John ‘Jack’ Slater, Bolton full-back between 1905 and 1914, would go on to own one of Britain’s largest industrial conglomerates. He survived financial crashes of many millions of pounds and went on to become football's first (and to date only) MP.

In Episode Nine of the Blizzard Podcast we bring you John Harding's story of football's first millionaire from Issue Fourteen. The son of a mill-worker went from signing a £4 a week contract for a provincial club to completing business deals worth hundreds of millions of pounds in today's money, and would go on to rub shoulders in the House of Commons with Aneurin Bevan, Winston Churchill and Anthony Eden. 

If you have any feedback, comments or suggestions email podcast@theblizzard.co.uk, or find us on Twitter @blzzrd.

John Harding is the PFA's official historian, and writes on a variety of topics ranging from literary and sporting biography to cultural history and criticism.

Issue Fourteen, like all issues of the Blizzard, is available on a pay-what-you-like basis from www.theblizzard.co.uk. Digital downloads cost as little as a 1p each (RRP £3), while print versions are available from £6 + postage (RRP £12). You can also find us on the Kindle and Google Play stores.

Football's First Millionaire

The Blizzard is a quarterly football publication put together by a cooperative of journalists and authors. These podcasts feature some of the best articles from our back catalogue, and recordings of live Q&A events we hold with our writers around the UK. 

Our main aim is 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.

For more details – www.theblizzard.co.uk