Wainy316 Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 The Blizzard A new quarterly football publication brought to us by the football guru, Jonathon Wilson. You can subscribe for £30 a year, but issue zero is available on a pay what you like basis. (I paid £3). Have read a few articles and it's a fantastic read so far. Obviously with the dynamic nature of football it has to take a different approach being quarterly. Highlights include an article on St Pauli, an interview with Guus Hiddink, taking FM too seriously and an interesting piece on African nations qualifying for the world cup. Think I may have to subscribe based on the quality of issue zero. 188 pages of great football writing. About The Blizzard The Blizzard was born in a pub, Fitzgeralds on Green Terrace to be precise, the night last season that Sunderland beat Bolton 4-0. I’d been frustrated for some time by the constraints of the mainstream media and, in various press-rooms and bars across the world, I’d come to realise I wasn’t the only one who felt journalism as a whole was missing something, that there should be more space for more in-depth pieces, for detailed reportage, history and analysis. Was there a way, I wondered, to accommodate articles of several thousand words? Could we do something that was neither magazine nor book, but somewhere in between? As I floated thoughts and theories to anyone who would listen, I became aware there were other writers so keen to break the shackles of Search Engine Optimisation and the culture of quotes-for-quotes’-sake that they were prepared to write for a share of potential profit, that the joy of writing what they wanted and felt was important outweighed the desire to be paid. The only problem, I explained to those around the table in Fitzys, was finding a publisher equally willing to take the gamble. I suppose you don’t really think of your old school-friends, people you only really see these days in the context of the pub and the match, as having jobs. Sitting next to me that night, though, as he’d sat next to me in sixth-form English, was my mate Peter, who happens to run a design and publishing company. Flushed on White Amarillus and a Darren Bent hat-trick, we knocked around ideas for the rest of the night; remarkably, in the cold light of morning, it still seemed a viable plan. The result, about a year later, is The Blizzard, named after the short-lived and eccentric, but rather brilliant, Sunderland newspaper launched as “the organ of Mr Sidney Duncan” in 1893. It only ran to 12 issues, during which time Duncan, who pretty much wrote the whole thing himself, doubled the cover price in an attempt to cut circulation because he found the effort of handling all the money he was making so tiresome, a policy I’m pretty sure we won’t be following should we experience similar success. Nor is The Blizzard the organ of any one individual. Rather it aims to provide a platform for writers, British and foreign, to write about football-related subjects important to them, be that at the highest level or the lowest, at home or abroad. Eclecticism is the key. There will be no attempt to impose an editorial line; all opinions expressed are those of the individual author. Equally, within certain basic parameters, writers are encouraged to write in whatever style they see fit. The priority is the product rather than profit, so we will not go chasing readers; the aim, rather, is to remain true to our ethos and to provide an alternative to that which already exists. Jonathan Wilson, Editor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaAlex Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 I read Issue Zero and paid the same amount, as you mentioned the St Pauli article was excellent. I enjoyed reading about Hellas Verona too. Undecided whether I'll get the others though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theboyangel Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjw63 Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Mmmmm, Blackthorn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoody Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Still think things like this will work much better when One purchase gets you access on many different varieties of media (phone, tablet, computer) and its updated much more often £30 is a good price but when you only get 4 updates a year, I wouldnt be interested. And would likely forget all about it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stringy Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 You can buy individual issues from £5 plus p&p (rising to £6 from September) which is a really good price when you consider the amount that's in it. The digital edition is free for anyone that buys the hard copy too. The £30 subscriptions are intended as gifts principally but there are new recurring subscriptions now starting at £5 plus p&p per quarter. So £28 a year gets you a hell of a lot of excellent articles from some fantastic football writers. I think a subscription to Four Four Two costs £40 a year. Oh, and it's a beautiful, tactile thing too! If you have an interest in serious football writing you should get it. You won't be disappointed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted May 29, 2011 VT Supporter Share Posted May 29, 2011 Downloaded it a couple of months ago. It's excellent. Jonathan Wilson is incredible. It's got to the stage where if Wilson wrote an article telling us the sky was purple with polkadots, I'd **** believe him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrinityRoadSteps Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Have subscribed and Issue 1 came this morning. Haven't really read anything in depth yet but it looks pretty damn good. Its more like a paperback book than a magazine and it certainly looks and feels like a quality publication Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choffer Posted June 10, 2011 VT Supporter Share Posted June 10, 2011 Ordered mine weeks ago and yet to see anything in the post yet. Looking forward to it though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troglodyte Posted June 10, 2011 VT Supporter Share Posted June 10, 2011 Saw something on the Guardian Football website about this a while back, before it was first released. Forgot about it since then, but it looks good so I've ordered the first issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrinityRoadSteps Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Ordered mine weeks ago and yet to see anything in the post yet. Looking forward to it though. Mine took 12 days to arrive You won't be disappointed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomzep Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 Was going to start a thread promoting this but did a quick search and found this. Ive got every issue so far, though only in PDF. Im hooked, and at the moment you can pay whatever you want for a pdf issue from their website, so a great chance for people to try it out. If a detailed, geeky and humourous football magazine with interesting historical stories sounds like your thing you wont be disappointed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choffer Posted October 7, 2011 VT Supporter Share Posted October 7, 2011 Loving it so far. I have the first two printed editions. I was initially put off as a good number of the articles pre-date my football-watching but even if the subject is something I'm not aware of, it's generally well-written and engaging. Still, couldn't bring myself to enjoy Gab Marcotti's article in the last edition. Seemed like a very long-winded and somewhat dull reminiscence of a 12 year old. Other than that, it's great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troglodyte Posted October 8, 2011 VT Supporter Share Posted October 8, 2011 Ah, didn't realise the second one was available, will purchase it. The first issue was great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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