Born to be a coach [soccer]

The car of Short, the owner of the Sunderland Club, drove into the old and old workers' quarters, and it seemed particularly inappropriate.

When Mr. Short got out of his car, he clearly felt this sense of "disobedience".But he knew very well that most of Sunderland's fans came from such a community.

Football has never been a sport for nobles.

In the 70s and [-]s, the booming period of football coincided with the era of the rise of these industrial workers, and at the same time brought a large number of the most loyal fans to Sunderland.Although the former factory has been depressed and many fans have a difficult livelihood, they are still the most loyal supporters of this football club.

Anton brought Short to this "community" for breakfast... For some reason, the boss Short suddenly felt suspicious—whether there is a restaurant for breakfast here?Obviously, it is a place that doesn't even have fast food restaurants or pizzerias.

Anton remained calm, got out of the car first, and then opened the door for Short: "Mr. Short, come, this way please. Come and meet Mr. Logan."

This is one of a large row of townhouses.An old man in sixties stood at the door, leaning on a cane, standing at the door to welcome Anton and Short.Above the wooden door of his house hung a red and white scarf belonging to Sunderland.

"So it's the fan's home!—" Suddenly, Short followed Anton and approached the home of Mr. Logan.

Upon entering the Logan's living room, Short was shocked.I saw Sunderland's team logo neatly hung on the facing wall: Sunderland changed three team logos: the early "Black Cat" team logo, the "navigation" team logo in the 70s, and the one that was used until now. The current "Double Lions" team crest, plus every commemorative scarf the club has produced from the 70s to the present-all hang on the wall.

Next to the scarf, closely pasted, are Sunderland's season tickets for each season.Short glanced at the year of the season tickets before realizing they were the home of an "absolutely die-hard" Sunderland fan.

In addition, there are also framed bulletins hanging on the wall. Needless to say, they are all newspapers about Sunderland's championship victory - the old one is from 1973, and the new one is the FA Cup victory last season. .In the corner of the newspaper, there is a photo of the old man, with the Rock Lighthouse and the floats of the championship parade in the background. In 1973, he was still a middle-aged man in high spirits, but this time, Mr. Logan is very old.

As soon as Short entered the living room, he was shocked—although he is the owner of the team, he is far less enthusiastic about football than these fans.More often, what he considers is valuation and cash flow, and how much profit this club will bring him in the future.

While Short was concentrating on looking at the various Sunderland-related souvenirs in the living room, Mr. Logan asked tremblingly, "Mr. Chairman, is there anything you would like to have for breakfast?"

Short replied casually: "No..."

In the UK, breakfast is always hearty, and some people can even skip lunch after breakfast.But in the environment where Mr. Logan lives, it should be difficult to serve a full English breakfast with grilled sausages, fried eggs, baked beans, mushrooms, tomatoes, toast, orange juice and tea.

Logan turned to Anton again.Anton also shook his head, just asking the old man to prepare as he pleases.

After a while, in the kitchen, the sound of the electric kettle boiling water sounded, and not long after, there was the sound of frying ham...Mr. Short was in a good mood, and finally felt a little hungry.He thought, if this breakfast would satisfy him—he would give this old man named Logan a season ticket.

Wanzhuan found himself through Anton, wasn't it just for a season ticket?

"Mr. Logan, are you the holder of the Sunderland season ticket last season?" Short asked loudly.

The kitchen side agreed.Short: Exactly.

But when this "English" breakfast was served, Short felt that it was far from what he expected: there was no fried egg, the baked beans were boiled and heated in a can, and the ham looked a bit inferior, and the surface was black after frying.The bread was not toasted in a toaster, but fried on a pan without butter on the surface. After taking a bite, Mr. Short found it extremely dry and hard to swallow.

He sneaked a look at Anton, but saw that Anton was eating happily, praising him while eating.

Short pursed his lips, looked up at Logan's restaurant, and soon discovered that there was no TV here.

Here comes the problem. "Mr. Logan, don't you watch TV? If so, what do you think of Sunderland's away game?"

Logan was originally sitting at the table, but at this moment stood up with a cane, and picked up a small semiconductor radio placed next to the sofa.

"The TV broke down a few years ago, and I have no money to buy a new one..." The old man explained with a sigh, "My son always says he wants to fix it for me, but he works in London, so it's not easy to come here..."

Anton explained to his boss Short that the old man, his wife had passed away, and his children had left the city of Sunderland to settle in a big city with more job opportunities.Logan's home is pretty much the epitome of a decaying aging industrial neighborhood.

But even in such a family, football is still an important part of Logan's life-he can't even afford a new TV, and the old man still sets aside a portion of his pension to buy a Sander every year Lan's season pass.

In this community, many people, like Logan, save money and provide a season ticket for Sunderland.

