The Thinking Fan’s Choice
The Blizzard was born in a pub, Fitzgeralds on Green Terrace to be precise, the night in 2010 that Sunderland beat Bolton 4-0.
Jonathan Wilson had been frustrated for some time by the constraints of the mainstream media and, in various press-rooms and bars across the world, had come to realise he wasn’t the only one who felt journalism as a whole was missing something.
As Jonathan floated thoughts and theories to those around the table in Fitzys, he became aware there were other writers so keen to break the shackles of Search Engine Optimisation that they were prepared to write for a share of potential profit, that the joy of writing what they wanted and felt was important outweighed the desire to be paid.
The result, about a year later, was (and still is!) The Blizzard. The priority is the product rather than profit, so we will not go chasing readers; the aim, rather, is to remain true to our ethos and to provide an alternative to that which already exists.
So what’s next? Our dedication to beautifully designed long-form football journalism remains undimmed but we want to give you more – more original long-form writing (here on this very website), more podcasts and more ways to display your superior footballing sensibilities in the form of brilliant merchandise. There’ll even be a ready supply of quizzes to while away those fleeting moments in the pub when you’re not plotting your own football revolution…