Sam Stow

Approaching the last FIFA World Cup, the one in Qatar, much of the talk was surrounding it taking place in the middle of the European season, forcing domestic leagues to take a break and, possibly, fatiguing a bunch of the world’s best players. The winter World Cup was hugely controversial, but by the time it […] The post 2026 FIFA World Cup: The One With All the Money appeared first on The Blizzard.

Gipo Viani and the development of catenaccio at Salernitana This piece was written by Alberto Facchinetti for issue 42 In the summer of 1940, Giuseppe Ferruccio ‘Gipo’ Viani found himself unemployed with an estranged wife, a partner and a four-year-old son to provide for. He didn’t know where to turn. His footballing career had just […] The post The Reserve Net appeared first on The Blizzard.

How a drab Cup semi-final provoked the split between the two Irish football associations This piece was written by David Owen for issue 41 On February 25 1904, Dublin’s Molesworth Hall hosted the first staging of Riders to the Sea, a one-act play by John Millington Synge now viewed as a key work in the […] The post The Molesworth Hall Revolution appeared first on The Blizzard.

Juventus, Torino and visiting Turin during Italy’s decade of political violence This piece was written by John Irving for issue 40 I spent 1975-76, the third year of my Italian degree course at Edinburgh University, perfecting the language in Italy, in Turin to be precise. I lived in an apartment in Corso Sebastopoli, just up […] The post The Years of Lead appeared first on The Blizzard.

Tracing Leeds United’s place in the tradition of Northern Realism This piece was written by Anthony Clavane for issue 9 At the beginning of 2013, several announcements were made which caused me to reflect on the connection between football and art. First, Radio 4 announced they would broadcast the complete text of Tony Harrison’s poem […] The post That Grandish Pile of Swank appeared first on The Blizzard.

Football plays a vital role in establishing a sense of identity for the Uyghur people This piece was written by Henryk Szadziewski for issue 10 in 2013 Some time in the 1920s — accounts vary — students from the small village of Artush in what is now China’s far west played a game of football […] The post Anyone But China appeared first on The Blizzard.

Football, growing up in Leicester and falling out of love with the game This piece was written by Nicholas Hogg for issue 11. Although cricket and rugby would be my lasting, adult affairs, my first love was a size 5 kicked around a Leicester park. For every house on my estate there were two or […] The post Size 5 appeared first on The Blizzard.

An investigation into the paradoxical relationship between sport and creativity This piece was written by Alex Keble for issue 12. In the 11th minute of a match between Arsenal and Newcastle at St James’ Park in 2002, Robert Pires’s typically incisive pass to the feet of Dennis Bergkamp gave no indication that something extraordinary was […] The post Artist or Machine? appeared first on The Blizzard.

David Luiz on how Brazil would handle the pressure of being World Cup hosts in 2014 This piece was written by Rupert Fryer for issue 13. I was standing in a hallway at Soccer City in Johannesburg. Brazil had just finished training ahead of their March friendly with South Africa and I had agreed to […] The post Sideshow takes Centre Stage appeared first on The Blizzard.

For Pacific islands, football development can be a haphazard and fragile process. This piece was written by Paul Watson for issue 15. ‘Fifa develops football everywhere.’ If you watched even one game at this summer’s World Cup, you will have seen that slogan nestled among the world’s most costly advertising hoardings every time the ball […] The post Fifa’s Exiles appeared first on The Blizzard.

While most fans were focused on the 1974 World Cup, George Best was playing in South Africa. This piece was written by Luke Alfred for issue 14 Banned from international competition and unable to watch the 1974 World Cup on television, South African club owners devised a cunning plan. In a bid to boost home […] The post Best in Show appeared first on The Blizzard.

How tiny Eibar have taken their place in the Spanish top flight. This piece was written by Will Unwin for issue 15 Eibar’s home league meeting with Villarreal this September was a meeting of two tiny clubs. You could fit the population of both towns into the Nou Camp and still have room for another […] The post Defying the Odds appeared first on The Blizzard.