Coaching legend

How much impact does a new stadium have on the development of a club?

Just look at Blackburn.

Since entering the Jack Walker Stadium, Blackburn has at least 60,000 fans in general matches. In some important matches, the number of fans has reached 80,000. In addition, because it is a new stadium, the ticket price is slightly higher than that of Ewood Park.

In this way, the ticket revenue of Jack Walker Stadium alone is more than three times that of the original Ewood Park.

How much is this?

At Ewood Park, Blackburn's annual match day ticket revenue reached about 15 million pounds. But after entering the Jack Walker Stadium, it is estimated that it can exceed 45 million pounds. And it is also related to Blackburn's slight decline in performance in recent years.

If Blackburn's performance is better, the ticket revenue can continue to increase. According to Williams' calculations, the ticket revenue of Jack Walker Stadium should be maintained at more than 50 million pounds to be normal.

This income is not even comparable to Liverpool, the first giant in England.

Now Liverpool's annual ticket revenue has just exceeded 30 million pounds. Even after Arsenal built a new stadium, their ticket revenue was only more than 70 million pounds. Don't forget that Arsenal's Emirates Stadium is in London.

And Arsenal's ticket price is the most expensive in the entire Premier League.

A stadium, the ticket revenue alone reached 50 million pounds. There are some other incomes in the stadium. Those incomes can easily exceed hundreds of millions of pounds. That's why many clubs build new stadiums.

Blackburn is the same.

…………

England reporters are all-pervasive.

Compared with these English reporters, the paparazzi in Hong Kong and Taiwan are completely child's play.

They soon knew that Blackburn Club had a financial crisis. They were all waiting to see how Blackburn would solve this problem.

All media felt that Blackburn must sell players in order to alleviate the financial crisis. Not only reporters think so, but also football commentators and many pseudo-economists who claim to understand economics say that this is the only way out.

This kind of thing is not very rare in European football.

Italy's Lazio, which was full of stars back then. In the end, the team was in debt. Nesta, Nedved, Veron, and Crespo all left.

Even in England, Leeds United, which was preparing to rise with a large investment, is an example.

Because of the financial crisis, almost the entire team was sold. Of course, they were unable to save the team in the end. But Blackburn has a more solid foundation than them. At least it can still make money every season.

In everyone's opinion, Blackburn should also use this method now. Maybe it can get through this difficult time.

However, a few days later, Blackburn paid back the money without selling anyone. This surprised the media.

George knew that Paul had started to clean up his industry in the United States.

Paul was gambling.

Betting that in 2008, the industries developed around the Jack Walker Stadium could be sold.

There are many industries developed together with the stadium.

When it was designed, there were hotels and shopping malls, and almost everything for eating, drinking and playing. If all were sold, the funds recovered would definitely not be a small amount. According to the original budget, if all the stadiums were sold, at least 150 million pounds could be recovered, and this is the most conservative figure.

In addition, if the Ewood Park stadium is renovated, most of the loan problems can be solved.

As long as the remaining loans are repaid slowly, there should be no problem.

It's just that the sales in 2007 were not very good. That's why there was such a financial difficulty.

But Paul believed that as long as sales improved, everything would be fine.

Paul was too confident.

No one expected it, perhaps the entire European football world did not expect it.

In 2008, the economy did not improve at all. Instead, it got worse and worse, affecting not just one or two industries. Even European football began to be affected. Although there has not been a big impact, the impact has begun to appear.

People's confidence in the economy is getting lower and lower.

Those investors are becoming more and more cautious in their investments. If it were a few years ago, people would definitely flock to the new stadium of a Premier League team. And it will soon become the place with the highest land prices in a city.

After all, the land prices around Blackburn's new stadium are still cheap now. If the economy is good, there will be many investors not only in Blackburn but also in other places. The sale and leasing of shopping malls and hotels around the stadium should not be so difficult.

Unfortunately, it happened to be in 2008 when the economy began to decline.

If many industries were sold in 2007, they could not be sold after 2008.

The failure to sell here immediately affected Blackburn's other subsequent actions.

Ewood Park has been torn open. But there is no follow-up funds for investment. So the original site of Ewood Park has become a ruin.

Blackburn's capital chain is now completely broken.

