Soccer: I’m Building a Giant in the Premier League

Chapter 18 – Time to Lay the Cards on the Table

Yang Cheng had always believed that professional football in Europe was brutally realistic.

As long as you're winning, anything you do is right.

And after Bayswater Chinese FC returned to the top of the League Two table, good news began pouring in.

Home attendance repeatedly broke the 3,000 mark, and even surpassed 4,000 in cup games thanks to cheaper tickets.

For Bayswater Chinese FC, this was nothing short of monumental.

A single match now brought in over £100,000 in revenue—incredible.

There was still a long way to go to match other clubs, but Yang Cheng believed that if they kept up the current momentum, filling all 5,000 seats would soon become the norm.

That was on the business side.

On the football side, the team's performance was earning even more recognition.

Yang began receiving calls from England U21 manager Peter Taylor and Ireland national team manager Brian Kerr.

Taylor wanted to call up Jonathan Stead, Bayswater's 20-year-old striker, who had scored 11 goals in 14 league matches—an astounding return.

This was still 2003.

Before Messi and Ronaldo turned goal scoring into a personal contest, hitting 20+ goals in a season was considered prolific.

And for a 20-year-old in League Two, reaching double digits was outstanding.

Stead's style was classic English—a tall, traditional No. 9.

England's current U21 striker options included Carlton Cole, on loan at Premier League club Charlton from Chelsea, and Darren Bent, playing in League One for Ipswich.

Carlton Cole had barely played—just 30 minutes in total—and had yet to score.

Bent, on the other hand, was a starter at Ipswich with 3 goals to his name, but had recently picked up an injury that would sideline him for two months.

Taylor had brought in several other young strikers for the October camp—but none impressed.

So now, his attention turned to Stead, whose scoring record in League Two was too hot to ignore.

This call-up also led Yang Cheng to notice another England U21 player: Aaron Lennon, the right winger from Leeds United.

An excellent player.

And considering how disappointed Yang had been with his own right-wing options this season, just thinking about Lennon made his mouth water.

But alas—he belonged to Leeds.

Meanwhile, Brian Kerr of Ireland wanted to call up Martin Rowlands.

Rowlands, who held both English and Irish passports, had never been capped.

But he'd scored 8 goals so far in the League Two season and was playing brilliant football.

Unlike England, Ireland lacked depth, and the moment Kerr saw Rowlands in action, he made the offer—and even flew to London to meet him in person.

Rowlands was 24. He knew full well he'd never get into the England squad.

So he accepted Kerr's invitation without hesitation and chose to represent Ireland.

With one player called up to England U21 and another to the Ireland senior squad, fans of Bayswater Chinese FC—still in League Two—were thrilled.

Yang Cheng was happy too, though not surprised.

Bayswater had scored 38 goals in 14 matches, the highest in League Two—six more than second-place Plymouth.

Their inconsistency came from conceding 13 goals.

For comparison:

QPR had conceded just 9,

Brighton 11.

Yang knew what the issue was.

But for now, he didn't plan to address the defense.

He believed the best way forward was to keep pressing the attack, bulldozing their way to promotion, and into the Championship.

But naturally, with the team and players performing well, other clubs started circling.

League One side Sunderland were the first to express strong interest in Stead.

Manager Mick McCarthy even came to watch a match at Bayswater Stadium.

Meanwhile, QPR expressed interest in Martin Rowlands.

It was unclear whether they genuinely wanted the players or were playing mind games as rivals in the promotion race.

Yang Cheng met with both Stead and Rowlands individually—and both agreed to stay.

Right now, promotion was everything.

Interestingly, the players Yang valued most—Ribéry and Modrić—weren't getting much attention at all.

Not so surprising when you thought about it.

Without TV coverage in League Two, and with neither player boasting flashy goal or assist stats, they were easy to overlook.

Among all this good news, however, came a shadow.

…

"Chris Hunter asked me to dinner."

