The Blizzard

“I am going to be a brilliant player,” Bebé said. He wasn’t. To our surprise, given his mediocre showing for the reserves, he made his United debut six days later in a Carling Cup win at Scunthorpe (Ferguson, scouting Champions League opponents Valencia, didn’t see Bebé play then either). It was the first of seven senior appearances. Two even brought goals, albeit in fortunate fashion; a shot that looped up off the Wolves defender George Elokobi and over the goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey and a Champions League goal against Bursaspor, courtesy of a deflection off Ali Tandoğan."Episode Eighty Nine of the Blizzard Podcast looks back on 'Bye-bye Bebé' by Richard Jolly, originally published in Issue Fourteen in September 2014. In it he explores one of the most mystifying transfers of recent years - that of the unknown Portuguese forward Bebé to Manchester United. Read the full article here: https://www.theblizzard.co.uk/article/bye-bye-bebe

"Yet his shortcomings were apparent and his United career came to an abrupt halt after the 2011 FA Cup win over Crawley. Ferguson’s team were dreadful and Bebé and Obertan, the two wingers, were the worst of a poor bunch. Their non-league counterparts looked more accomplished players."Issue Fourteen, like all issues of the Blizzard, is available for £12 plus postage on www.theblizzard.co.uk. Since we’ve relaunched the website, all our articles, including this one, are available to read for free. Non-subscribers get 3 free articles a month, while subscribers have unlimited advert-free browsing, as well as access to digital downloads of all our issues in eBook formats.Those who want to buy one-off eBooks can still do so – from the Kindle and Google Play stores.

"Watson, described by the Scottish Football Association Annual of 1880-81 as “one of the very best backs we have”, represented two of the 19th century’s most prestigious clubs in Queen’s Park and Corinthians, forging a successful career on both sides of the border as he won multiple domestic trophies and attracted widespread admiration for his robust but proficient style of play. Yet until only recently, Watson’s story had been allowed to fade into history’s murky depths, obscured by supposition and inaccuracy."Episode Eighty Eight of the Blizzard Podcast revisits 'The Unmarked Grave' by Tom Adams, originally published in Issue Ten in September 2013. It looks back on the unknown story of one of football's pioneers - the first black international, Andrew WatsonRead the full article here: https://www.theblizzard.co.uk/article/unmarked-grave

"A revered three-time Scottish Cup winner and international captain, Watson had carved out his place in football’s history; having done so as a man of mixed race, he has a strong claim to being one of the most important figures in the early decades of the game. Yet even in his own time, his legend faded."Following the conclusion of his playing career, Watson moved to Surrey and died there of pneumonia and cardiac arrest at his home in Kew on 8 March 1921 at the age of 64, his occupation simply stated as marine engineer. Watson’s humble grave is even less voluble about the life and career of this remarkable footballer. He surely deserves a richer eulogy."Issue Ten, like all issues of the Blizzard, is available for £12 plus postage on www.theblizzard.co.uk. Since we’ve relaunched the website, all our articles, including this one, are available to read for free. Non-subscribers get 3 free articles a month, while subscribers have unlimited advert-free browsing, as well as access to digital downloads of all our issues in eBook formats.Those who want to buy one-off eBooks can still do so – from the Kindle and Google Play stores.

"On 14 April 1937, the BBC studios at Alexandra Palace played host to the first television demonstration of snooker, an exhibition of play by Horace Lindrum and Willie Smith. The programme lasted 10 minutes, whereupon it made way for Daffodils (“a display of various types of daffodils from the Daffodil Show” — Radio Times). Another couple of months down the line, and the BBC were off to Wimbledon for the first time. And then, on Thursday 16 September, it was the turn of football, and the world’s first live televised match. "The game had admittedly limited appeal — George Allison’s Arsenal were taking on Arsenal reserves at Highbury — but then only a few hundred houses close to Ally Pally in north London could receive BBC pictures anyway. Arsenal were the natural choice for the BBC’s experiment anyway: Highbury was the closest ground to Ally Pally and had a bespoke gantry for telly cameras in its fancy new East Stand."Episode Eighty Seven of the Blizzard Podcast looks back at 'Football on TV' by Scott Murray, our Eight Bells feature from Issue Eight, originally published in June 2013. It looks back on 8 key moments in the history of televised football, from the first broadcasts in the 1930s to bigger nationwide changes in later decades, via pay-tv and a little bit of controversy along the way. Read the full article here: www.theblizzard.co.uk/article/football-tv

Issue Eight, like all issues of the Blizzard, is available for £12 plus postage on www.theblizzard.co.uk. Since we’ve relaunched the website, all our articles, including this one, are available to read for free. Non-subscribers get 3 free articles a month, while subscribers have unlimited advert-free browsing, as well as access to digital downloads of all our issues in eBook formats.Those who want to buy one-off eBooks can still do so – from the Kindle and Google Play stores.

