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Chapter 258 The Fate of an Ordinary English League Two Team
After Jamie Olson and his colleague put the maintenance tools back in the tool shed, they returned to a corner of the stadium and looked at the stands they had just inspected.

This is a small stadium that can only hold 5,000 people. There are no seats in the stands on the north and south sides; they are all standing room only.

The walls are covered in marks, all from the long-term trampling of fans.

There is a pillar at intervals in the stands, and these pillars together support the low roof.

The ceiling is so low that one might worry that the view from the top tier of the stands would be completely blocked by the lower edge of the ceiling.

The east stand is the main stand, with a team emblem hanging in the center of the ceiling, flanked by a string of English letters:
EXETER UNITED FC
Exeter United

The colors of these letters are not uniform, and some letters have faded so badly that their original colors are almost unrecognizable.

These are the marks left on the club's name by the sea breeze and sun over the years.

Not only these letters, but also many other marks were left on the ceiling, such as seabird droppings...

"What a great stadium! If only the club could spend some money to renovate the roof, replace some of the lettering, and ideally make it light up at night..." Jamie Olsen exclaimed, looking at the stadium before him.

His colleague laughed: "You said 'as long as the club can spend some money'... Don't you know that the club's biggest problem right now is that it doesn't have any money?"

Olsen sighed, recalling the news he'd seen the previous night about Tyne's entire team returning to Newcastle on a private charter plane after their Champions League match.

Many Tyne fans gathered outside the airport to give the triumphant team another warm welcome.

Unlike when they set off, their welcoming ceremony this time was just as grand, but there were far fewer sarcastic or critical comments online.

Because Tyne returned victorious.

Winners always enjoy many privileges, such as not being criticized.

Olsen was very envious of Tyne's past near bankruptcy, which led to his remarkable transformation after being taken over by a Middle Eastern consortium.

"If only we could have a really rich owner who would buy the club..."

"Don't get your hopes up, Jamie. You'd be better off thinking about when the club will finally pay us the wages they owe us..."

"If we could be acquired by a rich boss, our salary problem could be solved! It would be killing two birds with one stone, wouldn't it be great!"

After hearing his words, the colleague shook his head and said nothing more.

Olsen also felt like he was daydreaming.

He and his colleagues haven't received a single pound of pay from the club for two consecutive months.

Not only him, but also the players, coaches, bus drivers, including the doorman and ticket seller... had no income.

Everyone is persevering out of love and faith in the team.

But no one knows how long this selfless dedication and perseverance, fueled by love, can last.

Despite online fundraising efforts by fans, Exeter United is a small team and cannot have the large fan base of top clubs.

Therefore, these online fundraising efforts have had very little effect.

The club's management has also tried various methods to save itself. Over the past two months, they have been contacting financial groups to take over.

Of course, they didn't expect their team to be like Tyne's, being targeted by a Middle Eastern oil capital consortium.

As long as they can afford to pay to resolve the club's financial crisis and help it pay off its debts, that's fine.

Exeter United is a small club, so its debt burden is not as heavy as that of Premier League teams.

Exeter United fans naively believed this was an advantage for Exeter United, but they were actually very wrong...

Because capital isn't stupid, why would it do something that loses money?
If Exeter United were a Premier League club, there would actually be more interested investors.

What kind of return can taking over a League Two team bring to investors?

No traffic, no fame, no achievements, no large market...

It's important to know that League Two is already the lowest level of professional football in England; below that is the amateur football world.

Since its inception, Exeter United has indeed spent most of its time playing in amateur leagues.

They were promoted to League Two ten years ago.

That day seemed like a festival for this small seaside town in southern England. Everyone was happy that their hometown team had made it to the professional league and was full of wonderful hopes for the future.

They renovated the stadium and added north and south stands.

They also invested more money in player recruitment, acquiring strong players.

It was around that time that Olsen signed a full-time contract with the club.

Everything looks so beautiful.

Exeter United were even promoted to League One two years ago!

This team seems to have a bright future!

