Media
We start off with journalist Edward Stourton, who was most well known for presenting the Today programme on Radio 4 alongside stints on Sunday, The World at One, and the One O’Clock News. Only Reptile took a punt on his twelve year battle with prostate cancer coming to an end this year and nets a big twelve points for their B-Team as a result.
Music
A trio of musicians played their last as well, and obviously Jazz is getting in on the action again. Saxophonist Plas Johnson was the first to fall, one of the leading session players of his time who backed names as big as B. B. King, Nat King Cole, Johnny Otis and Frank Sinatra. It’s him playing the sax on the famous “Pink Panker” theme too, but it was his contribution to the No.1 placing “Three Steps to Heaven” in 1960 that got him a pick by #1 Hits. Nine points gets them to tenth on the theme board.
The next to roll was rocker Freddy Cannon, who has ceased his boom booming after a brief cancer battle. His career peaked early, with his debut album The Explosive Freddy Cannon being notable as the first rock album to ever make it to No.1 in the UK. He’s the first hit of the year for Rock pioneer fans Shake, Rattle, Roll Over and Play Dead, scoring ten points.
Finally, punk singer and Sick of it All front man Lou Koller rounds us off. The band were always well regarded in the genre but struggled to get very far in the charts, with only their last two albums making any headway. The albums dried up after COVID however, and they spent the following years only touring. Even that came to an end in 2024, with Koller revealing a throat cancer diagnosis. His remission last year seemed promising but proved short-lived, with a particularly dour update in late December leading to eight teams taking notice. Both the reigning and a former champion, along with six other teams frequently in contention for the crown, take nine points.
Sport
Newcastle and Liverpool legend Kevin Keegan is the big name to get scored out this week. He won basically everything there is to win as a part of Bill Shankly’s Liverpool team of the 1970’s, going on to Hamburg and Southampton before finishing his playing career at Newcastle. He also had 63 caps for England and 21 goals.
He returned to the game eight years later to replace Ossie Ardiles as Newcastle manager. Keegan managed to swiftly turn the clubs fortune around, going from saving the club from relegation, to winning the First Division and then being Premier League title contenders three years in a row. The second place finish in 1995-1996 was the closest and most cruel, featuring a truly iconic public meltdown about Alex Ferguson and a season defining image of Keegan draped over a Carlsberg advert after losing 4-3 to Liverpool in the run in. He went on to win the Second Division title with Fulham, the First Division title with Manchester City, and manage England at the Euro 2000, though the less said about that particular effort the better!
News of his hospitalization broke very early this year through an ominous family announcement. While it transpired that he wasn’t quite at the end, his subsequent public appearances were limited and very much of the goodbye tour variety. Stage IV stomach cancer claims the most mighty perm the world ever saw, and Headstone Hunters get eleven points as a reward.
Television and Radio
Australian actor Terence Donovan’s biggest roles were in Division 4, Cop Shop, Home and Away, and of course Neighbours, which he joined after his son Jason left. He’s the second hit of the year for the Aussie soap opera themed Gone and Away, for nine points.
Scores
| Name | Age | Date of Death | Teams and Scores |
| Plas Johnson | 94 | July 15 | #1 Hits 💀💀💀💀💀+👻 = 9 Points |
| Freddy Cannon | 89 | July 17 | Shake, Rattle, Roll Over and Play Dead 💀💀💀💀💀💀+👻 = 10 Points |
| Terence Donovan | 90 | July 18 | Gone and Away💀💀💀💀💀+👻 = 9 Points |
| Edward Stourton | 68 | July 18 | The B-Team 💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀+👻 = 12 Points |
| Kevin Keegan | 75 | July 20 | Headstone Hunters 💀💀💀💀💀💀💀+👻 = 11 Points |
| Lou Koller | 59 | July 24 | 8 Teams 💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀 = 9 points |
Another month draws to a close, and it sees a new team take the lead. I Will Not Die, it’s the World that Will End! score their joker with Antiques Roadshow talking head Theo Burrell and push Pretty Noose down to fifth as a result. DDP Tofoa are in second, just seven points behind with The Sound of the Underground rounding off the top three. All eyes therefore on Russell Hoult, William Macintyre and Ben Sasse, the three jokers still breathing among the teams in the top 10.
It’s a tight race for the theme teams too, with the somewhat nebulously Natural World themed Nature’s Way currently in the lead. Sports are in a close second with Elton Welsby’s Sporting Triangles and it’s double letters in third with Doubles to Finish.