ONE of Scotland’s most respected production journalists had a particularly busy night on Saturday, managing eight printing plants, including, for the first time, one in Brussels, to turn out his newspaper.
Saturday was also the final shift before his retirement for Sunday Mail night editor, David Ross, who technically today brings the curtain down on a 20-year career at the paper, during which time he has also been its sports editor.
The printing in Brussels was to provide Scottish football fans in nearby Amsterdam – for Scotland’s World Cup qualifier against Holland – with copies of the Sunday Mail.
The previous day’s Daily Record is also understood to have used the facility for the first time.
Ross’s time at the Sunday Mail was preceded by a decade at The Scotsman – where he was chief sub-editor on the features desk – and six years on Fleet Street, at the Sun.
He says he intends to use his retirement to relax – and continue playing football, including The Scotsman’s long-standing five-a-side football let at Meadowbank sports centre, in Edinburgh, on a Monday morning.