The Blizzard

On Greatest Games this week, Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller are joined by Cecilia Lagos to remember the 1962 World Cup group stage tie between hosts, Chile, and two-time World champions, Italy – the ‘Battle of Santiago’.

David Coleman’s introduction to the BBC’s broadcast of this game is the stuff of legends – “The game you are about to see is the most stupid, appalling, disgusting and disgraceful exhibition of football in the history of the game…” it began. 

Ceci, Jonathan and Marcus remember the remarkable events which unfolded just months after an earthquake devastated the host nation and were stirred by the comments of two European journalists.

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.

Cecilia Lagos is a Chilean freelance European football correspondent based in the Netherlands, football writer and content producer for The Tactical Room as well as her own YouTube channel, Sportiva. 

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Laurence McKenna is our guest on Greatest Games this week to rewind back just five years to Liverpool’s last-gasp Europa League quarter-final win against Borussia Dortmund at Anfield.

Laurence, Jonathan and Marcus remember the landmark moments of Jurgen Klopp’s early days on Merseyside, recall the stars of the side that Jurgen inherited from his predecessor Brendan Rodgers and ask what is it that makes European nights on the Kop so special?

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.

Laurence McKenna is most notably the creator and host of The Kick Off, The True Geordie Podcast and The Front Three.

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__/

This week on Greatest Games, Paul Myers joins Jonathan and Marcus to discuss the 2012 Cup of Nations final and one of the most emotional stories in football history.

Extraordinarily reaching the final meant that Zambia would compete to win their first-ever Cup of Nations in Libreville, Gabon – the city where 30 passengers and crew, including the Zambia national team and support staff, lost their lives in a tragic plane crash on the way to a World Cup qualifier in Dakar.

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.

Paul Myers is the sports editor at Radio France International’s English service.

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 edition of Greatest Games, Gary Al-Smith is on the pod to remember a dramatic Afcon semi-final which took place six years ago on Friday alongside Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller. 

Tournament hosts, Equatorial Guinea, meet a Ghana side managed by Avram Grant and looking in great stead to win the Cup of Nations. The hosts’ fans weren’t short of optimism and unduly encouraged to be so confident that 2015 was their year, leading to an outpouring of emotion when their hopes of glory diminished in Malabo.

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.

Gary Al-Smith is a sports journalist reporting locally and internationally from Ghana, contributing to the BBC, CNN and The New York Times as well as being a Unicef ambassador.

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__/

This week on Greatest Games, Richard Jolly joins Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller to discuss one of the Premier League’s most extraordinary results ever – Manchester City’s 6-1 win away at Old Trafford in 2011.

'A statement' undermines quite what happened on this day. The trio looks back on how the Manchester clubs reached this point, the starring members of Roberto Mancini’s 2011-12 Premier League-winning side and much more. 

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.

Richard Jolly is a football journalist for the National, the Guardian, the Observer, the Straits Times, the Independent, FourFourTwo, Sporting Life and contributor to The Blizzard.

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 episode of Greatest Games, Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller are joined by Uli Hesse as they remember the 1985-86 Bundesliga relegation/promotion playoff which could’ve seen Borussia Dortmund drop out of the top-flight.

Uli, Jonathan and Marcus discuss the troubles facing of German football in the 80s, the remarkable desperate situation Borussia Dortmund found themselves in and the chaotic scenes which helped ensure their survival.


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.

Uli Hesse is an author and journalist who has written extensively on German football, with books including Tor! The Story of German Football, Bayern: Creating a Global Superclub and Building the Yellow Wall: The Incredible Rise and Cult Appeal of Borussia Dortmund.


Subscribe to our quarterly magazine: https://www.theblizzard.co.uk/ 

Twitter: http://twitter.com/blzzrd 

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblizzard__/

In this week’s Greatest Games, Saša Ibrulj takes Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller back to Florence in 1990 for Yugoslavia and Argentina’s World Cup quarter-final.

 

With social instability in the backdrop of this fixture for both nations, the potential ramifications of this fixture could have extended far beyond football. Reigning champions, Argentina, hoped to reach another semi-final whilst Yugoslavia’s talented side looked to establish themselves as genuine tournament contenders for the new decade. 

 

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.

 

Saša Ibrulj is a football writer, a columnist for TeleSport, a contributor to the Guardian, World Soccer, ESPN and many others.


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__/

In this week’s Greatest Games, Paul Hayward joins Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller for a tactical review of one of the World Cup’s most famous matches – the 1970 Group C encounter between Brazil and England.

 

For holders England, the 1970 summer kicked off with controversy after the skipper, Bobby Moore was arrested in Colombia before the World Cup had even begun for allegedly stealing a bracelet from a Bogata jewellers. The preparation was far from ideal, but the meeting with Brazil set the tournament alight – the two tournament favourites toe-to-toe under the blazing Mexican sun. The match that unveiled proved to be a tactical turning point in international football history.


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.

 

Paul Hayward is one of the most recognisable names in British sports journalism, having written for the Guardian, the Independent, the Mail and until recently the chief sports reporter at The Telegraph. Paul was also ghostwriter to Sir Alex Ferguson and Sir Bobby Robson and is currently working on a biography of the England men's football 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__/

Maher Mezahi joins Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller for this week’s episode of Greatest Games to look back on the chaotic World Cup qualifying play-off between north African rivals Algeria and Egypt in 2009.

 

The match was the third of the year between the two sides played on neutral grounds in Omdurman, Sudan. The rivalry between the two nations resurfaced at the previous meeting in Cairo, just four days prior, as fans clashed before and after the match. The tension was paramount in Sudan as the stakes were high with qualification for the 2010 World Cup, the first hosted in Africa, on the line in this one-off clash.

 

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.

 

Maher Mezahi is an Algerian journalist covering sport in north Africa with contributions to the BBC, the Guardian, the Telegraph, Al Jazeera and many more.


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__/

Melissa Reddy is on this week’s Greatest Games, joining Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller to discuss a seven-goal thriller between Liverpool and Manchester City in January 2018.

 

Oozing invincibility, Manchester City were flying at the top of the Premier League having won 20 of 22 fixtures so far. But they were yet to visit Anfield, where Jurgen Klopp was looking for an invigorating response after the record sale of Philippe Coutinho. Both sides flew out of the traps and produced one of the most thrilling Premier League encounters in recent memory.


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.

 

Melissa Reddy is a senior football correspondent at the Independent, author of the newly-released book Believe Us: How Jurgen Klopp Transformed Liverpool into Title Winners, and host of the new podcast Between The Lines.

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__/