So the club invested more money, they upgraded a lot of training facilities, added seats to the north and south stands, and then spent more money to bring in stronger players.

They are preparing to make a big splash in the third tier of English football.

As a result, they only played one season in League One before being relegated back to League Two.

Failing to avoid relegation meant that all the club's huge investments from the previous year had gone down the drain, like the first domino to fall, triggering a series of chain reactions.

Returning to the familiar League Two, Exeter United did not thrive; instead, things got worse.

Although they barely avoided relegation and remained in the professional league last season, many rumors circulated that the club was on the verge of collapse...

These rumors were quickly confirmed—not because the club admitted it, but because everyone discovered that the first team had almost all been sold off…

The new players signed were either free transfers or loaned out, and the team also promoted a large number of young players from the youth team to the first team.

Despite this, it still couldn't stop the club's downward spiral.

The club is already unable to repay its huge debts, and its newly renovated training ground is also facing the fate of being repossessed by the bank... If the situation continues to deteriorate, Exeter United may even be placed under administration!

Once it enters the managed process, things get complicated...

Because if the club cannot find investors to take over after being placed under trusteeship, it will face the ultimate fate of bankruptcy and dissolution.

For a football club, this means utter death.

Even if fans or corporations manage to rebuild a football club in the city in the future, they will not be able to inherit the name and history of Exeter United. They may have to change their name to Exeter City or something else. The past of Exeter United will have nothing to do with the new club.

Who can accept that the person they love deeply has suddenly lost all their memories after a major upheaval, doesn't recognize them at all, and doesn't remember any of the moments they spent together?

Exeter United's fate is now much like this stadium. No matter how much those who love it think it is, it cannot hide the fact that the stadium is falling into disrepair and decay.

In fact, Exeter United has experienced many crises in its history, but this time it seems that the club is heading towards the end of its history.

※※※

Jamie Olsen and his colleagues didn't stay at the stadium for long; they soon finished get off work and left.

In the parking lot outside the football stadium, Olsen, having parted ways with his colleagues, encountered the club's manager, Tom Charlesley.

The other person looked gloomy and distressed.

It seems that the work to find a buyer for the club is not going smoothly.

Nevertheless, Charlesley greeted Olson first: "Are you getting ready to go home, Jamie?"

Including his part-time jobs at the amateur club, Jamie Olsen has worked for this team for thirteen years. Everyone at the club knows him and knows that he is a hardworking and kind person who loves the team.

So even though Charlesley himself was already overwhelmed by the club's financial crisis, he still smiled and greeted Jamie Olsen.

“Yes, the work is done.” Olson and Charlesley were quite familiar with each other, so he asked with concern, “Did things not go well, Mr. Charlesley?”

Charlesley didn't want the atmosphere of despair and pain to spread to this old fan who had loved Exeter United for 35 years.

So he forced a smile and said, "No. We're still trying to communicate with those who are interested, and everything will be fine."

Olsen knew that Charles Lee was lying, and he also understood why the other party was lying to him.

After all, he was just an ordinary stadium maintenance worker. What difference would it make if he knew the truth?

Could he possibly come up with a large sum of money to solve the club's financial crisis?
Of course not.

If he really had that much money, he would definitely save his team without hesitation.

But unfortunately, he didn't. He'll never earn enough money in his lifetime to save Exeter United...

Charles Lee finally said goodbye to Olsen and continued walking towards the club office.

Olsen then got into his car.

Sitting in his car, he didn't drive away immediately. Instead, he was still thinking about how to solve the club's problems, or what else he, as an ordinary fan, could do for the club...

Just then, he thought of Tyne, whom he admired immensely.

They will also be Exeter United's opponent in the next round of the English League Cup.

As a League Two team, reaching the third round of the League Cup requires both luck and outstanding performance.

Exeter United did just that. The vast majority of Exeter United players, who came from the youth team, performed exceptionally well in the first two rounds, and they were also fortunate to draw a fellow League Two opponent in the second round.

