The Blizzard

On today's Greatest Games, Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller are joined by Mike Keegan to remember a classic League Cup upset.

Joe Royle and Oldham Athletic's 'pinch-me season' saw the side reach the FA Cup Semi-Finals for only the 2nd time in their history, and the Final of the League Cup –  the club's first-ever appearance at Wembley. When Arsenal, the First Division champions, rocked up to Boundary Park they hadn't a clue what was about to hit them.

About the panel:

Jonathan Wilson founded The Blizzard in 2011 and is editor of the magazine. He’s contributed to numerous publications including the Guardian and Sports Illustrated as well as having authored Behind the Curtain, Inverting the Pyramid, The Outsider, Angels with Dirty Faces and most recently The Names Heard Long Ago, among others.

Marcus Speller is a host of the Football Ramble podcast as well as Answerable Questions with Questionable Answers. Marcus also regularly hosts our live Q&A events across the country alongside Jonathan.

Mike Keegan is the author of This Is How It Feels – An English Football Miracle, Sports News Correspondent and Sports Agenda Editor for MailSport.

Listen to every episode of Greatest Games: theblizzard.co.uk/podcasts/greatest-games
Subscribe to our quarterly magazine: theblizzard.co.uk
Twitter: twitter.com/blzzrd
Facebook: facebook.com/blzzrd
Instagram: instagram.com/theblizzard__

On this week's episode of Greatest Games, Nick Miller joins Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller to discuss the second leg of the 1978-79 European Cup semi-final between Koln and Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest.

Jonathan Wilson founded The Blizzard in 2011 and is editor of the magazine. He’s contributed to numerous publications including the Guardian and Sports Illustrated as well as having authored Behind the Curtain, Inverting the Pyramid, The Outsider, Angels with Dirty Faces and most recently The Names Heard Long Ago, among others.

Marcus Speller is a host of the Football Ramble podcast as well as Answerable Questions with Questionable Answers. Marcus also regularly hosts our live Q&A events across the country alongside Jonathan.

Nick Miller is a football writer for The Athletic and editor of the Totally Football Yearbook.

Listen to every episode of Greatest Games: theblizzard.co.uk/podcasts/greatest-games
Subscribe to our quarterly magazine: theblizzard.co.uk
Twitter: twitter.com/blzzrd
Facebook: facebook.com/blzzrd
Instagram: instagram.com/theblizzard__

On this week's episode of Greatest Games, Matthew Lorenzo joins Jonathan and Marcus to discuss the 1982 World Cup final.

Jonathan Wilson founded The Blizzard in 2011 and is editor of the magazine. He’s contributed to numerous publications including the Guardian and Sports Illustrated as well as having authored Behind the Curtain, Inverting the Pyramid, The Outsider, Angels with Dirty Faces and most recently The Names Heard Long Ago, among others.

Marcus Speller is a host of the Football Ramble podcast as well as Answerable Questions with Questionable Answers. Marcus also regularly hosts our live Q&A events across the country alongside Jonathan.

Matthew Lorenzo is a TV presenter and producer for Bo66y.

Listen to every episode of Greatest Games: theblizzard.co.uk/podcasts/greatest-games
Subscribe to our quarterly magazine: theblizzard.co.uk
Twitter: twitter.com/blzzrd
Facebook: facebook.com/blzzrd
Instagram: instagram.com/theblizzard__

On this week's episode of Greatest Games, Jack Pitt-Brooke joins Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller to discuss the final home game to be played at the old White Hart Lane.

As another high-flying season for Pochettino's Spurs began to wrap up, a performance that epitomised the Argentine manager's reign over the club spoiled the fans on an emotional day in North London. Jack, Jonathan and Marcus ponder over just how Pochettino could make Spurs purr, what it is that makes Harry Kane so good, how the opposition's goalscorer that day appears in Jonathan's dreams and much more.

Jonathan Wilson founded The Blizzard in 2011 and is editor of the magazine. He’s contributed to numerous publications including the Guardian and Sports Illustrated as well as having authored Behind the Curtain, Inverting the Pyramid, The Outsider, Angels with Dirty Faces and most recently The Names Heard Long Ago, among others.