After the new stadium was built, although the income increased a lot, but this income is simply a drop in the bucket.

After Abrahimovic took over Chelsea, he made Chelsea a European powerhouse. Two consecutive Premier League titles and one Champions League title. Back then, it was a glorious time. In the past two years, due to some turmoil in the club, the results have declined a lot.

But Chelsea is still a force that no one dares to ignore in European football.

But the greater impact Chelsea has brought to the Premier League is that it has driven the salaries of Premier League players. George has undergone metabolism in the past few years, leaving behind many backbone players, and their salaries are not a little bit.

Therefore, Blackburn's income has increased and the profit has increased a little. But for the huge funds currently needed, it is not enough.

Paul is anxious every day.

"Paul, let's sell players this summer. As long as we sell two or three players, we can breathe a little. Maybe the economy will pick up next year."

Williams really has no choice.

The money needed now is not a small amount.

Because Blackburn has too many loans, it is impossible for major banks to lend to Blackburn now. Blackburn is not Real Madrid. Even if Real Madrid has a lot of debt, banks will not be stingy with loans to Real Madrid.

But Blackburn can't do that.

At the end of last year, Paul took out the 40 million pounds that was due after dealing with his American properties.

Now...

The best solution Williams can think of is to sell players.

Paul's eyes are now sunken. His eyes are red, obviously because he hasn't slept well recently. But his eyes are getting brighter and brighter.

Paul shook his head firmly.

"No."

"Oh, Paul." Williams emphasized his tone. "Now is not the time for us to act like children. If we don't think of a solution now, it will be difficult to get through this year. Even if we barely get through this year, it won't be possible next year."

"Now we have to raise a large sum of money, and our club has only players who are the most valuable."

Williams is very anxious.

Paul has always been very decisive, but he was too hesitant this time. So Williams is even more anxious.

Seeing Williams's look, Paul smiled slightly, then shook his head. Unfortunately, his smile looked a little bitter.

"John, no. George has had a hard time in the past few years. He finally managed to organize the team. If we sell players now, when will Blackburn recover? This is absolutely not possible."

"Then what other solutions do you have?"

Williams spoke a little aggressively.

If it were possible, why would Williams sell players? Because once he started selling players, it would mean that Blackburn would withdraw from the strong teams in the short term. Williams was keeping Blackburn's development in mind.

If there was a way, why would he suggest selling players?

Now seeing Paul being a little indecisive, Williams was very anxious.

Paul looked outside and shook his head habitually.

"You..."

Williams wanted to blame Paul, but Paul interrupted him. "John, I know you are doing this for my own good. But I really can't do that. Blackburn is developing very well now, and I can't interrupt his development."

"John, I have decided. I just feel sorry for my father."

Who is Williams?

As soon as he heard Paul's words, he already understood what Paul meant.

"You, you want to sell the club?"

Williams knew everything about the current situation of the club and everything about Paul Walker. Selling players is the only solution. Since Paul disagreed, and after hearing what Paul said, Williams immediately understood what Paul meant.

"Yeah."

Paul nodded.

"In fact, I have been thinking about this matter since half a year ago. At that time, I was betting that the economic situation would improve this year. Unfortunately, you see it now. The subprime mortgage crisis in the United States is getting worse and worse. Don't expect the economy to pick up in one or two years. The hotels and shopping malls outside our stadium are all in our hands."

"We can survive by selling players this year, but can we continue to sell players next year? Even if we continue to sell players next year and survive, what can we do? The economy will still be the same the year after next, and the year after that. What can we sell then? Think about it, any financial market crisis will not be over in one or two years. I can't survive it anymore."

"John, do you think I am willing to sell the team?"

Williams was silent after hearing what Paul said.

No one expected that the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States would cause such serious consequences. Starting from the United States, it has formed a global financial crisis.

"Do you have a goal?"

Williams trembled a little when he asked this question.

Williams came to Blackburn with Jack Walker and has been in Blackburn for nearly 20 years. If you count from working for Jack Walker's company, Williams has served the Walker family for 30 years. Now...

"John, some investors have contacted me."

Paul paused and quickly sorted out his emotions. "Don't worry, I will never look for a boss like Glazer. I will find a rich boss for Blackburn, and a generous boss."

"John, don't tell George yet. I don't know how to face George."