About
Heads up Sports Media is owned and managed by Jon Newcombe, a sports journalist with over 25 years of experience across a variety of platforms in the sports media industry.
Specialising in Rugby Union, I have held a number of key editorial roles in broadcast (TV and radio), print and online, including a nine-year spell as editor of the award-winning weekly newspaper Rugby Times.

I currently act as Northern News Editor for The Rugby Paper, regarded as ‘the bible’ for rugby news, and my work as a consultant for World Rugby brings me into contact with the game’s decision-makers on a regular basis.
Since 2011, I have co-edited the Rugby Football Union’s ‘Rugby Connected’ Yearbook.
I am available for copy writing, research projects, book editing, news and feature commissions and TV/radio/web broadcasts.
Current roles include:
- World Rugby Consultant (from 2012 to the present day)
- Co-editor of The Rugby Football Union’s Club Yearbook, now known as ‘Rugby Connected’
- BT Sport & ITV Rugby statistician/graphics producer
- Northern News Editor for The Rugby Paper
Heads Up Sports Media has also branched out into world of PR, helping a diverse range of companies from odour control management to pet food (completely unrelated!) with their marketing needs.