Millwall FC has been busy all summer.

The official TV station was launched, the official website was promoted, the youth training base was expanded, new sponsorship contracts were signed, strategic partnerships were established with some well-known British companies, plus club recruitment, etc.

As the club's CEO, Adam was overwhelmed, and although the management team had expanded, he didn't have a day to rest due to the sheer amount of work.

As soon as Aldrich returned, Adam immediately came to the door in a hurry.

He confronted Aldridge and asked, "Boss, are our signings over?" ”

Aldrich was about to look for him, but the other party took the initiative to come to the door, and he was overjoyed, and when he asked this, he shrugged and said, "It's over." ”

Adam slapped his head and said anxiously: "But your transfer fee budget still has 10 million pounds left!" Let's buy another well-known star, which is very effective in enhancing the club's influence and attracting attention from the outside world. ”

Adam doesn't understand and doesn't need to understand things at the competitive level, so he said it very bluntly.

Aldridge shook his head after thinking for a while and said: "No, there is no need to spend money for the sake of money, although buying well-known stars will increase the influence of the team, but in the long run, it will do more harm than good, I want to let the young players see the hope of competing for the main team, and I don't want to spend any more energy rebuilding order in the dressing room." ”

Buying a football star sounds very simple, buy it if you have money.

But Aldridge doesn't think so, especially the stars, the higher the transfer fee, the more the stars have a subconscious positioning of the importance of their own identity, and Aldridge can't gamble.

Adam sighed and sat down, no longer reluctantly.

I just think this boss is overcalculating. Millwall is strong overall. There was also a champion. But it's like their tactical philosophy, advocating teamwork.

The whole team looks strong, but looking at each player individually, I don't think they have big stars, Larsson and Nedved are barely half of them, not to mention the defensive players, in this era, there are only a handful of defensive players who can become big stars.

Aldrich pulled out a document and handed it to Adam. Say, "Look at this." ”

Adam took the document and opened it, a UNICEF introductory document headquartered in London with the background of BAA Group's independent non-profit charity.

Adam thought deeply, BAA Group is the property of the Hall family, which was established by Barnett, and has gained a lot of popularity in Britain and even Europe.

Adam's head spun quickly, and he said, "The owner wants to donate money to this children's charity fund in the name of the team?" Bringing positive publicity to the club? ”

Aldrich blinked and smiled, "Yes and no." If you donate money directly, the publicity effect is temporary. I would like to organise an under-15 youth football charity cup in a way that is sponsored by Millwall FC. There is no restriction on the background of the participating teams, amateur teams or school teams. But the players must not be more than 15 years old, the champion team can get 50,000 pounds, and another 500,000 pounds in the name of the champion team to the Children's Charity Foundation, including the cost of organizing the event, the cost should be around 1 million pounds, this event I hope to be held once a year, I said hello to the FA, they said this is not a professional football event, as long as there is no chaos, we can decide on the rules ourselves. ”

Adam's eyes lit up when he heard this, although the cost is a bit high, but in terms of the club's image promotion and local influence, it is definitely a lot of benefits.

It is especially attractive to the participating teams, with the winner receiving a prize of £50,000 and being able to do good deeds in the name of the team, which is a double fame and fortune.

The most effective way to promote the positive image of the team is to do good deeds.

Players affiliated with Andrew's agency will follow Andrew's advice to visit orphans or injured fans at the end of the season or during the mid-season holidays, and the agency has helped them set up a personal Internet site, although Internet technology has not developed to the level of Twitter and Facebook, and there are not many portals with community interaction, however, Barnett has acquired similar personal blog sites in the United States and entered the publicity stage, so Andrew also opened a personal website for the players, and there are staff to help them maintain it, upload some photos from time to time, and occasionally write a short article similar to "diary", which will attract the attention of many fans.

No club in the Premier League, or even in Europe, has done a better job than Millwall's keeping up with the times, and their official website has been vigorously promoted since it was launched, and now it has nearly 100,000 registered members, and has also opened up online mail-order souvenir sales channels, and after replacing with larger server equipment, at least the cost of website operation can be self-sufficient from online sales.

Coupled with the launch of the official TV station in the summer, the launch of a review program on Aldridge's coaching team in the past three years, and the official website provides introduction videos, and the sales of videos and CDs have shown a hot trend in the past month or so.

"Boss, the people on Puma's side are proposing to launch a new set of jerseys for the new season, are you no longer thinking about it?"

Adam's first priority was to make money for the club, which Aldridge rejected at the end of last season, and now he wants to fight for it, and from his standpoint, he supports Puma's proposal.

