Chapter 8 - Chapter 9 First arrival at Brisbane Road ()

Leiden East's home stadium is called Brisbane Road Stadium. You can tell that this stadium must be near Brisbane Road. In fact, many of the stadiums in England are named after nearby place names. For example, Chelsea's home stadium Stadium's Stadium is named after a small river called "Stanford" near the stadium and two small bridges called Sanford Bridge and Steam Bridge respectively. Tottenham's home stadium White Hart Lane Stadium also comes from a nearby place name. Leeds' Elland Road Stadium is named after the nearby town of Elland, while Leiden East's home stadium Brisbane Road Stadium is adjacent to Brisbane Road.

When he saw that the training base of Wrights was so big, Xiao Ming was still full of fantasy about Brisbane Road Stadium. Although he knew that Brisbane Road Stadium now has a capacity of only more than 9,000 people, he also believed that there must be a lot of open space near Brisbane Road Stadium waiting for his own development. After all, after the Premier League, the size of the stadium's capacity often determines how big the development prospects of a club are. Otherwise, why did Wenger always be reluctant to pay for money when Arsenal was still in Highbury? Although he could compete with Manchester United in terms of record, he always seemed inferior in other aspects. Isn't it because Highbury Stadium can only accommodate less than 40,000 people, while Manchester United's Old Trafford can accommodate 50,000 or 60,000 people? Don't underestimate the gap between 10,000 or 20,000 people in this stadium. After accumulating a season, Arsenal will be one-third less than Manchester United's ticket revenue!

Modern football plays money. Money is not necessarily omnipotent, but it is absolutely impossible to have money. Xiao Ming understands this truth very well.

But when Xiao Ming saw the Brisbane Road Stadium, he was stunned. Although he could not tell at a glance how many people had arrived at Brisbane Road Stadium, he could see that there were two sides of the stadium directly next to the street - Brisbane Road to the east, Buckingham Palace Road to the south, and although the street to the west was not big, there was a public green space on the other side of the street. Xiao Ming knew that it was such a stupid idea to make an idea from the public green space!

Newcastle clubs in the Premier League have always wanted to expand the stadium, but the only place they can expand the stadium is right next to a park. Almost every year they propose to occupy part of the park, but almost every year the city council calls the proposal back!

Newcastle is the most popular club in England and has repeatedly suffered from this issue, let alone the low-level team Leiden Oriental!

"It seems that I can only make an idea from the north..." After a circle around the stadium, Xiao Ming could only think in his heart. Behind the north stand of Brisbane Road Stadium is a narrow alley, and opposite a row of dilapidated factories. If you have money in the future, you may be able to find a way to buy that place and then expand the area of ​​the north stand. At the same time, the stands have not been built at all four corners of the stadium. If it is built, it should not be a problem to add thousands of seats. At the same time, if the stadium area expands northward, the stands in the east and west directions can also be extended northward. Besides, one floor can be added. The stands at Brisbane Road Stadium are not too tilted. There is only one floor in total. Judging from this area, it should not be a problem to expand to a stadium with two floors of stands.

Xiao Ming walked into the stadium while thinking about his thoughts. He asked Miss Ella to prepare a ticket for him two days ago. Of course, Xiao Ming did not forget to ask Miss Ella to send one to Tony Wood.

When Xiao Ming walked into the stands, Tony Wood was already waiting there.

"Xiao! You are here!"

Seeing Xiao Ming coming towards him, the old man greeted Xiao Ming excitedly, and then blushed to several fans of Leiden Oriental around him: "How is it, I said Xiao will come? Don't forget that he is also our Walthamstower! He is one of the most loyal fans of the East! Letting him be the chairman will definitely continue our Leiden Oriental tradition!"

Several fans around nodded, but a group of fans gathered in the stands behind the home team's coaching seat booed here, which made Xiao Ming feel a little embarrassed.

"Don't mind, Xiao, any team will have radical fans!" Wood comforted Xiao Ming: "But most fans support you. As long as the team performs well, the rest will support you, because we are all people who love the East!"

Xiao Ming concealed the unhappiness in his heart, smiled and nodded at Wood, and then sat down next to him.

