Chapter 2: New Manchester United
CH2 New Manchester United
Droylsden is a long-time amateur team in England's lower leagues, with a crumbling old stadium that holds up to 3,000 fans and is still mainly standing seats only.
This is an extremely ordinary amateur team among the more than 7,000 football clubs in England, and their owner David Pace is just a not-so-rich clothing merchant in Manchester, although he does look quite fat; meanwhile, in the history of Droysden, their home stadium has almost never been full.
But such an amateur team, in such an old stadium, has become the focus of attention throughout England and even European football overnight.
Droylsden obviously has no such attraction. What really attracts the attention of the media and fans is Manchester United, a new Manchester United that has only just decided to form, it is in the process of selecting players to join on a trial basis and is funded by the most ardent fans of Manchester United.
At one point, the cars of visiting fans and media filled the parking lot outside the Droysden Butcher's Knife Stadium and even the traffic on Marquette Street was severely stalled.
Although this is not the main Manchester city, to not hinder the access of the surrounding residents, the police department still sent several police officers to the scene to help those fans who have volunteered to help maintain order, as well as to divert the traffic.
"Hello, where is the registration office?" A young man carrying a travel bag commonly used by players came to the security guard at the stadium gate to inquire.
"Turn to the right then directly in front, the spot with the most people is where you want to go!" The old guard said as he put his hand out the window and pointed to the field.
"Oh, thanks!" The young man instantly trotted his way inside.
Entering the stadium through the passageway, he saw that there are fans all over the stands, all wearing red Manchester United shirts, and if those who didn't know what was going on looked at them, they might have thought that a Manchester United match was being held here.
Looking at the familiar red jersey, the young man smiled and looked around, finding the field was segregated into three parts, the outermost being the registration office pointed out by the security uncle just now, where it was crowded with people, and a sunshade propped up high with a sign saying registration office hanging on it.
"Hey, I'm only 62, I'm not as old as you guys say, I can still play football and I'm pretty good at it, ask them if you don't believe me!" An old man with fading white hair pointed at his companions behind him and protested with discontent.
Behind him was also a group of older people, all about his age, who were apparently also here for the try-out.
But at such an old age, when you get to the field, can you still run? The young man thought with amusement as he walked past, but he still couldn't help but respect the drive shown by the old men.
It is assumed that they will come here for the same reason as himself, out of a desire to carry on their feelings for the old Manchester United to this new unique club.
"Uh, there's still a physical fitness test?" In the queue, a middle-aged fat man who looked at least a hundred kilograms or more pointed to the physical fitness test area inside, sweating profusely.
Looking at his body, I'm afraid there is no chance he can run anymore when he's on the field!
"I'd better just quit now, I'm just here to make up the numbers, if I knew there was going to be so many people today, I wouldn't have come," when it was the fat man's turn, the fat man smilingly took the initiative to confess to the registration staff, "By the way, my name is Jim, I'm a cab driver, this is my phone number, if you need anything, just call me, I can guarantee to come quick, also I would not charge!"
After saying that, the fat man happily walked out of the crowd and went towards the stands.
"Hello!" It was the young man's turn, and as he stepped forward, he offered a greeting.
"Hello!" The registration officer stared at the young man for a moment and asked in confusion, "Excuse me, how old are you?"
"Thirteen years old!" The young man replied with a grin, "I'm from London."
There was an uproar from the crowd lined up around them. A 13-year-old had come all the way from London to attend the new Manchester United trial?
The registration officer had a hard time looking at the excited young man in front of him, obviously not willing to throw cold water on him, but the officer had no choice but to comply with the rules for selecting players.
"I'm really sorry, but you have to be at least 16 years old for this selection, so unfortunately you can't participate, I'm really sorry!" The registration officer replied politely.
The teenager froze and quickly became anxious, "No, you see, even though I am only 13 years old, look at my height, I'm definitely not shorter than a 16-year-old, and my body is very strong, I have worked out hard from childhood, I play centerback, please believe me, I can definitely meet the team's requirements!"
"I'm really sorry!" The registration officer was full of apologies, after all, this avid Manchester United fan had come all the way from London.
The young man froze, no longer was he optimistic and cheerful, his eyes became cloudy, his pupils moving in a panic.
"I ... I can do it without the pay, or I can be a substitute, I ... I ..."
"Sorry, it's the rules from the FA, I'm really sorry!" The answer for him was still a refusal.
The teenager bit his lips, forcing himself not to cry, and he squeezed out a smile, nodding towards the staff, "That's Fine!
