Interview with the boss of the three towns: The divestment was determined very early The players are mentally prepared
Reporter Lu Mi reported After Wuhan Three Towns announced on the 28th that investors would no longer inject capital from September 1, the outside world had many questions about the past and future of the club: Why did investors suddenly stop injecting capital? When did this idea come about? Why is there still a large number of personnel brought in in the club in two windows in a row when the operation situation is not optimistic? What about the next AFC Champions League and league? With these questions, this reporter exclusively interviewed Fang Silong, general manager of Wuhan Three Towns Club, and Mr. Fang also answered a number of questions of external concern.
◆"Football": For what reason did the investors decide not to inject capital into the Three Towns Club?
Fang Silong: In fact, as a local real estate enterprise, the investor of our club is unknown in terms of influence, economic scale and profitability among the investors of the entire 16 Chinese Super League football clubs.
Especially in recent years, the real estate industry is not as prosperous as in previous years, as practitioners, our investors are difficult to stand alone, more and more difficult to operate, and the pressure is increasing, which forces investors to do a single choice question between the main business and the club, choose not to inject capital into the three towns, reduce expenses, and focus on the main business, which is actually an inevitable move under the difficulties of enterprises.
◆As a club manager, how do you feel after learning that investors are not continuing to invest?
I really appreciate the investor's firm investment and support to the club over the years and trust in our ability to work, without the investor's love for football and his feelings for Wuhan football, the club would not have developed so fast and would not have the results it has today. Moreover, the club has been a single shareholder for many years, and most sponsors are only partners, and the amount of sponsorship is limited. Therefore, the club also understands very well under what circumstances investors make such difficult decisions, enterprises must first survive in order to develop, in this context, continuing to invest in football is obviously uncomfortable and impractical to invest in manpower.
◆Did you disclose this to the team and staff in advance? What are their thoughts and attitudes?
The club has held an emergency meeting to inform the players of the current situation of the club, asking all the club personnel to stick to their posts, overcome difficulties with the club and actively save themselves. In fact, the investor proposed to stop the capital injection is very early, the team and staff are mentally prepared for this, we have also held some meetings, put forward some requirements, I believe everyone can face this situation correctly. So far, everyone is actively facing the real difficulties. I believe that with the support of the provincial and municipal governments, the club will get better and better, and I believe that Wuhan football will have a good future.
◆Speaking of self-help, how does the club plan to complete self-help?
Three Towns is a small club, and it is difficult to be truly self-sufficient without the investment of investors. The club is also actively seeking share reform, and we are well aware that share reform is the top priority at present for the club to develop sustainably and steadily. As we mentioned in the briefing, we urgently reported the difficulties faced by the club to the provincial and municipal governments and relevant departments. As far as we know, after learning of our situation, the provincial and municipal governments are actively taking action to help us solve our difficulties, first, to solve the needs of clubs to participate in the league and play the AFC Champions League in the near future; Second, provincial and municipal governments are increasing their efforts to promote stock reform. At the same time, the club is also trying to cut back on unnecessary expenses to cope with difficult times.
It must be admitted that the club does not currently have hematopoietic function, but with the economic size of Wuhan, there are so many good state-owned enterprises, so many fans who love football, I believe that with the support of the provincial and municipal governments, the club will be able to overcome difficulties, successfully complete the league and the Asian Champions League, and complete the share reform within the year. Here, I also take this interview to please rest assured by all walks of life and fans.
We believe that football club is a product of public attributes, football is a social undertaking, a sports province, a key city must have an industry. We also always firmly believe that Wuhan is a heroic city, and there are no difficulties that we cannot overcome. We also hope that relevant companies that love football and are willing to devote themselves to football careers will join and participate in the club.
◆Since we are talking about share reform, when did the share reform work in the three towns begin? What is the progress so far?
Share reform is imperative for the club, and since winning last year, the club and investors have known that with their current capabilities, they cannot keep the club going for a long time, and they have been actively promoting it this year. Investors showed the utmost sincerity to allow new investors to enter. First of all, the club does not owe wages, and the investor transfers 100% of the equity at zero consideration. Secondly, the club lasts for one day, and the base that cost 150 million yuan to build is given to the club for one day free of charge. As of August 31, 2023, all claims and liabilities of the club shall be borne by the investors, ensuring that the club has zero debts on the date of stopping the investment of funds.
Of course, investors will continue to pay attention to supporting Wuhan football and cultivate Wuhan youth training without changing their original intention, which is already the greatest sincerity made by investors. As far as we know, provincial and municipal governments have agreed to carry out share reform and are taking the lead in actively communicating with relevant parties so that a decisive breakthrough can be made in share reform.
◆From your introduction, you can see the sincerity of investors and clubs.
Since 2013, the youth training began to be formed, and in the later stage, in order to make the children who grew up have a better stage, the investors decided to form a professional team, in these years, the investors have always adhered to the principle of not owing wages, especially in the case of the difficult operation of the parent company, they can still pay salaries and bonuses on time, giving players the best protection. Of course, the efforts of investors have also enabled the team to achieve four championships in four years. It can be seen that investors love football, care about football, and really want to contribute to Wuhan football with practical actions.
Therefore, investors offer such good conditions in order to retain Wuhan football, so that new shareholders can travel lightly and without burden. More importantly, in order to keep the team competitive, the club has introduced many strong players with the support of investors, who also hope to build a competitive team that can make Hubei Wuhan football continue to be in the ranks of glory in the top league.
◆ To raise a question of external concern, since the financial pressure is difficult, why do you need to recruit a large number of people this season?
Our club has a complete long-term planning and team building strategy at the beginning of its establishment, and it is our original intention to build a professional football club with core competitiveness and become a city and regional business card for Hubei Province and Wuhan City.
The first step in this plan is to attract outstanding players from home and abroad to gather together and quickly form a fighting team that can bring results to the city and region as soon as possible; Part of the second step is actually this year's recruitment work, further improving the problem of personnel reserves, which also includes continuing to introduce 4 to 5 of the best post-00 young players before next year's window opens, and continue to optimize the team structure; The third step of the plan is to improve the quality of training and management level, while sending our youth players to all levels of professional platforms for training, and strive to let these young players grow up within 3-5 years, and finally create a professional team with core competitiveness and their own youth training within 5 years.
Of course, it should be pointed out that such a plan is based on the club always maintaining rational investment and scientific design, and does not change with the change of investors. In the process of implementing the plan, the club always adheres to this, first of all, in order to maintain competitiveness, we invest about 300 million yuan every year, a large number of our players are imported for free, and the daily operation is also refined management.
◆From the beginning of the Chinese Championship to the Chinese Super League to the Asian Champions League, in four years, Three Towns has set a lot of records and won a lot of glory, and at the same time accumulated a lot of fans, what do you want to say about them?
First of all, on behalf of Wuhan Three Towns Football Club, I would like to say thank you to the fans who have supported us over the years. You are witnesses and witnesses of the glory of four years and four crowns, and at the same time an inexhaustible source of motivation for the team, in your cheers and shouts, we have defeated every strong enemy side by side, and this glory also belongs to the fans of Wuhan Three Towns. The club will face the worst crisis since its inception and we will do everything we can to keep the top flight burn. At this critical juncture, I hope that every fan can continue to support the team and work with us to tide over the difficulties.