David Randall (April 1951 – 17 July 2021)was a British journalist and author of The Universal Journalist, a textbook on journalism. 

In 1978 he began freelancing for national newspapers, working at The Sun and The Observer. In 1981 he joined the Observer's staff as deputy sports editor, where he wrote the 'Sidelines' column. This led to his first book, 'Great Sporting Eccentrics', published in 1985.