Chapter 163 Goodbye, Tyne Boy

There was thunderous cheering at the Lowlands Stadium, home of Witton Hill.

The home team fans in the stands shouted: “Tyne! Tyne! Tyne!”

If you don’t look at the jerseys they are wearing, you might be mistaken for Tyne fans…

But in fact they are all genuine Witton Hill fans.

There was only one reason why they were so happy – Tyne led Kensington 3:0 away!
Meanwhile, the scoreboard at Lowlands Stadium showed the live scores between Witton Hill and Brighton White Hill:
2:1
Wittenhill leads.

These two scores mean that Witton Hill’s current league ranking will jump from eighth to sixth, from missing out on European competitions to directly qualifying for the Europa League!

Wittenhill does not aspire to play in the Champions League, they will be happy as long as they can participate in the Europa League.

Qualifying for the Europa League can even be considered as exceeding the mission – before the start of this season, Witton Hill Club officials did not include qualifying for the Europa League in their season goals.

Now this is a complete surprise.

Of course, Witton Hill fans have Tyne to thank.

At this time, they would not think about whether they would be the ones competing for the Champions League qualification if they had won against Tyne at home.

However, the timing of the news that Tyne was three goals ahead was really inappropriate.

Because at this time, Brighton White Mountain took the ball and attacked…

With the current score, Witton Hill is sixth in the league.

However, Brighton White Mountain, which was originally ranked seventh with one point more than them, fell to ninth.

Originally there was a chance to participate in the UEFA Champions League, but now there is no chance for European competition at all.

Brighton White Mountain cannot accept this result!
Through their previous efforts, they went from being two goals behind to one goal behind.

Being only one goal behind, of course we have to try our best to equalize the score, and then reverse the situation and overtake!

So when the Witton Hill fans in the stands cheered for Tyne’s 3:0 lead over Kensington, Brighton White Mountain seized the opportunity of the Witton Hill players’ distraction, suddenly accelerated, and hit the ball into the -meter area of ​​Witton Hill!
“Chance!”

Brighton White Mountain midfielder Jamie Donnelly, who got the ball in front of the Witton Hill penalty area, took advantage of the chaos to pick up the ball and passed it to the space behind the Witton Hill defense line!

There, Brighton Whitehill striker Milton Greenidge burst through the Witton Hill defence!
The cheers of the Witton Hill fans turned into exclamations and screams.

Most of Witton Hill’s players could only watch this happen and were unable to do anything.

Greenidge has already started to adjust his pace and is ready to shoot directly.

But in the defense line of Witton Hill, a tall and thin figure suddenly stepped back, then turned around and jumped!

“Feng!”

Feng Qiyuan swung his left foot while turning around and pushed the ground with his right foot!

The whole person turned around in the air, his left foot swung up from the bottom, drawing an arc, and his toes hit the football in the air!
The football was touched by him and passed by Milton Greenidge who was running to the back point and preparing to shoot directly… and finally flew out of the baseline!
His shooting action was only halfway completed and he had to stop it abruptly, otherwise he might have strained his muscles and knee ligaments by kicking in the air!
“Feng! Crucial clearance! He saved Wittenhill!”

“It is obvious that at this time, he was the only one who remained focused on the game! He was not affected by off-court factors!”

Feng Qiyuan, who completed a difficult clearance in the air, lost his balance and fell to the ground.

Then he was quickly rushed over and hugged by goalkeeper David Bennett: “Are you okay, Feng?!”

Feng Qiyuan bared his teeth and said, “I’m fine, but if you keep pressing on me for a while longer, I don’t know if I’ll be fine…”

Bennett reacted and got up from him, pulling him up, laughing and patting him hard: “Ha! I was really scared just now! Thanks to you!”

Other teammates also came up to hug and high-five Feng Qiyuan to thank him for his key defensive efforts.

At this time, cheers rang out again in the stands of the Lowland Stadium.

But this time it’s not for Taien, but for Feng Qiyuan!
Amid the thunderous cheers, Feng Qiyuan had a smile on his face.

He now has time to feel happy for Brother Wang.

From the cheers just now, we can tell that Brother Wang’s team should be leading Kensington 3:0 – in this game, the Witton Hill fans in the stands suddenly cheered three times in total, each time for a goal, which means a three-goal lead.

He remembered the agreement between himself and Brother Wang.

World Cup.

Now, Wang Ge has proved the seriousness of that agreement by leading Tyne, a relegation team, into the Champions League.

He also had to prove that he had lived up to Brother Wang’s expectations and that he was fulfilling his promise seriously.

This clearance is proof of that.

The greater proof is to ensure that the team qualifies for next season’s Europa League and performs well in next season’s Europa League.

※※※

There was a roar of joy at the Lowlands Stadium, home of Witton Hill.

At the same time, at the Redstone Stadium, home of Sofia United, things were much quieter.

Although a few minutes before that, Sofia United scored another goal, extending the score to 2:0.

They were cheering at that time.

Just a few minutes after the cheers, I heard that Tyne was leading Kensington 3:0 away…

At this time, the fans of Sofia were already a little numb.