"At some point we probably need to grow up and agree what we will and will not allow in our football grounds. Right now, anything goes, except for racist, anti-Semitic and — but seemingly only if Rangers or Celtic are playing — sectarian abuse. And, at some point, we need to ask ourselves why we ban certain speech in football grounds. Is it to make some sort of social statement? Is it simply a commercial decision, to make our stadiums more inviting and pleasant? Is it to make ourselves feel better?"Increasingly, much of the anti-racist stuff in the mainstream media is motivated primarily by the latter two. Nothing wrong with that, of course, unless it lulls us into a false sense of achievement, a sort of "pat-on-the-back" self-congratulatory attitude which leads us to ignore the reality that racial prejudice — if not outright racism — is real and all around us."Episode Eighty Six of the Blizzard Podcast revisits Gabriele Marcotti's 'The Race Card' from Issue Three, originally published in December 2011, which tackles the tricky subject of abuse in our stadiums, and the double standards that sometimes surround it. This article contains some language that may not be appropriate to all listeners, so discretion is advised. Read the full article here: https://www.theblizzard.co.uk/article/race-card

Issue Three, like all issues of the Blizzard, is available for £12 plus postage on www.theblizzard.co.uk. Since we’ve relaunched the website, all our articles, including this one, are available to read for free. Non-subscribers get 3 free articles a month, while subscribers have unlimited advert-free browsing, as well as access to digital downloads of all our issues in eBook formats.Those who want to buy one-off eBooks can still do so – from the Kindle and Google Play stores.

"It was at that point that the original referee arrived. According to the Derby Daily Telegraph, Kirkham claimed to have been “misdirected by a ticket collector at Halifax”, resulting in the missed connection. He’d set off from his home in good time, but arrived at Newcastle Road three hours late.As the teams loitered around the clubhouse at what seemed to be half-time, many in the crowd suspected there had been a hitch – and rumours began to spread that the match wasn’t a league game after all. "Episode Eighty Five of the Blizzard Podcast looks at 'A Game of Three Halves' by David Moonie, the story of why the 1894 meeting of Sunderland and Derby Country stretched to 135 minutes, first published in Issue Twenty Five in June 2017.Issue Twenty Five, like all issues of the Blizzard, is available for £12 plus postage on www.theblizzard.co.uk. Since we’ve relaunched the website, all our articles, including this one, are available to read for free. Non-subscribers get 3 free articles a month, while subscribers have unlimited advert-free browsing, as well as access to digital downloads of all our issues in eBook formats.Those who want to buy one-off eBooks can still do so – from the Kindle and Google Play stores.

“Leyton Orient Football Club is not my life, but it has been the only constant in it. I realise that every major event, every stage, every shifting moment, is connected in some way to this daft, infuriating football team.“It defined my childhood, inspired my education, gave me my sense of humour, united my family. It has brought some joy, but mostly pain. Yet it has always been a wonderful, happy distraction from life’s trials and tribulations. I did not have to support Orient, I could have chosen any team in London, but where my dad trod, my brother and I held his hand and followed.”Episode Eighty Four of the Blizzard Podcast features Setting Sun, Luke Edwards’ emotional article on what Leyton Orient means to him, and how it charts alongside the ups and downs of his own life, first published in Issue Twenty Five in June 2017. As a post-script to the article, since publication the club’s divisive owner Francesco Becchetti has sold up to a consortium led by lifelong Orient fans, so things are thankfully looking up for the club. Issue Twenty Five, like all issues of the Blizzard, is available for £12 plus postage on www.theblizzard.co.uk. Since we’ve relaunched the website, all our articles, including this one, are available to read for free. Non-subscribers get 3 free articles a month, while subscribers have unlimited advert-free browsing, as well as access to digital downloads of all our issues in eBook formats. Those who want to buy one-off eBooks can still do so – from the Kindle and Google Play stores.

An update on why things have been quiet on the podcast front for the last couple of weeks (aside from a live event and a collaboration with By Association). We've relaunched the website, now with everything we've ever published available online, for free. Listen in for more details, including Jonathan Wilson's editor's note from Issue Twenty Five (which is out now), or just visit www.theblizzard.co.uk to check it out. We'll be back to our regular weekly podcasts from next week.

“There was no fooling the 18,000 spectators at Old Trafford. “Play up, you rotters!” they screamed. The fix was on. They knew it, as Manchester United went through the motions against Liverpool on 2 April 1915, winning 2-0 in a listless performance.”In Episode Eighty Two we revisit ‘The Silenced Crowd’ by Richard Fitzpatrick from Issue Ten, which looks at the greatest scandal in British football in the first half of the twentieth century, as a group of players from two of the country’s greatest sides colluded to fix a match.This episode was produced by James Parkinson as part of a collaboration with By Association, an award-winning narrative podcast about football, based in Australia. For a new audio documentary each month subscribe to By Association wherever you get your audio output, and learn more at the show's website - byassociation.audio If you have any feedback comments or suggestions email [email protected] or find us on Twitter @blzzrd.Issue Ten, like all issues of The Blizzard, is available on a pay-what-you-like basis from www.theblizzard.co.uk. Digital downloads cost as little as 1p each (RRP £3), while print versions are available from £6 + postage (RRP £12). You can also find us on the Kindle and Google Play stores.

Despite being on a podcast hiatus while we work on some exciting things behind the scenes we still found time to do a live recording of our Q&A event in Edinburgh last week. This is the second half of that discussion.Hosted by football writer Daniel Gray, the panel of Jonathan Wilson, Jonathan Northcroft and Jonathan Liew took questions from the audience, and discussed footballing matters of import.

Despite being on a podcast hiatus while we work on some exciting things behind the scenes we still found time to do a live recording of our Q&A event in Edinburgh last week. This is the first half of that discussion.Hosted by football writer Daniel Gray, the panel of Jonathan Wilson, Jonathan Northcroft and Jonathan Liew took questions from the audience, and discussed footballing matters of import.