The Blizzard

Dion Fanning joins Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller for this week’s episode of Greatest Games to remember a First Division meeting between the two Merseyside rivals. Last season's champions v the would-be champions of the 1987-88 season.

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.

Dion Fanning is a journalist and broadcaster previously as the Sunday Independent covering the Premier League and the World Cup, currently of the Currency.

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Tim Vickery joins Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller for this week’s episode of Greatest Games to relive the 1992 European Cup final at Wembley.

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.

Tim Vickery is a long-time contributor to BBC Sport, ESPN, World Soccer and can be seen on-screen regularly in his country of residence, Brazil.

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On this week’s Greatest Games, Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller are joined by Brian Oliver to discuss the Euro 2000 semi-final between Italy and the Netherlands.

Both nations had gotten the group stages and a quarter-final with little to worry about up to this fixture. The co-host, Netherlands, were spurred on by a 34th minute Gianluca Zambrotta red card and seemed destined to advance to the final of their own tournament.

However, a triumphant display of Catenaccio values deployed by Dino Zoff’s Nezzuri ensured Italy were headed for a meeting with the world champions in Rotterdam.

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.

Brian Oliver is a sports journalist having covered many international tournaments, former sports editor of the Observer and author of The Commonwealth Games: Extraordinary Stories Behind The Medals.

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Michael Yokhin is our guest on this week's Greatest Games, joining Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller to discuss the 2008 European Championship quarter-final between Russia and the Netherlands.

The Netherlands blitzed through their group with convincing wins over Italy, France and Romania – leading many to think that perhaps Marco van Basten had returned total football to the Dutch national side. However, Russia, galvanised by the Dutch coach Guus Hiddink, also looked promising after group stage wins against holders Greece and Sweden. The match signalled the start of two polarising eras for the two national sides.

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.

Michael Yokhin is a freelance football writer for the BBC, the Guardian, FourFourTwo, ESPN, among others and regular contributor to The Blizzard.

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On this week’s Greatest Games, Jonathan and Marcus are joined by Eero Laurila to discuss what it’s like to spy on Marcelo Bielsa and the state of football in Finland via the 2012 Europa League qualifier between HJK Helsinki and Athletic. At the time Athletic were led by the influential Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa, whilst their hosts had former Finland national team manager Antti Muurinen in charge. The Finnish side were to lose 9-3 on aggregate but the occasion proves to be a perfect platform to discuss advances made in Finland over the past 20 years up to qualification for the current European Championship.  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.

Eero Laurila is a former football correspondent covering the Premier and Football League, now back in his native country, Finland, coaching third-tier side Espoon Palloseura and runs the football website brittifutis.com.


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On Greatest Games this week, Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller are joined by David Diaz Bejarano to discuss the 1987 Copa Libertadores final decider between Penarol and America de Cali. America de Cali were heading into the tie having already lost the 1985 and 1986 Libertadores final and hoped to break a long-standing curse on the Colombian club. Penarol, managed by Oscar Tabarez, were already giants of South American football and aiming for their fifth Libertadores triumph.  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.

David Diaz Bejarano is a political scientist and founder of Pinceladas de Fútbol, a Colombian-based journalistic project which envisions football as a social and cultural phenomenon.

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 Greatest Games we remember a Skol Cup Dundee Derby at Dens Park in 1987 with Alan Patullo. Following football in Dundee is unlike no other city such is the close proximity between the two sides, whose stadiums reside just a matter of yards away from each other. Alan remembers the history of this rivalry throughout the early years of his life and the atmosphere at this League Cup fixture that’s lost in time as the game wasn’t broadcast.  About the panel:

Jonathan Wilson founded The Blizzard in 2011 and is editor of the magazine. He’s contributed to a number of 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.

Alan Patullo is a football writer for the Scotsman and a Dundee fan.

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 Greatest Games, Nick Ames joins Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller to share his story from the abandoned Serbia v Albania 2016 European Championship qualifier.

Eyebrows were raised when the draw placed these two nations in Group I in February 2014. Political disagreements regarding Kosovo, which culminated during the Kosovo War, meant that tensions were bound to be high when the sides came to meet.

In Belgrade, when a drone flew into the Partizan Stadium carrying a nationalist flag depicting a map of ‘Greater Albania’, the Serbian crowd responded in fury – forcing the match to be abandoned by referee Martin Atkinson.

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About the panel:

Jonathan Wilson founded The Blizzard in 2011 and is editor of the magazine. He’s contributed to a number of 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 Ames is a football reporter 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__/

Vithushan Ehantharajah re-joins Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller this week to discuss an eight-goal thriller at White Hart Lane – Spurs 3 Manchester United 5.

Goals from Richards, Ferdinand and Ziege raced Spurs into a three-goal lead at half-time against the champions but an infamous Alex Ferguson three-word half-time speech was all that was needed to inspire an exhilarating second-half performance this Man United side – a vintage comeback.

If you can ever spare the time to leave a review wherever you get your podcasts from, it could really help. Thanks for your support!

Jonathan Wilson founded The Blizzard in 2011 and is editor of the magazine. He’s contributed to a number of 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.

Vithushan Ehantharajahis a sportswriter for the Independent and IndySport as well as being a part of The Football Ramble.

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__/

Steve Crossman joins Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller on this week’s Greatest Games to discuss the Euro 2016 Group F opener between eventual champions, Portugal, and the tournament’s surprise package, Iceland.

The Nordic nation had never featured at a major tournament finals before but were unfazed by going toe-to-toe with the 2004 finalists, captained by the mercurial Cristiano Ronaldo. The result, and the remainder of the tournament, would catapult Iceland out of footballing obscurity and capture the hearts of football fans across Europe.

If you can ever spare the time to leave a review wherever you get your podcasts from, it could really help. Thanks for your support!

About the panel:

Jonathan Wilson founded The Blizzard in 2011 and is editor of the magazine. He’s contributed to a number of 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.

Steve Crossman is a Five Live presenter and producer/presenter of The Hurricane Tapes podcast.

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__/