The Rise of Millwal

Chapter 237: Trash, useless, incompetent, injured!

All summer long, Millwall was busy.

The official TV station went live, the official website was promoted, the youth training base was expanded, new sponsorship contracts were signed, and strategic partnerships were established with some well-known UK companies, all while dealing with player transfers and more.

As the club's CEO, Adam was overwhelmed with work. Even though the management team had expanded, the sheer volume of tasks left him with no time to rest.

As soon as Aldrich returned, Adam hurriedly sought him out.

He asked Aldrich outright, "Boss, are our transfers all wrapped up?"

Aldrich was glad Adam came to him first and smiled a bit before answering, "It's done."

Adam hit his forehead in frustration and said, "But you still have a ten million pound transfer budget left! We should get another well-known player; it would be very effective for raising the club's profile and generating outside interest."

Adam was straightforward, unbothered by the intricacies of competitive sports.

After some thought, Aldrich shook his head and said, "No, there's no need to spend money just for the sake of it. Sure, signing a star player might boost the team's appeal, but in the long run, the drawbacks outweigh the benefits. I want young players to see hope in competing for key roles, and I don't want to waste energy rebuilding the locker room's harmony."

Buying a star sounds simple; if you have the money, just buy one. Yet, Aldrich thought differently. The higher the transfer fee, the more subconscious significance the star player attaches to their own identity, and Aldrich wasn't willing to gamble on that.

Adam just felt that the boss was being overly frugal. Although Millwall had a strong overall team and had even won a championship, their tactical philosophy advocated for teamwork.

The entire squad looked formidable, but when inspecting individual players, it was hard to see any major stars. Larson and Nedved could barely count as half a star, and defense players were seldom regarded as top-tier talent in this era; it was a rarity for any to become household names.

Aldrich handed Adam a document, saying, "Take a look at this."

Adam opened the document and found it was an introduction to a children's charity foundation headquartered in London, under the BAA Group's reading nonprofit institution.

Pondering, Adam realized that BAA was the family business of the Hall family, founded by Barnet, and had gained significant recognition in both the UK and Europe.

Adam's mind was racing. He said, "Is the boss planning to donate to this children's charity fund under the team's name? To bring about a positive publicity effect for the club?"

Aldrich blinked and smiled, "Yes and no. Direct donations only yield temporary publicity. I intend to organize a charity cup for under-15 youth football teams sponsored by Millwall. Any team can participate, whether amateur or from schools, but players must be under 15. The winning team will receive a ￡50,000 prize and we'll also donate ￡500,000 in their name to the children's charity. With event organization costs, the total should be around ￡1 million. I hope to hold this event annually. I've already spoken to the FA, and they said since this isn't a professional football event, as long as there are no issues, we can make our own rules."

Adam's eyes lit up at this news. Although the costs were a bit high, the benefits in terms of the club's image and local influence were undeniable.

The event would be especially appealing to participating teams—winning ￡50,000 and doing good under their team name was a win-win situation.

One of the most effective ways to promote a positive club image is through charity work.

Players under Andrew's agency typically follow his advice to visit orphans or sick fans during the season's end or mid-season breaks. The agency also helped them set up personal websites. Although the internet isn't yet as advanced as Twitter and Facebook, there aren't many community interaction portals. However, Barnet had already acquired a personal blog-like platform in America and was in the promotional phase. Therefore, Andrew set up personal sites for the players, employing staff to maintain them, occasionally uploading photos, and writing brief diary-like entries, which drew much fan interest.

No club in the Premier League or even in Europe has kept pace with Millwall's modernity. Their official site has been heavily promoted since its launch and now boasts nearly 100,000 registered members. They've also opened up online sales for merchandise. After upgrading to bigger server equipment, their operational costs can essentially be self-sustaining through online sales.

Furthermore, with the official TV station launching in the summer, and a retrospective program on Aldrich's coaching history over the past three years, the promotional videos and sales of tapes and DVDs have surged over the past month. New Millwall fans wanting to understand the club's history showed keen interest in this retrospective program, eager to buy and keep it as a memento.

"Boss, the folks at Puma suggested launching a new kit for the upcoming season; are you reconsidering?" Adam's main priority was to generate revenue for the club. Aldrich had initially rejected this at the end of last season, but now Adam was looking to push for it. From his perspective, he supported Puma's proposal.