After saying that, the teenager quickly turned around to leave.
"Oh, wait!" The staff couldn't help but stand up and call out to him.
The teenager turned around wondering what he was called for.
"Can you leave your phone number? When our club forms a youth team, we'll let you know!"
The teenager smiled at once, nodding heavily, he ran back, picked up a pen, and wrote down his address and phone number in the record book, each letter being written very carefully and clearly, as if afraid that others would not be able to see it clearly, and finally his name.
Curtis Davies!
"What a cute little red devil!" The staff member said with a smile as they watched Curtis leave.
This interaction that happened at the registration office didn't attract much attention, but Xiao Yu, who walked out from inside the office, happened to see it clearly and it gave him a big shock.
As an avid fan, Xiao Yu could clearly remember the persistent pursuit of this teenager.
Suddenly, Xiao Yu understood, why Andy Walsh and the other people obviously felt they needed to help, but even though it is mostly busy work, their smiles are still full.
"Ahem, I really envy you guys!" A fat middle-aged man came over from a distance and came up to Xiao Yu, "We at Droysden have never been treated as well as you guys, you are a very popular team!"
"Mr. Pace, you are too modest. With your support, Droysden is getting better and better, and I believe it will soon be promoted to the National League, and with a little more effort, it will not be a problem to be promoted to the English Third Division."
When he had finally recovered, Xiao Yu when in the office, forced himself to accept the fact that he had transmigrated and absorbed the memories of the original British Xiao Yu to avoid revealing himself in his words and actions.
"It is so simple, football nowadays is all about money, without money, you simply can't play, so if your team wants to make a difference, there's still a long way to go!" David Pace said smilingly.
When Xiao Yu was preparing to build a new club, David Pace had given him a lot of advice and help, even the venue for this trial was borrowed for free, if not because of the identity of Manchester United fans, David Pace would not have been so generous.
In addition, since David Pace is in the clothing business, he decided to provide free jerseys and socks to every player of Xiao Yu's new club, all of which Xiao Yu appreciated greatly.
But David Pace's words reminded Xiao Yu that money is crucial for a football club.
However, since the new club has just been established and is in the lower leagues of England, and it is quite difficult to find sponsorships at this level, so that can only be solved by Xiao Yu himself.
"By the way, how's the name of your club coming along?" David Pace lights a cigarette, he knows Xiao Yu doesn't smoke so he wasn't being polite.
"We were going to call it FC United, but the FA rejected it, so we had to choose between four others, "FC United Manchester ", "FC Manchester Central", "AFC Manchester 1878", and "Newton Heath UnitedFC".
"Oh well, they're all linked to Manchester United, so whichever one is chosen, it's sure to get the support of the fans!" David Pace was happy to hear that because of the names said, he felt that he had not been wrong to give Xiao Yu the help in the first place.
"But still, it's best to speed things up with registration, after all, it's June now and the league kicks off in August, so the time is short." Pace put away his smile and said urgently, "Besides, I've checked for you, there are still some vacancies in the North West England Division Two this year, you're a newly founded team, apply and you should be able to join straight away and play in the competition."
Xiao Yu nodded in agreement, a newly formed club must start from the lowest level of competition, even if his team is branded as the "new Manchester United" by the media, it still does not change the rules of the FA.
Xiao Yu suddenly thought of a problem, he hadn't even chosen a manager for the team yet!
Geez, these guys must have been so busy organizing everything that they forgot about it.
"Well, you guys are busy, and I have to check out the factory, so I'll be off!" David Pace saw Andy Walsh hurrying over and knew that something must be up, so he decided to leave.
No sooner had Pace left on his front foot than Walsh leaned over, looking mystified.
"Xiao Yu!"
"Huh!" Xiao Yu was still thinking about the head coach.
"You know what? There was someone extraordinary over at the registration office just now!" Walsh spoke with great excitement.
"Well, who is it? David Beckham?" Xiao Yu asked with a smile.
"No, no, no, Beckham is preparing for the World Cup in France, how can he have time to come to us!" Andy Walsh balked.
"Who is it? Are they here to sign up?" Xiao Yu's interest was piqued.
"Of course!" Andy Walsh was quite sure.
Xiao Yu clearly took the bait, "A superstar?"
Andy Walsh nodded his head.
"From Manchester United?"
Andy Walsh nodded his head again.
"Who?" Xiao Yu got excited.
"Giggs!"
Xiao Yu was completely dumbfounded!
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