Wolves chairman Jeff Shi's column: A global game but football can still be a small world

Not an official communication from the club, but rather I hope to write more informally about things that are interesting or valuable to share with all the friends who love and support Wolves.

Wolves has become a well-known name in the football world, especially since we have been playing in the Premier League, the most popular sports competition on the planet. The Premier League has a potential audience of 4.7 billion people every year, meaning nearly five billion people may recognise the vocabulary of ‘Molineux’, ‘Wolverhampton’ and the ‘Black Country’.

The majority of our global fans started to follow Wolves not because of their parents or home town, but because they love some unique element of our club, such as the badge, the shirt colour, the players, a special game, an attractive story, or even our esports adventure.

I suppose most Wolves fans are not glory hunters, but connected with the club by mutual personalities, emotions and aesthetics.

Also because of our worldwide exposure, more and more global fans are infusing new characters into Wolves.

Almost at every home match I see excited Korean fans walking around Molineux, and I believe sooner or later there will be a Korean restaurant in Wolverhampton.

To reach and stay where we are is not easy, especially from a long-term view. In the last 30 years of Premier League history, there have been 51 teams that have played in the division, and only eight teams have stayed longer than at least three seasons and never been relegated.

Since our promotion in 2018, in five years, there have been 12 teams dropping to the Championship at least once. From newly-promoted teams after 2018, only Aston Villa and Wolves have stayed longer than three seasons.

The recent cases of sovereign ownership model make the challenge even tougher for the other Premier League clubs. Ultimately, capital is one of the key driving factors to guarantee a long-term competitiveness on the pitch, no matter if it’s from an endless chest or a huge fanbase. A big advantage of capital backing could make the job much easier.

One proactive change inside Wolves, for tackling the challenge, is to build a strong management team with a lot of excellent people committed to one aim, rather than relying on one or two individual heroes who may shine at one moment, then dim at another, or put personal interest ahead of the benefit of the club.

This will strengthen our stability, which was a problem for us in the last three years. Stability is our key to compete with those richer competitors for a long time.

I also believe the football industry has entered an era when teamwork is more crucial than personal calibre. The reason we appointed a young English manager; or always try to promote our own staff to step up to senior positions; or do our best to give the academy players a chance; or recruit hungry players who see our platform as a golden opportunity, is because it’s easier to build a team like that with natural chemistry, that can adapt to each other quickly.

Also, it’s more possible to form mutual long-term targets and values and make the journey together more enjoyable for everyone.

In one sentence, dopamine is obviously important in football, but we see endorphins as equally essential. We work hard every day, to provide both for every fan and member of staff.

Life is not only about football; Wolves could be a symbol linking every soul who just loves something about it, no matter how small it is.

I used to have a colleague when we were both in our 20s, who played a lot of Championship Manager 03/04, and he always chose a club called Woking. I remember there were a few prodigies in that team waiting to be discovered and developed.

I also knew Wolverhampton Wanderers for the first time from that video game.

Almost 15 years later, one day on a drive to the south, I suddenly remembered that colleague and the name of Woking.

I decided to take a detour to have a look at the small town. If I have a chance to meet my old colleague again, I will tell him how beautiful that area is and the lovely club that still prospers after 130 years.

Last week I paid a visit to Liverpool to meet a couple of friends in the music industry. Before a gig that night, we had a drink in a pub near the legendary music venue The Jacaranda.

An amateur band formed by older ladies and gents, middle-aged guys like me, and young lads, played a Beatles song I felt familiar but couldn’t remember the name.

After I was back in Wolverhampton, one day I was watching a short documentary made by a Korean TV channel about Hwang Hee-Chan’s life in Tettenhall, and the familiar song played again in a scene when Hee-Chan was walking on a serene day, and this time I grasped the name: Eight Days A Week.

The world is small, isn’t it?