Lin Zhongqiu came straight to Yang Cheng's office after his meal.

"He told me their firm has been in contact with several potential buyers for our stadium and training ground. One of them is even willing to offer £10 million, which meets our asking price. He wants us to seriously consider it."

Yang Cheng, who had been busy with paperwork, looked up in surprise.

Then… he smiled.

It made sense. This was the true nature of financial capital—always chasing profit.

"What did you say?" he asked.

"I told him I'd check with you first."

Lin looked at Yang Cheng.

He wasn't sure when it had started, but Yang Cheng's word had become final in his eyes—and it felt completely natural.

"Then forget it. Reject the offer," Yang said without hesitation.

"What should I say?"

"Tell them: That was then, this is now. Yes, a few months ago, we were willing to sell for £10 million—but that was before."

He looked at Lin seriously.

"Back then, we were a mess. No players, no coaches—we weren't even sure we could stay in League Two. That's why we considered selling."

"But now? We're top of the league. We're promotion favorites."

"If we get to the Championship next season, our revenue will skyrocket."

Every year, the Premier League distributed funds to the lower divisions, with League One getting the biggest cut.

On top of that, League One had TV broadcasting deals—a huge chunk of income.

Sponsorships were hard to come by in this era, so it wasn't strange that, in 2002, a Chinese phone company paid Everton just to get a Chinese player into the Premier League.

But if they managed their wage bill, life in League One would be much more comfortable.

And besides, just having the League One license would boost the club's market value.

"I understand. I'll go talk to them."

Lin turned to leave.

"Uncle Lin."

Yang Cheng stopped him.

"Go back and have our lawyers re-examine the contract we signed with Elvino. Go over every single clause. Anything that could be used against us—we need a response ready."

Lin frowned. "You think…"

"Just in case."

Yang sighed. "We were desperate back then. We had it reviewed, but the details—there may have been things we missed."

"Understood. I'll get started."

Yang watched him go, but the tension in his brow remained.

Something didn't sit right.

He couldn't shake the feeling that this was just the beginning.

Ultimately, when they borrowed money from Elvino, they had to make compromises. They were too passive.

Now, selling the land for £10 million would mean renting new training and stadium facilities—a huge loss.

And Elvino? They'd pocket 20% of the sale.

Looking back, that loan was life-saving.

But now, it was also a major hidden danger.

…

Yang Cheng had coached for thirty years in his past life.

And he knew a universal truth—one every manager adhered to:

When the team is winning, do not touch the starting lineup.

Even one change could cause a collapse.

That's why coaching was often called an art of balance.

Or as Yang put it—it's because people are unpredictable.

But the upside was: once a lineup clicked, it was rock solid.

In Round 15, Bayswater beat Sheffield Wednesday 3–1 away from home.

Clean, sharp, fluid football—just like always.

Then, in Round 16, back at home, they beat Blackpool 1–0 thanks to a goal from Stead.

A week later, Round 17: Stead and Devaney scored to secure a 2–1 win over Oldham.

Five straight wins.

Bayswater Chinese FC sat firmly atop League Two.

With 11 wins, 5 draws, and 1 loss, they had 38 points.

Second and third—Plymouth and QPR—had just 31.

It was exactly what Yang Cheng had predicted:

The lower the league, the greater the difference in team strength.

Once Bayswater clicked, they would dominate League Two.

Stead led the scoring charts with 13 goals in 17 matches.

Rowlands was fourth with 9 goals.

Even Devaney had 6 goals—putting him in the top ten.

After 17 rounds, the league paused for the November international break.

But during the break, lower-league clubs still had to compete in the FA Cup First Round.

Stead and Rowlands left to report for national duty.

As Yang Cheng led the rest of the squad in cup prep, Chris Hunter from Elvino came knocking.

This time, he didn't go through Lin Zhongqiu.

He went straight to Yang Cheng's office.

They were finally ready to lay all the cards on the table.

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