Book Description

The Blizzard is a quarterly football publication, put together by a cooperative of journalists and authors, its main aim to provide a platform for top-class writers from across the globe to enjoy the space and the freedom to write what they like about the football stories that matter to them. Contents of Issue Fifteen ----------------------- The North-East ----------------------- * Jonathan Wilson, A Sentimental Journey - In a world of superclubs, what’s the point of the ordinary teams? * George Caulkin, The Great Betrayal - Mike Ashley and the cheapening of the Newcastle dream * Harry Pearson, The Van Basten of Hartlepool - Adam Boyd and the glory of a flickering talent * Michael Walker, Bob Paisley and the Red Kennedys - The north-eastern influence that underlay Liverpool’s period of domination ------------------ Strikers ------------------ * Dominic Bliss, A Season in Turin - Denis Law remembers his year playing in Serie A * Jim Davies and Juan Felipe Rubio, The Lost Weekend - Spending two days on Faustino Asprilla’s Colombian ranch * Thierry Marchand and Philippe Auclair, A Game for Individuals - Thierry Henry reflects on how football has changed in his 20 years at the top ------------------------------- Davids and Goliaths ------------------------------- * Luke Alfred, The Boys who never Grew Up - South Africa are African football’s greatest underachievers. What’s gone wrong? * Robin Bairner, When FFP Goes Wrong - Luzenac’s promotion to the French second flight should have been a joyous fair-story but it killed the club * Will Unwin, Defying the Odds - How tiny Eibar have taken their place in the Spanish top flight * Paul Watson, Fifa’s Exiles - For Pacific islands, football development can be a haphazard and fragile process ------------- Theory ------------- * Nicholas Blincoe, The Roundhead’s Paradox - Tony Pulis and the conflicted character of British Puritanism * Amy Lawrence, Wengerball - Arsène Wenger, the Invincibles and the transformation of Arsenal’s philosophy * Jonny Singer, The Archduke and the Offside Law - Did the First World War lead to the most significant ever change to the Laws of the Game? * Marti Pararnu, Pep Talk - How Guardiola inspired Bayern Munich before the Super Cup shoot-out against Chelsea ----------------------------------- The Sense of an Ending ----------------------------------- * Ewan MacKenna, Fallen Eagle - The death of the former Nigeria striker Rashidi Yekini remains shrouded in mystery. * Alessandro Mastrolucca, Bergamini - 25 years ago the Cosenza midfielder Denis Bergamini was run over by a truck. Was it murder? --------------- Fiction --------------- * Iain Macintosh, Quantum of Bobby - Spinning through time and space, Bobby Manager finds himself at Roy Keane’s Sunderland ------------------------ Greatest Games ------------------------ * Scott Murray, Liverpool 3 Newcastle United 0 - FA Cup final, Wembley Stadium, London, 4 May 1974 ------------------ Eight Bells ------------------ * Rob Smyth, Dethronings - A selection of champions who surrendered their titles in decisive fashion