As long as Tyne beats Kensington, even by one goal, Sofia United’s victory in this game will be meaningless – unless they can win by forty goals in a game.

So the fans of Sofia United stopped booing Tyne – it didn’t make any sense whether they booed or not.

Lindsay stood on the sidelines with his hands in his pockets, motionless, like a sculpture.

He knew the game was over and Sofia would still miss out on the Champions League this season.

For a top club like Sofia, missing out on the Champions League for four consecutive seasons is a huge shame.

In fact, he already had a premonition in his heart – no matter what the result of the last game of this season, the FA Cup final, is, his coaching career at Sofia United might be over…

Although the club’s general manager, Mr. Jonathan Hall, had never said this to him, he could guess it.

After all, there have been rumors about Sofo United looking for a head coach during this period.

He was no fool, and he certainly knew what this meant – Mr. Hall didn’t actually trust him.

And I really haven’t shown anything that would make him trust me.

Although he led his team to win the Europa League semi-final at home, they failed to enter the Europa League final after all.

Although he stabilized the team’s decline after coaching the team and led the team to win consecutive games in the league, he still failed to qualify for the Champions League…

You can’t blame anyone else!

However, Lindsay has decided that if Mr. Hall really does not give him a contract as the head coach of the first team, he will not continue to stay at Sofia United.

He will not be the assistant coach of the first team again to help the new head coach get familiar with the team. He will not be the head coach of the youth team, or the supervisor…

He is going to leave here, leave the extremely familiar environment, go to a new world, and try to start his coaching career as a head coach.

Like Sam McNeill.

Maybe I will meet a team and a group of players that suit me.

But I may not meet the ‘China Wang’ that suits me…

After all, there is only one China Wang.

※※※

Cesar Varo sighed.

Sam McNeil glanced at the assistant coach beside him: “Why are you sighing? We are leading by three goals now…”

Varro sighed again: “Looking at the tacit cooperation between the three of them, and thinking that Dean will not be on the team next season, I want to sigh. What a good striker combination, it took a lot of effort to get them to work together, but in the end they can only be used for less than half a season…”

“This is football, Cesar. Someone always comes and someone always has to go. We should now consider who will replace Dean, or if we can’t find a second Dean, how to change tactics…”

Hearing McNeill say this, Varro nodded: “That’s what I mean, we have to go to the transfer market to find the right person…”

“We were going to go shopping in the transfer market anyway. After reaching the Champions League, we can’t expect this lineup to dominate the world,” McNeill said. “We need to strengthen in almost all positions. Foster should be very busy this summer.”

Cesar Varo said: “So I sigh, Sam. With so many new players joining, the team’s running-in is a big problem… To be honest, I just hope that our first participation in the Champions League will not affect our performance in the league too much. I don’t want us to reach the knockout stage of the Champions League and then be relegated in the league…”

“That won’t be the case, Cesar. As long as our lineup is strong enough… running-in is indeed a problem, but this is also the meaning and value of our work.” McNeill didn’t worry as much about the future as Varo. “Besides, we can give full play to Wang’s personal charm.”

“What do you mean?” McNeill smiled and said, “Haven’t you noticed that since the king came, the ‘mercenaries’ who originally had different ideas have united? The hot-tempered Vitini has found his goal to fight for, and Dean, who used to give us a headache and even wanted to give up, has also played a rare highlight performance in recent years. Who do you think these changes are related to?”

“Of course it’s the king…”

“That’s right. So why aren’t our new players affected by Wang? In other words, why don’t we take their love and admiration for Wang into consideration when recruiting new players?”

Varro suddenly realized, and then jokingly said: “Are you going to call every player who plans to join the team and ask them what they think of Wang?”

“That’s not the case. But I will ask Foster’s team to do background checks on every target player and look at their comments on social media. If they have clearly expressed their dislike for Wang, then we cannot consider them, or we should consider them carefully and list them as a last resort, a backup among backup options. We don’t need to spend money to buy people to fight Wang, just like the sky doesn’t need two suns.”

McNeill raised his index finger and pointed to the sky.

Varro looked up reflexively. It was the afternoon of the last day of May, and the sky in London was clear, but the temperature was not low.

If only one sun is this hot, if there were another one… humans wouldn’t be able to survive.

※※※

Dean’s goal gave Tyne a three-goal lead but also destroyed Kensington’s morale.

Whether they are willing to accept the reality of missing out on European football next season or not, they have to admit that it is almost impossible to catch up with three or four goals in a row and turn defeat into victory when they are three goals behind Tyne.

As time went by, Kensington had fewer and fewer opportunities.

This game has actually lost its suspense and meaning.

In the 78th minute, McNeill decided to replace Sonny Dean.

Because he was particularly active in this game and consumed more physical energy, his performance after scoring the goal was not as positive as before.

This is one reason, but not the key reason why McNeil decided to replace him.

The key reason was that McNeill wanted to give Dean a separate farewell.

Although this was an away game, many Tyne fans still came to the scene because the game was of great significance.