If this happened when the club was operating normally, being grouped with Tyne from the Premier League would definitely be something that Exeter United players and fans would be happy about, especially away from home.

According to the rules of the English League Cup, after deducting 10% of the ticket revenue from League Cup matches for the tournament organizers, the remaining 90% is split equally between the two participating teams.

Playing away against a Premier League team means that the Premier League team's stadium is bigger, has more seats, and can generate more ticket revenue.

This is a considerable income for Exeter United, where Wang Lie's annual salary is higher than the team's entire annual budget.

As a League Two team, they don't expect to reach the fourth round of the League Cup, or any later... so making a profit before being eliminated is a good outcome.

As Jamie Olsen thought about this, a rather bold idea suddenly popped into his mind:

Could we ask Tyne to relinquish 45% of their ticket revenue... that is, aside from the 10% that must go to the organizers, give the remaining 90% to Exeter United?

Ticket prices for the League Cup are not uniform; different clubs set different prices, and prices also vary from city to city depending on the city's economic situation.

Assuming tickets for this League Cup match cost £30, and Tyne's home ground, Lisse Park, has a capacity of 65,000, if it's full, the ticket revenue would be...

Olsen took out his phone calculator and did the math, then was stunned by the numbers in front of him:
1950000
He counted several times to confirm that there were four zeros, not three.

It's 1.95 million, not 195,000...

One million nine hundred and fifty thousand!

After deducting the 10% that goes to the organizers, which is 195,000, what's left...

Olsen continued entering numbers into the phone's calculator.

1755000
One million seven hundred and fifty-five thousand!
If this money can be given to Exeter United, it could really temporarily prevent the team from entering administration!
Then, we need to buy some more time for the club's management to find a willing buyer...

The only question is, how many Tyne fans will be able to attend a midweek League Cup match against an opponent from League Two?
Jamie Olsen suddenly knew what he had to do.

He put down his phone, started the car, and drove home.

※※※

Jon Berg pushed open the door of the Miners' Bar. There weren't many people inside in the afternoon. When they saw him, they immediately turned to look at Harry Collins, who was busy behind the bar.

Then someone shouted, "Harry, your father is here!"

That shout made everyone burst into laughter, and the whole bar was instantly filled with a joyful atmosphere.

Jon Berg glared at them: "You guys are so boring!"

Like Tyne's team, he and Harry Collins also took the last flight to Newcastle to go home immediately after yesterday's game.

Although he arrived late last night, he already knew that commentator Connor Cowley had mistaken him and Harry Collins for father and son.

This became a well-known meme in miners' bars.

Harry Collins didn't seem to mind the joke at all: "I don't mind, Mr. Berg is old enough to be my father."

Berg walked up to the bar and said to him, "You don't care, but your dad does."

Everyone laughed again, taking advantage of the fact that their boss, Theo Collins, wasn't around, to tease him relentlessly behind his back.

Tyne won their first-ever Champions League victory in the club's history, and all Tyne fans were overjoyed, as if it were a holiday.

They gathered at the bar, ordered a light beer, and discussed last night's game with others, or scrolled through their phones to see how people were praising Tyne and Wang Lie online.

For these retired old men, it was a pleasant and wonderful afternoon.

And such pleasant and beautiful afternoons have become more and more common this year.

Fumbling for his cold beer mug, and turning to look at his jubilant companions in the room, Jon Berg remarked:
"It's getting better, everything is getting better..."

Robbie Dixie echoed his sentiment, "Yes, it's unbelievable. Just four years ago, we almost went bankrupt! Back then, all I thought about was keeping the club afloat, even if it meant playing in the Championship. Results were never even on my mind..."

In 2033, Tyne is mired in a massive debt crisis and is about to enter bankruptcy administration.

Ultimately, almost on the verge of being taken over, the club was acquired by oil capital from the Middle East.

So unlike other fans who were unhappy that their team was controlled by foreign capital, Tyne fans were particularly happy and welcoming that Middle Eastern oil capital was interested in their team.

