Chapter 32: Summer in a Small Town

If football is compared to the stock market, then this season's stock reviews can basically conclude that Real Madrid is the biggest "bear" - the six superstars and tons of gold made of the Galaxy Battleship are actually empty, and the stock value has plummeted to an all-time low. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

And Blake can be regarded as the strongest "cow", almost all of them are some previously unknown players who have won the Premier League championship trophy for two consecutive years, and reached the Champions League final, and finally won the championship in one fell swoop.

The record prowess has skyrocketed the value of Blackburn players to an all-time high: 285.3 million euros, compared to just 78.6 million euros in the European market two years ago, and in a short period of time, Blackburn Rovers has accumulated a surplus of more than 200 million euros, a growth rate of more than 300%. What's so amazing about this?

As it turns out, three years ago, Carvalho only spent Blackburn Rovers €5 million for a transfer fee, and now he has been named in the 2003-04 European Team of the Year, and his value has risen to €28.3 million. The same is true for Finnam, who spent millions of pounds on Blackburn Rovers and will have to pay at least €20 million for any club to bid today. Jiuli is also a 7 million buy, but now the selling price will not be less than 25 million euros, which can be regarded as a popular killer.

Compared with them, there is also a group of wealth picked up for nothing, the most famous of which is Friedel, in 2000 he came to Blackburn Rovers for zero value, a big son did not spend, four years of hard work, many clean sheets in the Champions League, two seasons of the best goalkeeper in the Premier League and strong fighting spirit, his personal value has also jumped from zero to 20 million euros, I am afraid this is also the only one in European football, which shareholder does not snap up this stock that is the head into the water.

In a similar situation is Mendieta, who was also worth a cabbage when he moved from Lazio, but now his value has at least multiplied. Ibrahimovic spent less than 10 million on the transfer fee when he joined, and now the Champions League Golden Boot, once transferred, is likely to become one of the most expensive transfer players in football history.

For Blackburn, these people are a big pie that has fallen from the world.

It is worth emphasizing that among the 27 players in Blackburn's current squad, all of them have increased in value without exception, the difference is only the amount of value, and the trend is all up.

For example, Stam was the most expensive two years ago, with a market value of 30 million euros, and because the base is too large, the increase is naturally the lowest, only rising to 32 million, and it is the only one that has not increased by more than 50%. Looking around the European powers, there are very few that can have such an effect.

Half an hour after the Champions League final at Schalke Stadium, the Champions League winner's award ceremony began on time, and when Blackburn captain Jeff Kenner and Duff, who was supported by his teammates due to injury, lifted the Champions League trophy together, the sky over the Europa continent was boiling!

"Hooray! Blackburn! ”

At this time, a similar scene was also being staged in various bars in the city of Black.

"We are finally a force to be reckoned with in European football!" Arthur saw the streamers flying behind the podium, and his heart was full of excitement!

The UEFA Champions League is almost 50 years old since the 1955-56 season, and in the blink of an eye, Real Madrid is the team with the most appearances, titles, wins, goals and records in the history of the Champions League, and is also the holder of the above records, with a total of 366 points that no other European power can surpass.

Although Bayern Munich, the "green giant" of the Bundesliga, was defeated by Real Madrid in the first round of the knockout round, it has achieved good results in recent seasons and is currently in the second place in the overall standings.

AC Milan was eliminated by La Coruna in La Liga away from home, but because of the better results than Juventus, the total points surpassed Juventus to rise to 3rd, and Juventus, who had reached the final for 3 consecutive seasons from the 95-96 season, fell to 4th place in the total points due to poor results in recent seasons.

Blackburn, the champion of this season, also reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League last season, plus participated in the Champions League during the Jack Walker period, so after the final, he unexpectedly tied for 10th place with the Liverpool team that "ate" the old Ben.

In addition, in the top 10, Portugal's Benfica, Ukraine's Dynamo Kyiv and the Netherlands' Ajax are all teams that are eating the old record of the Champions Cup, and their rankings have stagnated and fallen; The new Red Devils of England, Deportivo La Coruna and Barcelona, Spain, although they have been steadily rising, have struggled to reach a higher level and achieve better results.

The day after Blackburn's victory, England newspapers reported heavily on Blackburn's Champions League title on the front page.

The Times, one of the most authoritative newspapers in England, reported with a red headline "King of Europe" that Blackburn defeated Deportivo La Coruna in Germany on the evening of the 26th and won the Champions League for the first time.

The Sun reported Blackburn's victory on the front page with a large photograph and emphasised that Blackburn's 3-1 win over a strong opponent showed absolute superiority, and it was reasonable for each player to win 100,000 euros.

The sporting newspaper The Les Les (Teams) said that the new champions, Blackburn, who had reached the top of European football for the first time in 100 years since their founding, achieved the highest honours that the president of the advanced club, Arthur and his grandfather, Jack Walker, could not achieve.

While reporting on Blackburn's victory at great length, Izvestia also broke the news that Chelsea owner Abram admired Blackburn coach Jose Mourinho and invited him to coach Chelsea.

British state and government leaders also congratulated Blackburn on their victory. British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Blackburn's Europa League title was an incentive for the whole country, especially the upcoming European club title ahead of the European Championship in Portugal.

While the Blackburn family anxiously awaited the hero's triumph, tens of thousands of Blackburn Rovers fans remained in distant Germany.

Although they couldn't make it to their flight home in time, they gathered in the square in the center of the city to witness the moment Arthur and Eevee and other Blackburn Club members stepped on the charter flight.