McNeill hopes to give Dean a chance to say farewell to Tyne fans individually.

So, taking advantage of a dead ball opportunity, the fourth official raised the sign for substitutions on the sidelines.

Number 10, Sonny Dean exits.

Number 17, enter Tommy Biggins.

“McNeill replaced Dean! This is Dean’s last moment representing Tyne! Because he has signed with Kensington in advance, he will become a Kensington player next season…”

Commentator Connor Cowley said upon seeing this.

“Dean’s performance in this game was very good. I don’t know if it was because he wanted to show off in front of his new club next season. Two assists, one goal, Dean participated in all of Tyne’s goals in this game. This was also his best performance this season…”

Dean, who was on the field, saw the sign on the sidelines and knew that his “Tyne time” was over.

So he turned and walked off the court.

As soon as he turned around, Wang Lie called him: “Dean!”

This sound made Dean feel as if he had traveled through time, as if the roar of this person on the training ground on his first day of transfer to Tyne had been echoing to this day.

But he soon came to his senses and realized that it was not his hallucination.

He looked back and saw Wang Lie giving him a thumbs up.

Although he didn’t say anything, Dean knew what Wang Lie meant.

So he smiled back.

※※※

“Dean was replaced…”

Someone in the miner’s bar saw this scene and said.

He said some nonsense.

But no one complained, instead some people said the same thing as him: “Yeah, he was replaced.”

The person who said this was the owner, Harry Collins.

“Ah…” Ryan sighed, “I still hope he can retire here…”

No one spoke anymore, everyone just looked up at the TV screen.

The screen shows a close-up of Dean.

With a smile on his face, he pulled out his shirt which was tucked into his trousers and walked towards the sidelines in a relaxed manner.

TV commentator Connor Cowley is saying:
“…I know that many Tyne fans must be feeling sad at this moment. After all, this young man in front of them once carried all their hopes and blessings. When it was revealed that he had signed with Kensington in advance, I don’t know how many Tyne fans cursed him and even didn’t want to see him again. But now… there must be many Tyne fans who are reluctant to see him leave. Fate is unpredictable, this is football…”

Then the broadcast screen changed, and what appeared in front of everyone were the Tyne fans in the stands.

The fans in the Miners Bar saw their old acquaintances, and Tang Lin also saw his landlord.

Jon Berg stood next to Robbie Dixie and Theo Collins holding the sign.

Written on it were the words they were familiar with:

“Goodbye, TYNE’s Boy”

Connor Cowley said of this scene:
“Goodbye, Tyne’s boy. I think this is the best farewell from Tyne fans to Sonny Dean. Although there were arguments and conflicts in the middle, but in the end, thousands of words turned into this sentence…”

In the picture, Berg is holding a sign and muttering something…

No, not chanting, but singing.

Not only him, but also Robbie Dixie, Theo Collins and other Tyne fans around him were singing.

It’s a pity that this is not their home ground, so they can’t hear clearly what the Tyne fans are singing on TV.

But it doesn’t matter.

Because the people in front of the TV started singing along.

Even Tang Lin was singing.

Singing the song that he had known so many times.

“…London is full of tall buildings, Liverpool is full of whistles, and Manchester is full of traffic…When I walk alone in these cities, the only thing I miss in my heart is Newcastle upon the Tyne——”

※※※

Dean, who was about to walk to the sidelines to high-five his teammates, suddenly stopped and looked up at the stands where the visiting fans gathered.

Although he didn’t hear it clearly, he definitely heard it.

The intermittent melody and vague lyrics were brought to his ears by the wind over the Garden Stadium.

So he turned around and waved, as if saying goodbye.

The singing seemed to be louder.

He heard it and understood it clearly.

“… The Tyne, the Tyne, the ever-flowing Tyne… the chimneys, the fires dancing in the furnaces… this is my hometown Newcastle—! Newcastle upon Tyne—!”

Dean initially thought it was his hallucination, but then he noticed that other people were also turning their heads to look in that direction, and he realized that he really heard the singing.

Because not only myself, but everyone in the stadium heard it.

Thousands of Tyne fans made a louder noise than tens of thousands of Kensington fans.

But perhaps it was because the Kensington fans remained silent at this moment and did not disturb the farewell ceremony of the player who was about to join their team and his parent team.

“London, Liverpool, Manchester, and Leicester… I don’t belong here, I will never belong here… My hometown is Newcastle! Newcastle upon Tyne!!” (Note 1)

Amid the singing, Dean finally walked to the sidelines, high-fived and hugged Tommy Biggins, and left the field.

McNeil caught him and said nothing, just hugged him and patted his back hard.

In the away team’s stands, the chorus finally ended. Robbie Dixie took a long breath and shouted loudly in the direction of the Tyne bench:

“SONNY–!! Don’t forget Tyne! Don’t forget Newcastle!!”

※※※

Note 1: “Newcastle upon Tyne” is actually the full name of the city. There is no such song in reality. The song that appears in the book is made up by me.

(End of this chapter)