"Let me officiate this game?"

"Yes. What do you think? ”

"I don't have any problems. Whenever it was a Premier League game, I didn't have any problems. ”

Jack was more surprised this time.

It is the power of the chief referee to arrange for a Premier League referee to officiate a Premier League match. Formerly Philip. When Don was there, he was very strong. Very strong arrangement of Premier League referee matches.

Nominally, there are meetings of Premier League referees every two weeks, but nothing substantive is discussed. It's just a convention, everyone comes over for coffee, chats, and adds some feelings.

Strong Philip. Don doesn't need any advice from the Premier League referee. Every time, I discussed with those old referees and top referees, and then directly announced the list of referees for the game. I won't ask for the advice of the Premier League referees.

But Keith. After Hackett came up, he was better than Philip. Tang democracy is much more.

Basically, there is a meeting to decide.

However, this can sometimes become a problem. Although it was a meeting of the Premier League referees, it was the old referees and the top referees who really spoke. Those young referees and junior referees don't really have much opportunity to speak. And even if they say anything, it has no weight, and no one will listen to them.

It looks like a meeting of Premier League referees, but it's still the same people who decide.

In the end, it is not only a waste of time, but also no different from the original. The Premier League referees who attended the meeting were even more unhappy than they had been. It turns out that how the above is arranged, how they can play.

But you're calling us to a meeting now, and then you don't have any say yet. This makes them even more aggrieved. It's all about playing tricks on us.

And when the Premier League is intensive, where is there time for frequent meetings. Although now the referees are professional. The referee's income has risen a lot. A top referee like Jack officiates Premier League matches, League Cup matches, FA Cup matches just in English football. The tournaments earned £100,000 alone.

However, most of the referees are still part-time.

Many people have not given up on their old jobs. In this way, they can't compare to Jack and Webb, who have no other jobs. They have no problem officiating games on Saturdays and Sundays, and occasionally officiating games when they are not resting.

But every day when they ask for leave and come over for messy meetings, they are not satisfied.

Why?

If they can decide something, they can understand. But now at the Premier League referee meeting, they are just playing soy sauce, so what does it matter if they come or not.

It's just Christmas and it's over. For next year's race, Keith. Hackett is going to have another Premier League referee meeting. But Keith. Hackett found Jack before the meeting.

Talk to Jack and hear what Jack has to say.

Keith. Hackett is going to set up a game for Jack that has some alternatives.

It was the race on January 1, 2003, New Year's Day.

Everton host Manchester City.

It's actually a very simple game. Everton are currently fifth in the Premier League, while Manchester City are ninth. Neither team is a Premier League powerhouse, and this game is a match between mid-tier teams at best.

Getting Jack to enforce the law, it's a very simple question.

Jack has officiated a lot of games in the Premier League, including the north London derby. And the World Cup, the Champions League, the League Cup. Jack is also very experienced. I don't know how many emergencies have been dealt with. Officiating a small Everton vs Manchester City game was a piece of cake for Jack.

Keith is not needed either. Hackett himself came over to give Jack the task of the game. Just arrange for Jack to officiate this game.

But Keith. Hackett solemnly came over to talk to Jack about it.

"Okay. Then it's up to you to enforce the game. ”

"Okay."

Jack has something inexplicable. Keith. Did Hackett just talk to Jack in advance in order to talk to himself about this? Could it be that in the Premier League match on January 1, some heavyweight matches have other referees taking over? So come over and calm yourself down?

With Jack's current status in the refereeing world of English football, every round of the game is a big deal. And the Premier League's annual strong dialogue. Some must be given to Jack, that's for sure.

So after receiving this task. Anyway, Jack is inexplicable.

But since it's Keith. Hackett didn't say, and Jack didn't ask. Anyway, officiating the match between Everton and Manchester City. It can't be said to be a poor choice. I can't always enforce the law around the wealthy every day.

It is also normal to enforce the game of the mid-range team. After all, it is impossible to have a strong dialogue in every round, and such a game is the most.

"These bastards in the Premier League know how to make ratings. Also let me talk to Jack. ”

After Jack left, Keith. Hackett was a little angry with Joe. Geist spoke. Joe. Geist shrugged and then smiled and said, "The Premier League wants to make money. China is a big market, and they certainly won't give up. To earn money from the Chinese, of course, you have to please them. ”

"yes. China is a big market. It should be said that there are many Chinese. ”

"Yes. I remember the match between Everton and Manchester City in August, not that there were hundreds of millions of fans in China watching that game. ”

Joe. When Geist said hundreds of millions, his face was very complicated. The unit of billion, this is definitely not a unit in the general sense. If a club really has 100 million fans, or a game has 100 million fans watching, then the ratings are simply amazing.

Of course, the statistics of those statistical agencies do not have accurate data.

After all, the Premier League's development of the Chinese market has only just begun. But the reaction of the Chinese market to the Premier League has shocked the entire Premier League. An ordinary game in the Premier League is watched by hundreds of millions of fans.

