Chapter 24: The Noise Between
Chapter 24 – The Noise Between
For once, it wasn't just a whisper.
Crawley Town was making headlines.
The morning after the Oldham win, the local paper splashed "Cup Shock as Crawley Advance" across its front page. By lunchtime, regional media had picked it up. By evening, Sky Sports aired a thirty-second segment under the banner:
"The Team That Won't Go Quietly."
And by the next morning?
They were swarmed.
At training, Niels pulled into the lot and immediately noticed the two white vans parked by the fence—press vans. A crowd of reporters leaned in through the railings, arms stretched out with boom mics and flashing cameras, calling his name the second he stepped out.
He was still holding his thermos when Wallace marched up beside him, smirking. "I hired a PR manager," he said simply. "She starts now."
The PR woman—mid-30s, sharp bob, clipboard in hand—greeted Niels with a smile of her own.
"Congratulations," she said, handing him a printout. "These are your media appointments for today. Local radio. BBC South. Some podcast. And—yes—the tactical YouTuber with 400k subscribers."