding of the sport of boxing and was prepared to tackle controversial issues. He also showed his versatility by reporting on football.

‘He deserves to win the Ian Wooldridge award, standing out in what was a very high-class field.’

Sportsmail’s Adam Crafton won the Young Writer award last year.

Sportsmail was nominated for 14 awards at this year’s British Sports Journalism Awards – the sport industry’s Oscars – including four of the six finalists for the coveted Sports Scoop of the Year prize.