The first issue of The Squall is out on May 1 and is on the subject of right-backs! You’ll be able to access it through our website or through one of our social media posts – making sure you don’t miss it.

The response to our call for articles for the first issue and beyond of The Squall has been overwhelming. We have had well over a hundred pitches and plenty of people have donated to the cause before the first issue is even out. Thanks to all of you – freelancers and generous contributors alike – for getting The Squall off the ground.

Based on the positive reaction, we have decided that we will produce The Squall every month, even when The Blizzard appears – aiming for the first day of each month for publication.

The subject of issue two will be on Battles (to be interpreted as loosely you like – individual clashes in games or over careers, rivalries between clubs or managers, matches that spilled into violence, players taking on opponents human, governmental, environmental, psychological…).

Following on, the subject of issue three will be on Sliding doors (moments when football/history could have slipped in a different direction if only X hadn’t bumped into Y, a goal hadn’t been disallowed for a tight offside, Z hadn’t slipped when clean through….).

The deadline to pitch for issue two – Battles – will be Sunday evening (19/04). The address for sending in your ideas and articles is still thesquall@trinorth.co.uk.

If your pitch does not make it into an issue of The Squall, fear not, as it may be we can use some further down the line in The Blizzard. The deadline for our September issue will be July 10.

If you could help spread the word about The Squall, that would be hugely helpful. Obviously the more traction we get, the more people start paying, the more viable this is going forward and the more freelancers we can pay to write for it.
We have fully functioning bank and PayPal accounts for The Squall, through which people can pay what they like for each issue, or simply contribute to the cause. You can transfer money to the bank account (account name: Squall Freelance, sort code 40-05-17, account number 71515942) or click on the button to donate via PayPal. Any money paid into either of these accounts will be used for the sole purpose of producing future issues (we will be publishing account statements to show that is the case).

Finally, as a taster for the first issue of The Squall, on the theme of right backs, have a look at our video below. Words courtesy of Adam Burnett, music by Billy Joel! Thanks to Adam Thornton for putting it together… we hope you enjoy it.