Remembering Bert Mitchell

The Game4Padel team was deeply saddened this week to learn of the sudden death of Bert Mitchell – a sportswriter and regular contributor to this column whose enthusiasm for racket sports knew no bounds. 

A keen tennis and squash player, Bert wrote for Squash Mad and Squash Player magazines, and was well placed to document the rise of padel with key features in The Padel Paper and The Bandeja – delighting in the art of the personal interview. 

He brought a wealth of ideas and story suggestions to the table – all of them good – shaped by a sharp intellect and gentle humour garnered from a colourful past as a policemen on the beat in Glasgow and by years reporting for the city’s local press. This history he used to great effect in a series of crime novels that he wrote as R.J. Mitchell. His latest, "The Hammer – A DS Thoroughgood Thriller" published last year, reminds us that Bert was a man of many talents who cannot be summed up in just a few words.

A devoted family man, Bert leaves his wife, Arlene and daughter Ava. We are fortunate to have Ava Mitchell working with us at Game4Padel. A Photography student at Edinburgh Napier University, Ava also creates online content and helps to run our social media accounts more than competently. We know her Dad was immensely proud of her.

We send our heartfelt condolences to Arlene and Ava as we remember Bert fondly.