What kind of market is this.

Moreover, China is currently the country with the fastest economic development in the world, which means that this market is the most potential market in the world. There are no businessmen, and the Premier League company is also a company. Nothing that anyone who wants to make money ignores.

…………

On January 1, 2003, time unknowingly entered 2003.

Goodison Park.

This is Everton's home turf. The upcoming game is the match between Everton and Manchester City. Jack was placed here to enforce the game.

By this time, Jack had finally figured out what was going on.

Why was he chosen to officiate this game. And Keith. Hackett also spoke to himself personally. There is only one reason, the Premier League company in order to take care of Chinese fans.

Everton and Manchester City.

It's a Chinese derby in China. Because there are Chinese players in these two teams. One is Everton's midfielder Li Tie, and the other is Manchester City's Chinese player Sun Jihai.

Chinese football is relatively backward.

Li Tie and Sun Jihai came to the Premier League, which was a great stimulus for Chinese fans. Originally, the most attractive Chinese fans in Chinese football were Serie A, because it was Serie A that first started broadcasting in China. Therefore, China has a large number of Serie A fans, and Serie A fans are the backbone of Chinese fans.

But Li Tie and Sun Jihai immediately brought the attention of many Chinese fans to the Premier League. Chinese fans are starting to pay attention to Premier League matches, especially those between Everton and Manchester City.

The direct rivalry between them has attracted a large number of Chinese fans.

What is a Premier League company? It's just to keep promoting the Premier League. And then make money from those places. Now that China's economy is getting better and better, the number of Chinese fans is even more numerous. With so many fans, although there is no spending power or consumption concept yet, so many fans are a potential consumer group, that is, a potential market.

China, a big market, how can the Premier League give up.

So they take this game very seriously. Therefore, they want to work harder to promote the game in China and add more Chinese elements to the game. Both teams have Chinese players, and the Premier League company also thought of a Chinese referee in the Premier League.

So the Premier League and the refereeing committee negotiated.

Hopefully Jack will come over and enforce this game. The FA, the referees' committee, the Premier League, they don't have much affiliation. The three parties influence each other. and penetrate each other.

The Premier League is the most lucrative league and the economic foundation of the FA and the referees' committee. Therefore, many proposals from Premier League companies are not easy for the referee committee to refuse. And it's not a big deal, so I accepted the Premier League's offer.

So Jack became the referee of the game.

"Jack. Starting line-ups for both sides. The two teams looked to be very well aligned with the Premier League, with both Chinese players starting the game. ”

Mark. Atkinson came to Jack with the starting and substitute lists of the players from both sides. Atkinson, although not a Premier League referee, has been qualified to officiate in the Premier League. As was the old convention. These League One referees who have qualified to officiate Premier League matches can officiate four or five Premier League games in a season.

But Jack was willing to give him a chance.

Because Atkinson has appeared more times in the Premier League this season. Then the more likely you are to become a referee in the Premier League. So Jack was willing to help him, so the fourth referee of the game became Atkinson.

With the rise of Jack's status. It's not too difficult to decide on your own fourth referee.

In fact, in terms of income, the remuneration of the fourth referee in the Premier League is lower than that of the referee in the English League. The fourth referee is paid a quarter of the referee for a game, while the League One referee is paid half as much as the Premier League referee for a match.

However, being the fourth referee in the Premier League is good for the future. Therefore, Atkinson does not care about temporary financial losses. He was glad that Jack had given him this opportunity.

Atkinson also understands why Jack is officiating the game. So seeing the starting list, I smiled and spoke to Jack.

"yes. Didn't the Sun say recently that the game would attract 200 million Chinese fans? The BBC even said that 300 million Chinese fans would watch the game. ”

"Two hundred million? Whatever I think about it is illusory. ”

"I think so."

Jack doesn't believe this data either. China is said to have a population of 1.2 billion, but Jack couldn't believe that a football match attracts 200 million fans, 300 million fans. Not to mention 300 million people, even if it is 200 million people, or even 100 million people watching this game, Jack feels very illusory.

After all, Jack grew up and really didn't have any impression of the unit of 100 million.

billion, this unit is also too far away for Jack. Sometimes Jack can't even imagine how many people are in 100 million.

But the local media in Manchester did. said that in order to cover the game, more than a dozen media reporters came from China. There are also countless Chinese fans who have written letters, hoping to start Sun Jihai in this game. ”

Atkinson said, sighing in admiration.

"Huh."

Now the whole Premier League is feeling the influence of China. In the past, everyone just knew that China's economic development has been relatively fast in recent years, and that's it. But with Sun Jihai and Li Tie coming to the Premier League, everyone felt it deeply.

I felt the influence of China.

There were even hundreds of Chinese fans who came to England from China to watch the game. In addition to the many Chinese students, there are currently more than 1,000 Chinese fans in the phalanx.

All of them show the influence that China has brought to the Premier League. (To be continued......)