Capítulo 309: A Standoff outside the Station
Almost an hour after Aldrich finished his call, the door to the detention room finally swung open again.
Yvonne, dressed in a sleek black women's suit and pencil skirt, appeared before them with her arms crossed and a playful smile on her face.
"Oh my, you all really do seem like children! It's a bit concerning, isn't it?"
Although Aldrich and his companions were detained, Yvonne was still a little gloating about their predicament ---It's not every day you see Aldrich make a fool of himself like this!
Yet, just as she basked in that whimsical joy for a fleeting moment, the police in Turin, having checked their lists, categorized Yvonne as a football hooligan too...
Bang!
The door to the detention room slammed shut.
Fuming, Yvonne pounded on the door.
Aldrich and Brady erupted into laughter!
Yvonne turned around, her face blazing with anger: "What are you laughing at? These police are rude and uncivilized! I'm going to sue them!"
Aldrich sobered up and asked, "What about the others from the club?"
Yvonne replied, irritated, "They've all flown back to London."
"Just you came here?"
"Just me! Who knows what's really going on?"
Yvonne puffed out one cheek in annoyance.
Earlier, she had mocked them, and suddenly she found herself in the same predicament.
Aldrich realized that they couldn't rely solely on the Brits to fix this.
The choices now were simple: wait it out for over an hour until they were released, or get the Italians involved.
Aldrich pulled out his phone, rifled through the contacts, and dialed Galliani's number.
When he got through, he found out that Galliani was currently in Turin!
He had gone to the Allianz Stadium to observe Shevchenko's performance up close.
After the game, he was headed back to the hotel with plans to return to Milan in the morning.
Galliani, upon listening to Aldrich's tale, initially thought he was joking.
The proud son of the Hall family—the owner and coach of Millwall, who had just eliminated the prestigious Juventus in the spotlight of the Champions League—was now in jail, labeled a football hooligan?
This was absurd!
Galliani quickly took a cab from his hotel to the police station. Given his status, he had an easier time gathering intel and soon met Aldrich in the detention room.
Aldrich was released, but his companions were still held inside. The officers, perhaps swayed by Galliani's reputation, allowed Aldrich to leave first.
Galliani invited Aldrich to rest at the hotel, but Aldrich stubbornly remained at the police station entrance. He had already gathered the inside scoop from Galliani.
Just as he suspected, the Italian police had a blacklist that included Brady, Fred, and others; even Aldrich and Yvonne's names were on it.
Aldrich was curious about the origins of this blacklist. Galliani, using his connections outside the police station, uncovered that for many years, police across the UK had been cracking down on football hooligans. Suspected individuals' names would be shared with police forces across Europe. Some fans who made it onto the blacklist would even be denied entry at customs, while many, like the Millwall supporters today, were taken away by police before they could even enter the stadium to prevent any disturbances.
They deemed this blacklist from the UK police to be a significant risk to the safety of the stadium and the match, categorizing it as a key focus for their efforts.
Aldrich had remained on that blacklist all along, but since taking on the role of Millwall's coach, his name hadn't come up in checks due to the club's standing.
His luck had run out today, walking right into this situation.
After understanding these details, Galliani's gaze toward Aldrich changed entirely.
"Mr. Hall, uh, if I remember correctly, you began your coaching career at Millwall at the age of 18, which means you were included on this blacklist before that age. It's surprising to think you were a fervent fan before you turned 18."
Galliani carefully used the term "fervent" instead of "hooligan" to refer to Aldrich.
Aldridge glared at him and shouted in frustration: "I don't know! I don't know why I'm being labeled a football hooligan - it's ridiculous!"
Galliani rubbed his nose, choosing not to argue. Instead, he curiously asked, "So what are you planning to do now? I've checked the flights, and if you want to go back to London, you'll have to wait until tomorrow morning. How about I help you book a hotel?"
Aldrich stood outside the police station with his hands on his hips and angrily retorted: "No! This can't end like this! Are there no human rights? Are there no laws? I am a law-abiding citizen." Regarding this unfair treatment, I won't back down! "
"back down? I think it's just a misunderstanding."
Galliani's mind was momentarily blank, but when he noticed Aldrich faking anger while his eyes revealed a different intent, he looked back at the police station and suddenly understood: This kid is incredibly cunning! He's trying to use this situation to win people over! Damn it, the Hall family needs to go bankrupt fast so Milan can hire him as a coach. Not only will we win championships, but we'll also make money!
