Staff at the Daily Sport and Sunday Sport, which ceased trading on Friday, were surprised by the papers’ swift closure, according to the National Union of Journalists.

NUJ negotiator Lawrence Shaw told Journalism.co.uk, referring to a recent job advert for a sports editor, the fact the company was still recruiting “signalled” it was unexpected.

“Everyone knew there was a debt and there have been problems but everyone was under the impression the worst was over,” Shaw said.

The editorial team had been through a “quite painful” restructure of subs and designers within the past year, he explained, but recent reports suggested a bounce back for owner Sport Media Group.

Shaw spent the day with staff in the Manchester offices yesterday. “It was strange to see page plans from Friday lying around like it was just frozen in time,” he said. “It is terribly sad to see the loss of the only national newspapers produced outside of London.”