There is no box at Brisbane Road Stadium. Even if Xiao Ming is the chairman, he has to sit with other fans to watch the game - this is why Xiao Ming was hit in the head by Jack Sawyer from behind that day.

Wood was chattering around, and Xiao Ming just nodded from time to time to respond. He wanted to see how many people there would be in the stadium. The price of a ticket was five pounds. If it could be in each game, it would have a home game of 8,000 pounds. In the English fourth-tier league, there would be twenty-four teams except the Premier League, which means that it would be able to play at least twenty-three home games in a season. The total amount of income was almost millions of pounds. There would be no problem with self-sufficiency in the early stage.

But think about it, after the 21st century, the average annual salary of the stars in the top league is several million pounds. With the current capacity of the Brisbane Road Stadium, even if the average ticket price reaches 20 pounds per ticket after entering the Premier League, the annual income is only four million pounds - just enough to pay the annual salary of a first-class star, and he is not a top star.

Expanding this road won't work, maybe you can only change to a larger stadium...

Just as Xiao Ming was thinking, a huge cheer broke out in the stadium, and the players on both sides had already entered the stadium!

"It turns out that the game is about to start..." Xiao Ming, who woke up, hurriedly looked around, but the result made him feel a little discouraged. The stadium, which could accommodate 9,000 people, had an attendance rate of about half, which was only about 4,000 people.

"Damn, one home game earns only 20,000 pounds, I'm going to go bankrupt..." Xiao Ming cursed in his heart. What he didn't know was that the attendance rate of Leiden Oriental in the English League Two was quite good. Basically, each home game could fill most of the seats, which was Xiao Ming's envisioned average attendance rate of about 8,000 people. After all, the population of Walthamsto area is more than 200,000, and there is only one professional team in this area, and the other Walthamsto team is just an amateur team in the seventh league. Its history is not as long as Leiden Oriental and its attractiveness is not enough. The fans in this area are basically fans of Leiden Oriental, but the attendance rate is affected due to the changes in the club this season and the team's poor record.

The current atmosphere in the stadium also proves this. Although there is only half the attendance rate, the fans of Leiden Oriental collectively burst into cheers when both sides entered the stadium, waiting for the start of the game!

The fierce cheers made Xiao Ming feel excited and began to appreciate the League Two that he had previously disdained.

Today, Leiden Oriental's opponent is a team from Stoke. This team is not Stoke City, which is now in the English League One, but Stoke Port. It is now ranked in the middle of the League Two, and there is no possibility of upgrading or relegation. They were only promoted from the English League Two to the English League Two last season. Compared with them, Leiden Oriental, who has been in the English League Two for several years, should be ashamed of being ashamed.

Xiao Ming had a little impression of this team, because a few years later, a Chinese player named Zhang Xiaobin joined the team and was once highly expected by the Chinese media. However, Zhang Xiaobin, who had not solved the labor certificate problem, never got the opportunity to play and eventually disappeared from people's sight.

In terms of strength, Leiden East should be above Stockholm. Xiao Ming felt that Leiden East should be able to defeat this team, but the game process made him frown. Obviously, the fighting spirit of the Stoke Port without desire seemed to be higher than Leiden East, which was facing the danger of relegation. In the game, their running was much more active than Leiden East. They kept putting pressure on Leiden East through the pressure of the midfield. In the 24th minute of the first half, relying on the No. 10 striker Armstrong's head-shaking goal to break through the goal guarded by Hilton!

The old goalkeeper Hilton waved helplessly. He was one of the few players who performed normally in Leiden East in the first half, but he was just a goalkeeper after all, and he was still a goalkeeper who was already forty-five years old and began to gain weight significantly...

After conceding the ball, Leiden East did not improve in its performance. If it weren't for the centre-back young player Otno and goalkeeper Hilton, Leiden East would probably be broken through the goal. In terms of offense, the attacking midfielder, Liden East's offensive core Steve Casso seemed lazy to run on the field. The two veteran forwards Kelly and Ryan were unable to pose any threat to the opponent's goal.

Although the fans in the stands were cheering hard, they did not seem to touch the hearts of these professional players.

When he saw Ryan missing a scoring opportunity because he avoided the opponent's tackle, Xiao Ming could no longer help it. He slammed his thigh and cursed angrily: "Damn it! Are they playing football?"