Jon Berg and Robbie Dixie were reminiscing, while Ryan was scrolling through his phone when he saw a video.

After watching it, he suddenly shouted excitedly, "Look!"

Then he handed the phone to Robbie Dixie and Jon Berg.

Berg immediately recognized that the person in the video cover was wearing an Exeter United home jersey.

"What's wrong?" Berg asked curiously.

Ryan pressed the play button, and the person in the video came to life. He was sitting in his chair, speaking to the camera:

"Dear Tyne fans, hello! My name is Jamie Olsen, and I'm an Exeter United fan. Exeter United will be your opponent in the third round of the League Cup next week. Perhaps you don't know us very well, so please allow me to give you a brief introduction to what kind of team Exeter United is..."

Robbie Dixie laughed when he saw this: "What? You're telling us about our League Cup opponents so easily?"

Harry Collins said: "Isn't it unnecessary? It's just a League Two team. As long as we keep playing our own football, beating Exeter United won't be a problem."

"...We are a small team in Exeter, and for a long time we were an amateur team. We were only promoted to League Two ten years ago, becoming a truly professional team. Our best result was in the 2035-2036 season, when we participated in League One. But now we have been relegated back to League Two..."

Because of Ryan's earlier outburst, more and more people gathered around the Miners' Bar, wanting to see what this Exeter United fan had said.

To be honest, they, located in the northeast corner of England, really knew nothing about Exeter United in the southwest corner of England.

After all, there are countless football teams in England, and Tyne had never had any dealings with Exeter United before.

People didn't take this League Cup match seriously, thinking the outcome was a foregone conclusion.

That's why they were curious about what kind of tricks this Exeter United fan would pull.

Jamie Olsen continued talking in the video, and not just simply speaking to the camera; he also showed some photos and videos of Exeter United.

So everyone saw the dilapidated stadium.

But no one reacted.

Because situations like this are not uncommon in lower leagues, what's the difference between Exeter United and other lower league teams?

"...As you can see from my introduction, Exeter United is an ordinary team, nothing special. There are countless teams like us in England, nothing remarkable about us. But for an Exeter United fan like me, this team is unique and irreplaceable. Because it's my hometown team, this team carries so much of my emotion and so many memories."

“I’m 41 years old this year, but I’ve been supporting Exeter United for 35 years – when I was six, my father took me to watch my first Exeter United game from the sidelines. Back then, Exeter United’s home ground wasn’t like what you just saw; it was just a grass field with a wooden stand on one side…”

Jamie Olsen then went on to recount some more stories about his time with Exeter United.

These stories didn't elicit any reaction from the onlookers, Tyne's fans, because similar stories had happened to them as well; in fact, it could be said that any fan of an English team has a similar story.

Who hasn't supported their hometown team since birth?

Who wasn't taken to the stadium by their parents to watch a game when they were five or six years old?
So Robbie Dixie asked Ryan impatiently, "What's so interesting about this?"

Ryan pointed at the screen and said, "Keep watching, Robbie. Keep going."

Jamie Olsen in the video says:
"...But my hometown team is mired in a severe financial crisis and could be placed under administration at any moment. Although Exeter United fans have launched an online fundraising campaign, it has had little effect—who cares about the fate of a fourth-tier English team with no glorious past or memorable achievements? Besides, there are so few of us Exeter United fans; even if everyone contributed, it would still be difficult to save our team..."

"So the reason I'm introducing my hometown team to Tyne fans today is because I have a difficult request to make. I know I'm not qualified to say this, but I still want to help my team. Please forgive me, forgive an ordinary fan's impulsive and presumptuous request so as not to lose the team they love."

"I beg that next Wednesday, when Tyne hosts Exeter United, my dear Tyne fans, you will all be able to come to the stadium to watch this game, which is a foregone conclusion for you. I also beg that Tyne FC will donate all the ticket revenue from our match against you to Exeter United..."

Robbie Dixie was stunned when he heard these words: "Huh?"

(End of this chapter)