Marcus Speller is a host of the Football Ramble podcast as well as Answerable Questions with Questionable Answers. Marcus also regularly hosts our live Q&A events across the country alongside Jonathan.

Jack Pitt-Brooke covers Tottenham Hotspur and England for The Athletic.

Listen to every episode of Greatest Games: theblizzard.co.uk/podcasts/greatest-games
Subscribe to our quarterly magazine: theblizzard.co.uk
Twitter: twitter.com/blzzrd
Facebook: facebook.com/blzzrd
Instagram: instagram.com/theblizzard__

This week we're celebrating 100 episodes of our weekly podcast, Greatest Games! To celebrate, we've got back the guest from our very first episode, Ian Hawkey.

This time, Ian's picked the 2013 Copa del Rey final at the Bernabeu which provided Diego Simeone with silverware to cap off his first full season as manager of Atletico Madrid.

About the panel:

Jonathan Wilson founded The Blizzard in 2011 and is editor of the magazine. He’s contributed to numerous publications including the Guardian and Sports Illustrated as well as having authored Behind the Curtain, Inverting the Pyramid, The Outsider, Angels with Dirty Faces and most recently The Names Heard Long Ago, among others.

Marcus Speller is a host of the Football Ramble podcast as well as Answerable Questions with Questionable Answers. Marcus also regularly hosts our live Q&A events across the country alongside Jonathan.

Ian Hawkey is a writer for The Sunday Times, previously as their European football correspondent based in Spain for 12 years. Ian is the author of several books including The Feet of the Chameleon: The Story of African Football and Di Stefano, the Real Madrid legend.

Listen to every episode of Greatest Games: theblizzard.co.uk/podcasts/greatest-games
Subscribe to our quarterly magazine: theblizzard.co.uk
Twitter: twitter.com/blzzrd
Facebook: facebook.com/blzzrd
Instagram: instagram.com/theblizzard__

This week on Greatest Games, John Brewin joins Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller to remember the 1990 FA Cup final between Crystal Palace and Manchester United.

The Eagles and the Red Devils had only managed to finish 15th and 13th respectively in the First Division, but after being on the right side of a pair of memorable semi-finals, both sides would provide the Wembley crowd with an FA Cup final classic.

About the panel:

Jonathan Wilson founded The Blizzard in 2011 and is editor of the magazine. He’s contributed to numerous publications including the Guardian and Sports Illustrated as well as having authored Behind the Curtain, Inverting the Pyramid, The Outsider, Angels with Dirty Faces and most recently The Names Heard Long Ago, among others.

Marcus Speller is a host of the Football Ramble podcast as well as Answerable Questions with Questionable Answers. Marcus also regularly hosts our live Q&A events across the country alongside Jonathan.

John Brewin is a football writer and contributor for the Guardian.

Subscribe to our quarterly magazine: https://www.theblizzard.co.uk/ 
Twitter: http://twitter.com/blzzrd 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blzzrd 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblizzard__/

On this week's episode of Greatest Games, Simon Kuper joins Jonathan and Marcus to look back on the 2011 Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester United. 

Over the decade preceding this final, Barcelona's fabled academy La Masia was quietly assembling the greatest generation of footballing talent to be produced at one time by a single club. It was in this final when that crop of talent – which included Xavi, Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and Gerard Pique along with the addition of extraordinary imports Dani Alves, Eric Abidal and David Villa – best applied their abilities to Barcelona's Cruyffian tactics and decimated the Premier League champions on European football's grandest stage.

Recorded on Tuesday 3 August, just ahead of the news regarding Lionel Messi's departure from Barcelona.

About the panel:
 

Jonathan Wilson founded The Blizzard in 2011 and is editor of the magazine. He’s contributed to numerous publications including the Guardian and Sports Illustrated as well as having authored Behind the Curtain, Inverting the Pyramid, The Outsider, Angels with Dirty Faces and most recently The Names Heard Long Ago, among others.