Xiao Ming, who was still watching the game quietly just now, suddenly burst out, which made Wood next to him stunned for a moment. Then he smiled bitterly and advised Xiao Ming: "This is nothing to do. Some time ago, the club had financial problems and almost couldn't even pay the salary. Now it's basically a foregone conclusion that the players have no fighting spirit..."

Speaking of this, Wood sighed: "It's just my fault that I have dragged down Leiden East, otherwise it shouldn't be like this..."

Looking at the self-pitying old Wood, Xiao Ming felt a stream of blood surge on his head: "Don't say that, Mr. Tony! You are a good chairman. You have ensured the normal operation of the club when you go bankrupt. They should be the ones who should feel ashamed!"

Xiao Ming pointed at the stadium disdainfully: "They are also professional players!"

At this time, the referee blew the whistle to the end of the first half, and the players on both sides began to walk down the court. The players of Stockport Port were excited on their faces, while the players of Leiden East looked confused... and it didn't even matter!

"I have to teach them a lesson." Xiao Ming sneered: "Remind them of their identities!"

Seeing Xiao Ming standing up and walking towards the entrance of the stands, Old Wood hurriedly shouted behind him: "Don't go into the locker room casually, that's a sacred place!"

"Sacred bullshit! If it is filled with garbage, no matter how sacred it is, it will be just a trash can!" Xiao Ming shouted without looking back, and then his figure disappeared at the entrance of the stands.

Old Wood looked shocked, and the fans next to him were also disbelief. After a while, a middle-aged fan smiled bitterly and said to Old Wood: "Maybe Xiao is right... We seem to be too accustomed to these players before, let's see what they have played this season!"

"Yes, Mr. Tony, you are a good chairman, but you are too soft-hearted. Now that Leiden East looks like this, you need an iron-fisted figure to cure them." Another fan said.

"Anderton, Bruce... do you think so?" Old Wood murmured.

Xiao Ming walked in the inner passage of the court with big strides. He just called a security guard to ask how to walk in the locker room. The security guard naturally would not stop him, the club chairman.

It’s not that he can’t tolerate failure, but he can’t tolerate performance without fighting spirit. He always believes that any competitive sports is a man’s sport. If he doesn’t have passion and fighting spirit, then what is the competitive sports?

He is not a fan who grew up in China. He believes in friendship first and second in the game. He only knows that since the game is, he has to strive for victory. Even if he cannot win, he cannot be defeated by his opponent like garbage!

Garbage must also have dignity!

The construction of the Brisbane Road Stadium is not very outstanding, and it also shows an ancient atmosphere. After all, this stadium has a history of more than a hundred years. Walking inside such a stadium, a sense of history is coming.

However, at this time, Xiao Ming did not have any feelings of feeling this sense of history. He walked towards the home team's locker room. The more he walked, the more anger he felt in his heart. All the discomforts he encountered after traveling through time seemed to be about to burst out at this time. If it didn't explode, Xiao Ming felt that he was about to explode.

What the hell! I'll send me to this ghost place! Any team that is almost relegated is so unscrupulous! What the hell stadium can only accommodate these people!

The faster Xiao Ming went, the faster he became, the more angry he felt. However, he still had a trace of rationality and knew that he should not treat these players like this. After all, they only use football as their profession, and Leiden East has been relegated. As long as they are willing, they can still transfer to play football elsewhere.

Xiao Ming didn't think there was any fault in this, but he believed that since he got the money, he should give all his abilities!

Standing at the gate of the home team's locker room, Xiao Ming took a deep breath, planned to push the door in, and then told the players that they should be worthy of every salary issued by the club.

But just as he was about to push the door, he heard the faint sound of music coming from the door.

The sound insulation in the locker room was not good. In addition to the music, he also heard the players inside chatting sounds without any strangeness.

The team is about to be relegated, and they are still listening to music! They are still chatting!

Xiao Ming suddenly laughed, then he took a step back, raised his foot, and kicked the door of the locker room with a sudden kick!

With a loud "boom", the fragile door lock immediately broke from it, and the entire door flew inward, then hit the wall, making a louder sound.
Chapter completed!