Aldridge didn't change his mind, and said lightly: "Forget it, the jersey sponsor hasn't changed, the advertising sponsor on the chest hasn't changed, our team logo hasn't changed, why do you want to come up with a new set of jerseys?" If you really want to do this, fools know that we are changing ways to make money from fans, which is not good for our reputation. If Puma is dissatisfied, blame themselves for not specifying the terms of a new jersey every season in the contract. Next summer, the sponsorship of the jersey and the advertising on the chest will expire, and I don't want to follow up on this matter, and you will take over the whole thing, Adam, I, I don't want you to be a business wizard, and the requirements for you are very simple: the money you should make. Don't make a penny less. You can earn more. It's your ability, I'll be happy, but if the club is just trying to make money and make the fans dissatisfied, when the sky is angry and people are angry, the club will not stand on the opposing side of the fans. ”

Aldrich's words made Adam's face serious, and after nodding heavily, he got up to take his leave.

The money that football clubs make naturally comes from the fan market. Fans watch games, fans buy tickets, fans buy jerseys, fans buy souvenirs, and through the attention to the football club, the football club has a commercial influence, and the advertising value is directly linked to the influence of the fan market.

It's all based on fan loyalty, maybe not just the fans, it's a family, it's generations.

The owner of Manchester United. Whether it is the current Edwards or the future Glazer, they are scolded by Manchester United fans. The root cause is still the excessive commercialization of Manchester United, which is eager to charge for the air at Old Trafford, and the price of tickets has risen again and again, so that there will not even be half of the local fans in the stands at Old Trafford in the future.

Millwall also needs to make money, but Aldridge feels that there should be a bottom line, because his identity is very special, in addition to being a manager, or an owner, if Millwall becomes Manchester United, fans can scold Edwards and like Ferguson, but what about Aldridge? It really becomes a love-hate relationship, and such emotions will divide the fan base and cause a lot of unnecessary conflicts and disputes.

From the establishment of the Premier League to the summer of 97, the tickets of various teams are rising, some even double or three, and Millwall's tickets are also rising in the same period, but the price of Millwall's tickets is ranked outside the top ten of all clubs in the Premier League, the fundamental reason is that the stadium is small and the conditions are poor.

And this, the fans can also accept, they understand that the club needs to improve its competitiveness, naturally not lag behind other teams in terms of income, and the ticket price increase is not large, plus in London, it is the London Premier League team ticket price is only higher than Wimbledon, next season may be a little higher than their other rival Crystal Palace, but these instead make fans accept it at the same time, take it out to mock other neighbors: We spend less than you, but we see more exciting games than you, championship-level games!

Because of this, Aldridge is unanimously supported by the fans, and the Hall family is also revered here.

The day before the training camp, Aldridge held a press conference with four players.

Duff, Van der Meyde, Gudjohnsen, Klose.

Two of them, Donny van der Meyde and Klose, Aldridge originally planned to let them go to the youth team to integrate into the team first, but considering that this was an opportunity for new signings to appear, he brought both of them with him.

Gudjohnsen underwent a medical examination at the club, and at first, Millwall's medical department really couldn't diagnose the strange injury to his ankle, and then took him to a partner specialist for a check-up, only to find out that he had a tendonitis in his ankle that was difficult to diagnose.

It's just that his body has delayed training due to injuries in the past six months, and it may take some time to recover to the level of being able to compete.

The four players took to the press conference with their new shirts, as they were not big names and had zero visibility in the Premier League, so they were free from the process of showing their skills to the fans.

Reporters at the meeting showed little interest in the four players, and Fleet Street thought Millwall's summer signings were terrible!

Buying Van der Meyde from Ajax may be a commendable deal, after all, Ajax produces it and the quality is guaranteed.

Duff, who spent £2 million as the summer club's top signing, has performed well at the World Junior Championships, but has only made seven appearances in the Premier League. He's far from getting a foothold.

Klose, on the other hand, was a complete nobody, and as soon as Fleet Street inquired about his origins, he was immediately speechless to Aldrich.

Playing for a German amateur club, this tall and thin man is 19 years old, is Millwall planning to open a scrap recycling station?

The most criticized is the signing of Gudjohnsen.

The player who was voluntarily terminated by PSV Eindhoven, Millwall is still shameless?

You're the Premier League champions, can you not go outside and be embarrassed like a rag picker!

It was also learned that the reason for the termination was that Gudjohnsen was plagued by injuries, and Fleet Street directly summarized Millwall's summer transfer signings.

"Crippled, crippled, few, weak!"

Goodjohnsen - Crippled.

Klose - waste.

Duff - less.

Van der Meyde - weak.

Against this backdrop, Aldrich, who has always been a celebrity on Fleet Street, was snubbed by reporters.

No one wants to ask about these four players.

So what?

Published in newspapers?

Who-look!

There was silence.

Aldrich's face became a little embarrassed. (To be continued......)