Marcus Speller is a host of the Football Ramble podcast as well as Answerable Questions with Questionable Answers. Marcus also regularly hosts our live Q&A events across the country alongside Jonathan.

Simon Kuper is a columnist for the Financial Times and author of many books, including Soccernomics, Ajax: The Dutch, The War and most recently Barca: The Inside Story of the World's Greatest Football Club released this week.

Subscribe to our quarterly magazine: https://www.theblizzard.co.uk/ Twitter: http://twitter.com/blzzrd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blzzrd Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblizzard__/

Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller discuss Senegal's famous win over France at the 2002 World Cup on this week's episode of Greatest Games alongside James Copnall.

Jonathan Wilson founded The Blizzard in 2011 and is editor of the magazine. He’s contributed to numerous publications including the Guardian and Sports Illustrated as well as having authored Behind the Curtain, Inverting the Pyramid, The Outsider, Angels with Dirty Faces and most recently The Names Heard Long Ago, among others.

Marcus Speller is a host of the Football Ramble podcast as well as Answerable Questions with Questionable Answers. Marcus also regularly hosts our live Q&A events across the country alongside Jonathan. 

James Copnall is the presenter of Newsday on the BBC World Service and author of A Poisonous Thorn in Our Hearts, a book about the two Sudans.



Subscribe to our quarterly magazine: https://www.theblizzard.co.uk/ Twitter: http://twitter.com/blzzrd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blzzrd Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblizzard__/

On this week's episode of Greatest Games, Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller are joined by Matthew Watson-Broughton to discuss the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final second-leg between Újpesti Dózsa and Newcastle United. 

Jonathan Wilson founded The Blizzard in 2011 and is editor of the magazine. He’s contributed to numerous publications including the Guardian and Sports Illustrated as well as having authored Behind the Curtain, Inverting the Pyramid, The Outsider, Angels with Dirty Faces and most recently The Names Heard Long Ago, among others.

Marcus Speller is a host of the Football Ramble podcast as well as Answerable Questions with Questionable Answers. Marcus also regularly hosts our live Q&A events across the country alongside Jonathan. 

Matthew Watson-Broughton is the author of The Amazing Journey: How Newcastle Conquered Europe, he's also worked for Uefa, the LOCOG, FINA and is currently the English-speaking editor for the Hungarian Football Federation.

Subscribe to our quarterly magazine: https://www.theblizzard.co.uk/ Twitter: http://twitter.com/blzzrd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blzzrd Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblizzard__/

On this week's episode of Greatest Games, Colin Udoh has chosen to discuss Nigeria's 1996 Olympic Games semi-final win over Brazil with Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller. 

For Brazil, Olympic gold continued to elude them, hence the strength of the squad they boasted for this tournament – Dida, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo and Juninho all started this match, Rivaldo would come off the bench. It wouldn't be until they hosted the Olympics in 2016 when they finally won their first Men's final. 

 

Meanwhile, many of Nigeria's Dream Team were already established names after their enthralling appearance at the USA '94 World Cup, having been knocked out by two extremely late goals from Italy's Roberto Baggio.


However, no one would have anticipated what they'd achieve at the 1996 Olympics, especially with the calibre of opposition – and the players chosen for those sides – in front of them.

 

Jonathan Wilson founded The Blizzard in 2011 and is editor of the magazine. He’s contributed to numerous publications including the Guardian and Sports Illustrated as well as having authored Behind the Curtain, Inverting the Pyramid, The Outsider, Angels with Dirty Faces and most recently The Names Heard Long Ago, among others.
 

Marcus Speller is a host of the Football Ramble podcast as well as Answerable Questions with Questionable Answers. Marcus also regularly hosts our live Q&A events across the country alongside Jonathan.
 

Colin Udoh is a journalist from Nigeria, a contributor to ESPN, The Blizzard an many more outlets and was previously the press officer to the Nigeria national team.

Subscribe to our quarterly magazine: https://www.theblizzard.co.uk/ Twitter: http://twitter.com/blzzrd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blzzrd Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblizzard__/