Chapter 1069: It's not a bad idea to buy a football team for fun

Henry looked determined, as if he wanted to persuade Xia Yu to join him, and he truly loved Chelsea. Xia Yu laughed silently.

He and Elena exchanged glances, then looked again at Henry, who was beaming with anticipation, and nodded. 'Okay, I've been to the UK so many times, but I've never been to a football match before!'

'I promise you won't be disappointed. Liverpool are very strong, but Chelsea definitely won't lose!' Henry said, his spirits lifted.

'Okay, Henry, if you want to keep the energy to cheer for Chelsea, then you must fill your stomach now.'

Hearing his sister's words, Henry calmed down a little. He shrugged and muttered to himself, 'Maybe, you're right!'

After that, he continued to enjoy his breakfast.

...

After breakfast, Xia Yu and Elena accompanied Henry to meet up with his classmates, and then they all took a car to Stamford Bridge.

Stamford Bridge is Chelsea's home stadium, located on Fulham Road in the Fulham district of the west, close to the River Thames and the famous Kings Road.

The stadium was officially opened in 1877, and for the first 28 years it was used almost exclusively by the London Sports Club as a venue for athletic meets rather than as a football stadium.

It was not until 1904 that H. A. Mills and his brother J. T. Mills obtained ownership, having previously acquired a plot of land for a large market near the stadium. They planned to build a football team on the 12.5-acre site. Initially, the pitch was intended for use by Fulham Football Club, but Fulham Football Club declined the opportunity as they were using the cheaper Craven Farm.

Unable to do anything about it, the unwilling Mills brothers resolved to set up a football club themselves.

As the name 'Fulham Football Club', which had previously represented the Fulham district, was already taken, the Mills brothers chose from the proposals 'Stanford Bridge Football Club', 'Kensington Club', 'Chelsea Club' and 'London Club', and finally 'Chelsea Football Club' became the name.

It is interesting to note that Fulham is next to the Kensington and Chelsea district, which is also a wealthy area.

So if a foreigner who is not familiar with English football comes to London, they will easily think that Chelsea FC is located in the Chelsea district, without realising that it is actually in the Fulham district.

Elena's place is in the Fulham district, so Xia Yu and the others arrived outside Stamford Bridge in about five minutes.

At this time, there were already a large number of fans queuing to check in for the match. Xia Yu, who had no shortage of money, naturally bought the best seats, and even exchanged tickets for Henry's classmates, so that everyone could gather together, mainly for safety reasons.

After checking in, everyone found their seats with the tickets they had begged, and arrived at the entrance to the West Stand seats. Not far away was the sculpture of Chelsea's King Osgood.

Since the match had not yet started, Xia Yu and Elena, who were sitting together, chatted idly, while Henry had a good time chatting with a group of classmates.

As time gradually passed, more and more fans from both sides entered the stadium, and Stamford Bridge became increasingly noisy.

When the Liverpool team in red jerseys and the Chelsea team in blue jerseys entered the stadium, the deafening cheers of the entire stadium broke out along with the music. In this atmosphere, Xia Yu felt his blood pumping.

After the players had been introduced, the two teams spread out, and with a whistle, the match officially began.

However, just a minute or so after the match started, the Reds launched an explosive attack. Ian Rush, a Liverpool star just 20 years old, was showing off his skills, carrying the ball towards Chelsea's goal.

At this time, many fans who had not yet entered the stadium were attracted by the loud screams of surprise, and they urgently turned their attention to the football pitch.

'Oh my god, tackle him!'

'Go on, stop him!'

Henry and the others next to Xia Yu covered their heads in alarm, panicking at Chelsea's situation.

Xia Yu's eyes narrowed slightly as he stared at the red figure charging forward with the ball, and a thought flashed through his mind.

Ian Rush, it seems, was the super striker of the later Liverpool Reds, the holder of Liverpool's scoring record, and was even hailed by fans and the media as the greatest striker in Welsh history.

Just as Xia Yu was pondering, Ian Rush and his teammates worked in perfect harmony to break into Chelsea's territory. Then, facing a two-man siege, he passed the ball to his teammate Kenny Dalglish. This super striker, who was even more mature and composed than Ian Rush, received the ball and directly volleyed it, sending the ball flying along the grass and into the net before the goalkeeper could get down and block it!

Two minutes and thirty-two seconds into the game, the Reds scored a goal!

The stadium fell silent for a moment, and then the Reds fans let out a deafening roar of joy, while the even larger group of Blues fans let out a chorus of groans and head-banging, as if they couldn't believe that their team had conceded so quickly!

For a moment, there was a cacophony of abuse, wailing and even crying.

XIA Yu glanced at Henry, who was wailing, but shook his head.

