The idea of The Squall is to help out freelance writers during the Covid-19 crisis. For it to survive and thrive, we are asking readers to pay what they can and we suggest a minimum donation of £3. You can pay into The Squall’s bank account (sort code 40-05-17 and account number 71515942) or via PayPal at paypal.me/thesquall. Thank you in advance for helping out.

Thanks to all who have sent in pitches and donated to The Squall so far. We’ve been overwhelmed by your support and the freelance community is eternally grateful.

On May 1, we published the first issue of The Squall – on right-backs – and you can read it below.

You can access the PDF here.

To access the mobi version, click here.

To access the epub version, click here.

Issue Two – on Battles – is out on June 1 and includes 11 pieces including: the battle of Santiago at the 1962 World Cup; the origins of the derby that dominated Zambian football in the sixties and seventies; and the two giants of Italian football journalism who couldn’t stand each other. Plus much more.

Issue Three – on sliding doors – has now been commissioned and is due for release on July 1.

The theme for Issue Four is "Red" (the colour of a certain team, when managers/players/referees have seen red mist, injuries that have left a bloody mark etc.) You’ve got until June 14 to send pitches to thesquall@trinorth.co.uk and we’ll get in touch with you on June 15. Please send pitches, NOT completed articles.

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 of The Blizzard is July 10.

Thanks to all of you – freelancers and generous contributors alike – for getting The Squall off the ground. To learn more about the birth of The Squall, click here.

We are very grateful to all of the people
who have waived fees and donated to The Squall since we announced the project. Special thanks go to: Nick Ames, Philippe Auclair, John Brewin, James Corbett, Martin da Cruz, Miguel Delaney, Andrew Downie, Ken Early, Emmet Gates, John Harding, Simon Hart, Gary Hartley, Frank Heinen,
Neil Jensen, Samindra Kunti, Simon Mills, James Montague, David Owen, MM Owen, Simone Pierotti, Jack Pitt-Brooke, Callum Rice-Coates, Philip Ross, Paul Simpson, Jon Spurling, Seb Stafford-Bloor, Ed Sugden, Jonathan Wilson and Suzy Wrack. And huge thanks to Getty Images, for use of the photos.