Red Rebels

606 Pilgrimage

Perhaps due to the approaching Champions League final, the weather in Manchester has been very good these days. Even flights that are usually delayed due to weather conditions rarely arrive on time this time.

Jim stood outside the gate of the departure hall, holding a sign high with the name [Emile Angelov] written on it. He was sent here by the club to receive this special guest. , and his family.

Looking at the passengers slowly walking out of the gate, many of them were wearing jerseys. It is obvious that the reason why most people came to Manchester is for tomorrow's Champions League final.

This final has completely turned Manchester into a football paradise. Countless fans from all over the world flocked here just to see the Red Devils Derby in the Champions League final.

The two teams have complicated grievances. They were originally from the same city, but now they have a peak showdown in the Champions League final. They are also located in Manchester. This is a game worth watching for any fan.

According to pre-match news reports, this Champions League final will exceed any other Champions League final in history, both in terms of broadcast scope and influence. Not only that, this final will also Manchester brings huge economic benefits, including tourism revenue and more.

From the perspective of a native Manchester citizen, Jim is very proud of the Red Rebels because this team is using its own way to contribute to this industrial city that many people say has declined.

Even Manchester's city hall regards the Red Rebels as the spiritual symbol of Manchester. They hope that Manchester can be as passionate, aggressive and create miracles as the Red Rebels.

As for the Red Devils and Manchester United...

Every time this name was mentioned, Jim would curl his lips with a look of disdain.

In the past few years, the relationship between the Red Rebels and Manchester United has become increasingly worse. In the past, when Keane and others were still there, although the two clubs were not harmonious officially, they still had some contact in private. But Keane left. Beckham came to the Red Rebels, and Manchester United was acquired by the Glazer family. The relationship between the two clubs was no longer close.

In addition, in the past few seasons, the Red Rebels have risen rapidly, while Manchester United has experienced a rapid decline. Under the ebb and flow of one another, the emotions of the fans are opposite to each other, even Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, etc. Players who have good personal relationships with the Red Rebels no longer dare to visit the Red Rebels openly, which further breaks the relationship between the two clubs.

I believe that once Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville and others retire, the relationship between the Red Rebels and Manchester United will completely become a mortal enemy relationship like Liverpool and Everton, or even century-old enemies like Barcelona and Real Madrid.

"Hello, I am Emil Angelov!"

While Jim was thinking, a 16-year-old boy wearing a Red Rebels home jersey came to Jim, looked at the sign held high in his hand, and said politely, behind him were a man and a woman, who should be His parents.

"Oh, hello, Emil, I am the reception driver of the Red Rebel Club. My name is Jim. Nice to meet you. Welcome to Manchester!" Jim immediately smiled and stretched out his hand. Although his chubby face When he smiles, his eyes narrow into a thin line, but he is more approachable.

"Come on, I'll get the luggage. Please come with me!" Jim grabbed their luggage with one hand and led them towards the parking lot.

Because Jim was wearing a Red Rebels staff uniform and Ann Grove was wearing a Red Rebels jersey, you can feel two completely different treatments along the way.

Some were polite and friendly, and one foreign tourist even came over to take a photo with Jim, but some were indifferent or even hostile.

"Hey, Emil, you have to get used to this atmosphere in Manchester!" Jim said with a smile.

"Why?" Angeloff asked, following Jim.

"Those who are polite to us are generally neutral fans, or fans of the Red Rebels. They are considered our own people. Those who are more indifferent or even a little hostile are basically ours." enemy!"

"Are you a fan of Manchester United and Manchester City?" Angeloff asked with a smile.

When he was in Bulgaria, he had often heard Red Rebel fans near Manchester talking about these things on the Internet. He was still envious at that time. Now that he has just arrived in Manchester for the first time, he immediately enjoys this kind of thing. Regarding treatment, he can only say that a football city is a football city.

"Well, that's right, those wearing red fans or short shirts are basically damn Manchester United fans. Manchester City's jersey is a hideous sky blue, and we are the only ones wearing red. The Rebels’ jerseys are the best, ours is red, green and gold with lines!”

