Chapter 149: Shanghai Fantasy
“Shouldn’t this be impossible? A provincial capital as large as ours doesn’t even have a single team?” Wu Hao still seemed a bit unconvinced. Seeing this, Hong Lei sighed and said to him, “That’s true. In fact, there was a team a few years ago, but it disbanded last year, and now, there’s nothing left.”
Regarding Sichuan’s football history, things were decent when football first started to gain popularity in China. At one point, over a decade ago, it was among the top in the country. But after changing hands several times, things went downhill, and the situation worsened.
By last year, the team was relegated, then couldn’t pay salaries, and eventually disbanded. That team was once known as Sheffield United, also called Tiancheng Club.
Upon hearing this, Wu Hao felt speechless. After all, who wouldn’t be shocked that a large provincial city with a decent economy doesn’t even have a football team?
In reality, many cities in China don’t have professional teams. But these provinces generally belong to economically weaker regions, whereas the regions with the most football clubs are places like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. Among them, Evergrande has undoubtedly been the most famous in recent years.
Liu Ben, standing nearby, noticed Wu Hao’s speechless expression, sighed, and continued, “Our province doesn’t have a team at the moment, and since Lei Zi and I are football fans, we’ve been thinking about starting a club ourselves. Of course, our idea is idealistic, but reality is harsh because we simply don’t have the money!” Liu Ben said this with some embarrassment, as it was obvious he was hoping to ask Wu Hao for investment.
If this had been in the past, Liu Ben would never have entertained such an idea. But now, with Wu Hao—a super-rich person by his side—no, in Liu Ben’s eyes, Wu Hao was no longer just rich but had already entered the realm of a “god-tier tycoon.”
Because Wu Hao could casually spend billions in his hometown, something that ordinary wealthy people could never afford.