If the price of season tickets goes up again, they may really have to sever their ties with their favorite clubs.

The boss Short swallowed a piece of ham with difficulty, wiped his mouth with his handkerchief, quickly took out a piece of paper from his pocket, wrote down a person's name and phone number, handed it to the old man and said: "Mr. Logan, thank you very much Your... hospitality today. Please contact my personal assistant, and I will ask her to present you with a season pass for this season..."

A choking breakfast in exchange for a season ticket, it should be worth it! — thought Short.

Unexpectedly, Mr. Logan shook his head and said, "I don't need you to send me a season ticket..."

Short:? ... Then what are you drawing?

"I just want to ask you to recall, when Sunderland was relegated to the Championship, did season ticket prices drop?"

Short's face turned red to the base of his neck.

When Sunderland was relegated from the Premier League, he didn't lower the price of season tickets. The reason he used at the time was to ask the fans to understand that the team needs the fans to stand with them to tide over the difficulties and get back on track.If they continue to lose season ticket revenue, they will have to lay off some employees, and they will not be able to keep existing players.

So the fans compromised, knowing that at this moment only solidarity could save their beloved club.

But now that Sunderland has returned to the Premier League, his boss, a businessman with a smell of copper in his bones, is thinking about raising season tickets again.

The fans didn't turn their backs on him back then, but now he wants to continue to put pressure on these fans and test their bottom line——

"Mr. Logan, I think you should also understand..."

For some reason, Short began to speak incoherently.

"After the club is promoted to the Premier League, there will be a lot of expenses! We need to hire more people and attract more outstanding players. The first year of promotion is not easy. What we need is to gain a firm foothold..."

"Boss," Anton coughed twice beside him.

"Actually, what you said can be done without raising the season ticket."

Short: ... what?

If there is no season ticket increase, where will the money come from, what will the players use to buy it, and how will the staff be paid?

"Boss, you first promised Mr. Logan that the price of season tickets for this season will not increase!"

Anton smiled and persuaded the boss Logan.

But the more Logan looked at it, the more he felt that the young coach's smile was a bit bad.

——Is it really okay to not increase the season ticket?

"It's really possible!" Anton said sincerely, reaching out to pat Short on the shoulder.

Short is still hesitating: "Can the club be financially self-sufficient?"

"No problem, boss, all of our employees will work hard in this direction."

Short: "Then, should I agree...?"

This is obviously a very uncertain interrogative sentence.

But Mr. Logan leaned on crutches, came to the door of his house, opened the door suddenly, and said loudly: "My friends, Mr. Short, the chairman of the club, has agreed to our request. He has already agreed-this season Ticket prices will not go up!"

When Short and Anton came to Logan's house, there were already many fans waiting outside Luogen's house.Along with them, there are also several local media in Sunderland.

There was a "boom" cheer outside, and the boss Short inside panicked——

What did he promise?Why did he agree?

Anton was already congratulating Short: "Thank you, Mr. Short. You made a wise decision."

Short: I didn't!

Only then did he remember: it was Anton's words just now, and after he finished speaking, he vaguely agreed to something as if in a dream.

And he's still confused.

What did he do, really promise not to raise the price?What about the club's financial expenditure this year?Is there enough money on the books, and will there be a cash shortage?The dividend at the end of the fiscal year... Will there be one?

Anton, however, kindly sat next to the boss Short, and said to him with a smile: "Mr. Short, I understand your current mood very well. But as a human being, you always have to be a little ideal."

Although you can't be rich and powerful, buy and buy without thinking, but you can't act like a miser just because of a little funding gap.

"We can't point to the little money in the pockets of the fans. We should find ways to find more resources to get more funds."

To extract money from the pockets of fans, the price of season tickets has increased by 20%.If things go on like this, it will only make Sunderland fans lose confidence in the club's management.

"You can rest assured! This season, there will be money for signings, salary for employees, and your investment will not shrink-the dividends may not be there, but you will definitely support your team in a stable way. Got through the first season of promotion, right?"

Boss Short was speechless and could only nod silently.

He suddenly regretted it very much: If he knew that this breakfast was so expensive, he should have pretended not to have an appetite and didn't want to eat it.

Anton continued to encourage him: "We have the most loyal fans in the world. These people are the team's invaluable treasure, aren't they?"

The author has something to say: By the way, I would like to share my experience of going to Sunderland to watch the game.I lived in Newcastle at the time, and then took the light rail to Sunderland Stadium of Light.A few years ago, Sunderland was still in the Premier League at that time, but a ticket only cost more than 20 pounds, a very good position.The facilities at the Stadium of Light are also very good.

I remember that Sunderland's season ticket at that time seemed to be three to four hundred pounds, probably three to four thousand yuan.