"It symbolizes that we represent the tradition and will of the Green and Gold Army back then!" Angrove added with a smile.

"That's right!" Jim laughed.

The group walked into the parking lot, and Jim immediately waved the Anngrove family into the car.

"The club has arranged your accommodation for you and also arranged your itinerary. Today you can visit the Red Rebel Stadium and Newton Heath training base." Jim said with a smile while driving.

"Red Rebel Stadium? Newton Heath training base?" Angeloff said as if in a dream, "Can I see the training?"

Jim smiled and shook his head. Every year, I don’t know how many lucky fans who came from afar like Angelov were received by him. The expressions of each one were the same as Angelov now, full of pilgrimage. Such piety and excitement made Jim always feel that his job was very meaningful. He could not only make money to support his family, but also contribute to the team he loved.

"No, I'm sorry, Emil, the players have the day off today!"

"Holiday?" Angrove's father was a little surprised, "Isn't there a game tomorrow?"

Angelov smiled and shook his head, "Daddy, you should know more about football. Giving players a day off before a big game helps players relax. Mr. Mourinho often takes a day off before big games."

Jim smiled and nodded, "Yes, Mr. Angeloff, but you don't have to regret it, Emile, you can be received by the head coach Mr. Mourinho at the Newton Heath training base!"

"Oh my God, is this true?" Emil almost jumped up from the back seat, so frightened that his parents quickly pushed him back to his seat.

"Yes, this is the club's arrangement, but I have to remind you, Emile, Mr. Mourinho is busy preparing for the game. He can only give you 10 minutes at most." Jim liked this active kid very much.

"No, it's okay, it doesn't matter, don't say it's 10 minutes, even...even if it's just 1 minute, just for me to take a picture with him, I think it's worth it!" Angrove was so excited that he couldn't describe it.

He originally thought that he would just visit Manchester and watch a game, but he didn't expect that he would be able to talk to Mourinho for 10 minutes. This made him almost suffocated with excitement, and he didn't even know that he was waiting. How to talk to Mourinho at once, for fear of saying the wrong thing.

"Don't worry, Emile, even though Mr. Mourinho is usually cool, he is actually a good person!" Jim reminded with a smile.

Mourinho always gives people the illusion that he is difficult to approach during live TV broadcasts and interviews. This has led many fans to think that he is a bit moody, but in fact, he often comes into contact with him. Everyone knows that the Portuguese have a good character, at least they treat their own people well!

"Then where are we going now?" Angrove asked concerned.

"Red Rebel Theme Park!" Jim laughed.

Angrove's eyes immediately lit up, that was the palace in the hearts of Red Rebels fans!

Entering the Ring Expressway from the airport, you can see the conspicuous giant advertisement from a distance. The Red Rebel players on it are all lively and passionate, which can be easily felt by every passerby entering Manchester.

"Is this the ad that Adidas sponsors the club?" Angrove pointed at the huge ad in front and asked with a smile.

Jim smiled and nodded.

However, Angrove had already grabbed his camera and took pictures of the advertisement. "I must upload it to my blog when I get back, so they can also envy it!" After all, young people like to be in the limelight.

Walking east from the Ring Expressway, it didn't take long to see the towering Red Rebel Stadium that looked like a giant lifebuoy. As the Champions League final was approaching, the rubber molds around the stadium were dyed red by the lights. The green and gold lines shine in the sun, looking very dazzling and spectacular.

The stadium is surrounded by the Red Rebels theme park, which has developed into Manchester's emerging economic circle. It has been developed by the Red Rebels and the Manchester "government" into a multi-functional business integrating sports, entertainment, tourism, shopping, etc. district.

When the Audi driven by Jim came off the Beltway, he could directly enter the parking lot of the Red Rebel Stadium from the branch line, and then took Angel Grove and his family to visit the stadium. There was a waitress who kept talking to them along the way. introduce.

Angeloff is indeed a die-hard fan of the Red Rebels. Although this is his first time coming to the Red Rebel Stadium, he knows everything about the stadium by heart, not only the facilities of the stadium, but also the exhibition hall. Everything looked so familiar to him, it didn't feel like it was his first time at all.