The Blackburn Post proudly declared, "No one would think that such a celebration would ever be repeated one day." But on Thursday night, it was repeated several times. ”

At 4 a.m. on the 27th, when the Blackburn team members excitedly returned to their hometowns with cups, there was a joyous climax at the airport and in Blackburn, and as a result, one in five local office workers took sick leave or did not go to work for various reasons the next day.

James, the head of a private business group in Blackburn, said that according to members, the absenteeism rate at the units that day was as high as about 20 percent, and that the figure did not include those who had already scheduled leave in advance.

"But there are a variety of reasons for not coming to work, and many people call to tell them they have a headache." James said.

On Thursday afternoon, less than hours after returning to Blackburn, Blackburn began a celebratory parade that drew more than 300,000 fans from all over the country. Blackburn's urban population is only 100,000.

"It's exactly what the city needs right now." Here's what one fan said.

Indeed, after all these years, Blackburn has never been so excited and proud.

At the celebration banquet after the game last Wednesday, Arthur, who is the club's president, was invited to say a few words.

But Arthur refused, and instead pointed at his players and said, "They created all this, and it should belong to them." ”

"The whole country is proud of you." British Prime Minister Tony Blair also said in a text message to Arthur.

A day later, Her Majesty also sent a message of praise, "This achievement will be remembered by Blackburn and the whole country." ”

What kind of carnival is this?

The march began at 7 p.m., and 300,000 fans had already surrounded the streets.

The children dyed their hair half blue and half white, and people even wore their own dogs in Blackburn colors. Fans climbed onto the top of the traffic lights, street lights, and the glass roof of the train station, and despite the madness, they didn't cause trouble for the police.

Some of the foreign Blackburn fans also arrived on this day to join in the revelry. The 23-year-old from Sweden enthused: "As a Blackburn Rovers fan, I have to come and see my team at this time. Last night was simply the most wonderful night of my life. ”

An 11-year-old fan named Gareth Bale also kept the Italian newspaper from last Thursday as a souvenir. 'Just when we were levelised, I thought something was wrong. Then we won and I was crazy with joy! ”

His father, Frennotdine, said: "This is the first time we've seen Blackburn win the Champions League for my kids and for me, but I'm sure it's not the only one! ”

You only have to look at the look on the faces of these Blackburn Rovers fans to see what the Champions League title means to them.

Richly decorated floats slowly drove out of the plaza, and Jeff Kenner and other Blackburn players stood on the top floor of the floats. When Jeff Kenner and Duff, who needed to recuperate for a month due to injury, came to the front with the Champions League trophy and the St. Bride Cup, the fans around the float burst into cheers.

"No matter how many times I have such a scene, I will never get tired of it." The players were in front of the fans cheering and adoring, but Mourinho and Arthur were at the back of the float.

"José, listen to their cheers, you have climbed to a high place in their minds. Nothing but you has been able to bring the team to this position. Arthur pointed to the fans around the float and praised Jose Mourinho.

'Arthur, you're the best chairman I've ever met and known, so don't worry, I've torn up the Chelsea invitation and thrown it down the toilet." Mourinho knew that Arthur had already known about his acceptance of Abu's invitation, so he chose to be honest about this celebratory occasion.

"Well, no matter what kind of high salary Stamford Bridge gives you, I will match it without hesitation." Arthur made his promise that although Mourinho would not be at Blackburn until retirement as Alex Ferguson did for Manchester United, Arthur did not want to let Mourinho go until a more suitable manager for Blackburn was found.

And, from a long-term perspective, Arthur wants to "break up peacefully" with every first-team manager, rather than being accustomed to "copying coaches" like Real Madrid.

At this time, as the float slowly moved forward, fans along the way saw several team captains such as Jeff Kenner, Duff and Frank Lampard, who were holding the St. Bride Cup at the front of the float, and raised their hands excitedly to cheer from the bottom of their hearts.

Among them, there were also many cheers for Arthur, who was standing among the players and was inconspicuous, and listening to the cheers given to him by the fans, Arthur felt very comfortable.

"It's no wonder that everyone likes to succeed and be praised, it's hard to forget!"

Half an hour later, the floats were slowly arriving at Ewood Park, where the festivities reached their peak and tens of millions of fans sang Blackburn's new anthem, "Guns and Roses."

Inside the Ewood Park stadium, packed with elated fans, it definitely exceeded the reasonable capacity of the Ewood Park stadium, but who cares?

When Jeff Kenner handed over the Blackburn Club emblem to Arthur, the celebration reached the pinnacle of today's fan enthusiasm!

"We show people that miracles exist in this world!" Arthur spoke to the crowd and the media around the world through a microphone in the heart of Ewood Park.

"We pushed ourselves to the limit with high passion and full fighting spirit, and made the impossible possible! It won't be our only Champions League trophy, we have the right to defend it and we will definitely fight for more honours! Believe me, stay with me, let's witness more brilliant brilliance belonging to Blackburn Rovers! ”

The festivities continued in the small town of Blackburn, with buses arriving at the site of the construction of Blackburn's future new stadium around 9:30pm. By this time, it was already dark, and all the buildings around the new stadium that had been laid were lit up, as well as the more than 50,000 fans who had been waiting here for a long time.

"It's the best place in the world right now." A local Blackburn fan was overwhelmed with emotion.

Another fan shouted at the reporter's camera: "We are the kings of Europa, even if I die at this moment, I will die without regrets!" ”

In any case, the people of the small town of Blackburn will continue to carry on this party to the end.

In their hearts living in this obscure town, Blackburn Rovers Football Club is their greatest pride and pride, and joy and pride fill the summer of this year's small city of Blackburn. (To be continued.) )