The Blizzard is a quarterly football publication, put together by a cooperative of journalists and authors, its main aim to provide a platform for top-class writers from across the globe to enjoy the space and the freedom to write what they like about the football stories that matter to them.
Contents of Issue Five
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World Cup Bidding
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* The Fall-Out, by James Corbett—Significant questions remain unanswered about the World Cup bid process
* Russia's Victory, by Igor Rabiner—Russia's success in the 2018 bid was a triumph over internal as well as external opponents
* Qatar Hero, by Philippe Auclair- Michel Platini is often seen as the ex-pro coming to save Fifa. But why did he vote for Qatar?
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Interview
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* Sócrates — The former Brazil captain talks to David Tryhorn about why footballers have a political responsibility
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Theory
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* Roy of the Rover, by Philippe Auclair—Roy Hodgson explains how his travels have shaped his coaching philosophy
* Like a Shooting Star, by Luca Ferrato—How Ternana soared and then crashed with Corrado Viciani's high-tempo style
* The Skilling Fields, by Steve Bartram—Manchester United are just one of the clubs influenced by the coaching model of Wiel Coerver
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The Asian Market
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* The 'Gaijin' of Gamba, by Ben Mabley—Fan culture has begun to challenge Japanese hierarchies. The only European Gamba ultra explains how
* Sing when you're Winning, by Ian Griffiths—How the need to appear successful turns fans in Singapore from the S.League to the Premier League
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Photo Essay
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* The Hard Core, by Misha Domozhilov—Images of the fans who followed Zenit St Petersburg as they won the Russian championship in 2010
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Fall
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* The Centre-Back and the Kitchen Knife, by Lars Sivertsen—Claus Lundekvam opens up on his battle against the addiction that overwhelmed him after retirement
* My Name is Ally MacLeod and I am a Winner, by Dominic Sandbrook—How Scotland's humiliation at the 1978 World Cup knocked nationalism off course
* The Lions Sleep Tonight, by Jonathan Wilson- Ten years after retaining the Cup of Nations, Cameroon failed to qualify. What went wrong?
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Polemics
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* The Real Problem, by Brian Phillips—Is the 'real fan' being marginalised or is he just a rhetorical tool?
* Where's Darth Vader Gone?, by Simon Kuper—Is the age of football as a substitute for war coming to an end?
* The Culture of Violence, by Sergio Levinsky—The absence of leadership means there is little hope of Argentina's hooligan problem being solved
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Fiction
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* The Glasses, by David Ashton—A gift from a mysterious visitor changes life for a man on a Scottish estate...
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Greatest Games
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* Romania 4-6 Yugoslavia, by Vladimir Novak—World Cup qualifier, Ghencea Stadium, Bucharest, 13 November 1977
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Five Rings
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* Olympic Stories, by Marcus Christenson, Steve Menary, Jonathan Wilson, Colin Udoh and Joel Richards—Five tales from the rich history of Olympic football