"In the forum of our club's official website, there is a post dedicated to introducing the Red Rebel Stadium. The introduction is very detailed. Even if a ball is added to our club's exhibition hall, there will be people on it who will immediately comment. They They are all die-hard fans of the Red Rebels and support the team in this way," Angeloff said with a smile.

For some ordinary tourists, visiting the stadium may be just a formality, but for Angelov, it is like a pilgrimage. Even every football and every trophy in the exhibition hall must be photographed personally. He said he planned to use these materials to decorate his blog.

It was precisely because of Angrove's behavior that the visit to the stadium lasted a whole morning.

At noon, Jim hosted them on behalf of the club to the Red Rebels-themed restaurant in the stadium and enjoyed a Champions League fan package. This was a package prepared by the Red Rebels club for the fans. Rebel membership cards also offer discounts.

After eating, Jim took Angeloff's parents to a nearby hotel to rest, but Angeloff didn't feel tired at all. He just dragged Jim to the theme park and wandered around.

Since tomorrow is the Champions League final, the entire theme park is crowded with people, and there is a strong pre-final atmosphere everywhere. However, what is surprising is that no one here sells scalpers, so there are many people who have come from afar to prepare to arrive. The fans who bought scalped tickets on the spot were very disappointed.

When Angrove asked Jim this doubt, the latter couldn't help laughing.

"Where did the scalpers come from? This time, all the tickets for our club, except for arranging some for Manchester United fans, most of them were sold out within three days of going on sale, and all of them were purchased by club members. , each member can only purchase one ticket, so scalpers cannot get excess tickets at all."

General ticket sales consider members first, and then consider other fans. But this time, the Red Rebels gave away part of it as gifts to lucky fans, as well as specially invited guests, such as An Except for fans like Grove, all the tickets have been sold out, and even the *** boxes have been booked in advance.

"Our Red Rebels' ticket sales have always been very hot, and coupled with our low ticket prices, our home attendance has always been very popular. Even the attendance of the FA Cup and League Cup can reach 8. 90%, let alone such a key battle, if you are not a member, it is almost impossible to buy tickets!"

There is no way around this. The Red Rebel Stadium is so big, but there are so many people who want to watch the game. It is impossible for the Red Rebels to take care of the interests of every fan, so in the end they can only choose to give priority to it. Member benefits, but when the time comes, there will be a giant screen live broadcast of the game in the theme park outside the stadium, and the merchants in the theme park will also cooperate with the Red Rebels in activities.

This can be regarded as a kind of compensation from the club to these fans who have come from afar but cannot enter the stadium to watch the game!

After visiting the theme park, Jim took Ann Grove to the Newton Heath training base.

Since the first team is on holiday and the youth team's season has long ended, the entire Newton Heath training base looks deserted, but there are still many staff busy inside, cleaning up the aftermath.

Angelov toured the entire Newton Heath training base under Jim's guidance, but there were two places that could only be viewed from a distance, namely the laboratory and the locker room. These two places are the most sacred places for the Red Rebels. It is also the most mysterious place and has always refused all visitors, even the most famous people.

Angrove was not surprised at all by this, he had heard about it before.

The time for Mourinho to meet him was arranged in the evening, when he had just discussed things with Cassel and others.

When Angelov, who was waiting outside, looked at the club's coaching staff who had only seen photos on the Internet before coming out of the tactical seminar room, but now appeared in front of him alive, the excitement in his heart was, He grabbed the camera and took pictures like a reporter.

However, Angelov really has the potential to be a reporter. Jim led him into Mourinho's office. Before the Portuguese opened his mouth, he was excited and anxious.

"Mr. Mourinho, are we sure to win tomorrow's game?"

Mourinho was stunned, Jim was also stunned, and Angelov realized that he was too excited.

"Haha, for sure, we will definitely win!" Mourinho laughed, but solemnly promised!

"We not only want to win tomorrow's final, we also want to win all the championships in 2007. We want to complete a Grand Slam and create football history!"