The padel world is mourning the shocking and sudden loss of racket sports writer RJ Mitchell – known to all that knew him as Bert.
News reached us on Saturday morning via his wife Arlene that Bert had had a serious stroke. He died that night at 8.20pm. He would have been 57 on Monday.
Proud Scotsman Bert was a swashbuckling journalist for The Padel Paper and chief writer for The Bandeja. He and I shared a lifelong love of squash and were both writers for Squash Mad and the venerable Squash Player magazine. He ghost-wrote a regular column for the legendary Jonah Barrington. Bert also worked latterly for Padel Tech and Scottish Badminton.
Bert was a well-known figure in British padel. As any of his interviewees will attest, time spent in his company was always entertaining and memorable. He was truly one of a kind. Bert had an old-school journalist’s eye for controversy and making mischief (perhaps learned during his years working on local newspapers in Glasgow).
Most impressive of all was his nurturing of key contacts. He forged genuine friendships with world No.1s, chief executives and grassroots players – often straddling the difficult line every journalist treads between maintaining good relations and holding them to account when necessary.
In his spare time, Bert also created a series of crime novels based on his 12 years’ service with Strathclyde police.
It is his nose for a story, his energy and indomitable spirit (and his devotion to his family and beloved Arsenal) for which we’ll remember him most fondly.
I will certainly miss our long and gossip-filled conversations about squash, padel, football and everything in between.
Our sincere condolences to Bert’s widow Arlene and his daughter Ava.