He had already remembered that it seemed that the late 1970s and the entire 1980s belonged to Liverpool, a legend belonging to the Reds.

Under the command of famous Reds managers such as Shankly, Paisley and Fagan, the Reds were like a ferocious red machine, quickly crushing all obstacles in their path. They won eleven league championships, four European Cup championships, four League Cup championships, three FA Cup championships, two UEFA Cup championships and one European Super Cup championship in seventeen years, establishing the Reds as the dominant force in English football.

Thanks to Liverpool, English football has created a red storm in Europe, which has made many opponents fearful.

The famous Red Army manager Shankly also shouted out some classic words, such as:

"There is no best football team in the world, because the best football teams in the world have all been fucking eliminated by Liverpool!'

'There are only two football teams in the world, one is called Liverpool and the other is called Liverpool Youth!'

...

There are many famous quotes like these.

It was only 1981, and the Heysel disaster, which ended Liverpool's glory, had not happened until four years later in history. At this time, the Reds were at the peak of their powers, and Chelsea would have a hard time beating them!

Even if they had the home advantage!

Suddenly, Xia Yu seemed to have thought of something, stroked Elena's hand, and whispered in her ear, 'Elena, do you remember where Chelsea and Liverpool are in the league standings? I seemed to hear Henry mention it on the bus just now, but I didn't remember.'

Elena gave a sweet smile and whispered, 'I remember that Liverpool is in first place overall, and Chelsea is in 19th place, just one goal difference from 20th place.'

'I see,'

Xia Yu said with a smile and a nod.

At the time, there was no Premier League that would later resound throughout the world, and there was not even the Championship. The top league in England was the First Division, which had 22 teams, two more than the Premier League in later years.

According to the rule that the bottom three teams would be relegated, Chelsea was currently in 19th place, on the verge of relegation.

With the same number of points as the twentieth-placed team, and only one goal difference, it is expected that Chelsea will have to enter the relegation zone after this match.

As Xia Yu had predicted,

no matter how the Chelsea fans cheered and how hard Chelsea fought in the following time, they could not beat Liverpool.

Throughout the game, the Chelsea defence was completely torn apart by Liverpool.

The group of blue-collar Chelsea players were no match for Liverpool's group of top players.

With the sound of the whistle, the game ended, and the score was 4-1, to the helpless wailing of the Blues fans!

Chelsea had fallen into the relegation zone, and the situation was critical!

After leaving the stadium, Xia Yu took Henry's classmate home, and then, together with Elena, took Henry to an upscale garden restaurant.

Looking at Henry, who was still very upset, Xia Yu exchanged glances with Elena, then moved his stool and sat next to Henry, patting him on the shoulder and smiling, 'Hey, Henry, cheer up, the league season has only been going on for three months, and it's still early in the year. Chelsea still has many chances, and just because they're in last place now doesn't mean they'll stay there forever.'

Henry looked up, his eyes a little shimmering, and tried his best to explain to Xia Yu: 'Today was just Liverpool's lucky day. In fact, Chelsea is very strong, it's just that...'

'Okay, I can't make this up anymore, Chelsea really sucks, the team I like is doing very poorly, I'm in a terrible mood today!'

'I'm sorry for asking you to come and watch such a bad match with me, I shouldn't have invited you.'

Xia Yu smiled and patted Henry on the shoulder, saying again, 'Henry, it's fine. Chelsea losing to Liverpool is nothing to be ashamed of. Look over the years, how many European giants have lost to Liverpool? There should be quite a few with even wider scores. Cheer up, it's nothing. As long as Chelsea continues to work hard, there's still a chance.'

Henry looked dejected when it came to opportunities, shaking his head and sighing, 'The chances are so slim. Chelsea has no money, it has financial problems, and now the results are so bad, it has entered a vicious cycle.'

'Maybe next year, Chelsea will be relegated to the second division. Chelsea is a team of the rich. In fact, the football market in London is very good, and the market is far larger than Liverpool's. It's just that the management is terrible. The Mills family has heard that there are financial problems again and they no longer have money to invest in transfers.'

'Without any star players and unable to buy any rising stars, when will Chelsea be able to create its own dynasty?'

Xia Yu's expression changed slightly, and he asked Henry, 'Henry, Chelsea is in financial crisis?'

Henry didn't notice Xia Yu's change, and he subconsciously said, 'Yes, Chelsea FC itself is in debt, and the Mills family's expansion of Stamford Bridge has caused financial strain. The stadium expansion project has now stopped.'

Xia Yu looked puzzled, nodded slightly, and a thought popped into his head.

Maybe this is an opportunity.

It's not bad to buy a team to play with...