Aldridge was unmoved and said calmly: "Forget it, the jersey sponsor has not changed, the sponsor of the chest logo has not changed, and our club emblem has not changed, then why do we need a new jersey? If we Really do this, even a fool can see that we are just trying to squeeze more money out of the fans, it's bad for our reputation and if Puma are unhappy they should blame themselves for not including the kit in the contract and chest logo. Don't want to deal with this anymore,"Adam, I'm not asking you to be a commercial genius; my expectations are pretty straightforward: make sure we earn every cent we're supposed to. If you can earn more, that's your talent, and I'll be pleased. However, if the club is only in it for the money and it leads to fans feeling upset and angry, the club should never take a stance against the fans."

Aldrich's words made Adam serious. After a heavy nod, he stood up to leave.

The money clubs earn comes from their fan market. Fans watch games, buy tickets, purchase jerseys, and memorabilia. Through their attention to the club, they enhance its commercial influence, where advertising value directly correlates with the strength of the fan market.

This is all based on the loyalty of the fans—maybe not just one fan, but entire families, even generations.

The owners of Manchester United, whether it's the current Edwards or the future Glazers, are relentlessly criticized by fans. The root cause lies in the excessive commercialization of the club, where even the air at Old Trafford feels charged—ticket prices skyrocketing, leaving the stands filled with fewer local fans than ever.

Millwall also needs to make money, but Aldrich believes there should be a bottom line. His position is unique; besides being the head coach, he's also the owner. If Millwall becomes like Manchester United, fans can lash out at Edwards and favor Ferguson. But how would they feel about Aldrich? Their emotions would become complicated, creating a division in the fanbase and leading to unnecessary conflict and disputes.

From the establishment of the Premier League until the summer of '97, ticket prices for all teams were on the rise. Some prices even doubled or tripled. Millwall's ticket prices also went up during this period, but they still ranked relatively low among all Premier League clubs, primarily due to the small size and poor conditions of the stadium.

Fans were generally accepting of the ticket price hikes since they recognized that the club needed to boost its competitiveness and couldn't afford to lag behind financially. The increase was not drastic, and given that Millwall is in London, their ticket prices were just above those of Wimbledon. Next season, they might even be priced slightly higher than their other rivals, Crystal Palace, but that didn't stop fans from teasing their neighbors: "We spend less than you do, yet we get to enjoy far more thrilling matches – championship quality games!"

Because of this, Aldrich garnered widespread support from fans, and the Hall family earned their respect.

The day before the training camp began, Aldrich held a press conference with four players: Duff, van der Meyde, Gudjohnsen, and Klose.

Initially, Aldrich intended to assign van der Meyde and Klose to the youth team to help them acclimate, but decided to have them showcase their talents during this new signing event instead.

Gudjohnsen underwent a medical examination at the club and initially, the medical staff couldn't diagnose his unusual ankle injury. After consulting with a partnered specialist, they discovered he had a rare form of tendonitis in his ankle. Once they identified the issue, they could treat it; he was recovering well, feeling optimistic about his future.

However, given that his previous six months of injuries had hampered his training, it would take time to return to competitive form.

The four players appeared at the press conference wearing new jerseys. Because they weren't big names and had almost zero recognition in the Premier League, the usual procedure of showcasing their skills for fans was skipped.

The attending reporters showed little interest in the quartet, and Fleet Street was notably critical of Millwall's summer transfer moves!

Acquiring van der Meyde from Ajax might have been a commendable deal, given Ajax's reputation for quality.

Spending ￡2 million to sign Duff, who performed decently at the World Youth Championships, showed only seven appearances in the Premier League records—far from stardom.

Klose is a complete nobody. When Fleet Street looked into his background, they were surprised by Aldridge's choice.

This tall, thin young man had played for an amateur club in Germany and was 19 years old at the time. Are Millwall planning to build a dump?

But the worst decision was signing Gudjohnsen.

Millwall still dares to pursue a player who was let go by PSV?

You're the champions of the Premier League; can you stop behaving like a trash collector and save yourself from humiliation?

After learning that Gudjohnsen was released due to ongoing injury issues, Fleet Street put together a summary of Millwall's summer transfer signings.

"Trash, useless, incompetent, injured!"

In such an atmosphere, Aldrich, who was normally a favorite with Fleet Street, found himself facing an unexpected cold shoulder from the reporters.

No one seemed interested in asking about the situations of those four players.

What's the point of asking?

Would it get published in the papers?

Who the hell is even going to read that?

The room fell into an eerie silence.

Aldrich's face turned a bit awkward.