Galliani's guess was correct: Aldridge intended to use the incident to gain support.
He turned to Galliani and sincerely said, "Thank you for your help, but you can go now. I'll handle the rest myself."
Galliani figured out Aldrich's intent and wisely decided that staying would only lead to negative repercussions for him, so he slipped away.
After bidding farewell to Galliani, Aldrich quickly called Andrew to arrange for a lawyer and then reached out to the reporters he knew from Fleet Street.
The journalists who had accompanied Millwall on this unexpected journey had not left early—they were mostly still at their workstations or hotels, busy filing their stories for submission. David Miller of The Times was still working at the hotel, having just gathered stats and information, while writing a tactical analysis of the game when his phone rang repeatedly.
"Mr Hall, Millwall are on their way home. Were you so happy that your team got promoted that you pulled a prank to celebrate?"
"Whether you believe it or not, I'm telling you there's big news!"
Beep…beep…
David Miller frowned and looked at his phone, thinking: This young coach can really make news wherever he goes.
He shook his head and called up the other colleagues in Turin to follow this developing news. While he was a strong reporter specialized in football, he wasn't very interested in news that didn't relate closely to the match itself.
Tomson and Richard, both closely associated with Aldrich and working for The Sun and Daily Mail, were still in Turin, unwinding at a bar after submitting their pieces a half-hour post-press conference. However, upon receiving Aldrich's call, they immediately made their way to the scene while calling other colleagues. They understood that breaking news required more than just a pen and a few photographs—they needed full video coverage.
As this information spread, someone leaked the news, and the first media to arrive at the scene were the Italian outlets, followed closely by BBC and other major networks.
Outside the Turin police station, the sight was quite bizarre.
Aldrich, who had just sparked a focal point in the Champions League, was sitting cross-legged, silently outside the police station. Neither the police nor passing pedestrians, nor the reporters that arrived to gather information could elicit a word from him; he sat with a serious expression fixed on the station.
A silent protest?!
As midnight approached and Millwall's match against Juventus had long concluded—with both teams' fans having returned home—the Turin police finally released some of the Millwall supporters they had temporarily detained.
When Brady and the others emerged, what they saw was a striking scene.
Right in the center outside the door, Aldrich was cross-legged, surrounded by a crowd of reporters wielding cameras and microphones, livestreaming the situation with flashing lights and a dense congregation of people.
Brady, Fred, Sol, and Yvonne knew Aldrich's style well; without needing any signals or words from him, the three men immediately took their places behind Aldrich, sitting down with solemn expressions.
Yvonne, finding it difficult to sit in her fitted skirt, approached the reporters for an interview.
The other Lions fans, who had bottled up frustration after having spent money to come for the game only to end up stuck in a jail cell all night, reacted accordingly. Their pre-booked flights had already passed, and further hotel stays would only add more financial burden; hence, they joined the protest here.
At this time, more than a hundred people had gathered outside the police station to protest. Brady spoke to one fan privately for a while and asked him to contact other Millwall fans who were detained at different police stations so that everyone could meet here.
The protest crowd kept growing.
Yiven, with a stern expression, vocally protested the rough and aggressive law enforcement methods of the Turin police in front of the television cameras of various media outlets.
"Our fans came here respectfully to cheer for the team. If indeed there are troublemakers, the police should have evidence and reason to detain them to keep them away from the stadium and avoid chaos. However, our fans did nothing wrong but faced baseless accusations and punishment. Sure, you might think I'm just protecting Millwall's fans; that's one side of the story. But as the team's head coach, Aldrich Hall came here to understand the situation and help those unjustly detained, only to be labeled a football hooligan by the police. What evidence do they have? We all know the truth: Aldrich, as a public figure, is not a football hooligan. To accuse Millwall's coach of being one and imprison him is simply unacceptable; we demand fair treatment and response!"
As Yvonne was speaking to the media, someone from the crowd suddenly shouted, "British scum, get out of Italy!"
Several cameras turned to capture that moment, and Yvonne quickly retorted, "See? Maybe the root of the problem isn't what Millwall's fans did here, but rather that we ourselves are facing discrimination and animosity, leading to this unjust treatment."
Journalists from various media scoffed internally.
Such occurrences were commonplace anywhere.
Were the scenes reversed, with Italians protesting in London, the British would likely be shouting to send them packing, too.
Which national league can say they have never experienced a rowdy fan base? Not to mention treating foreign fans peacefully, even in Italy, security outside the stadium is always tense during derby games, and there has been a long-standing confrontation between the north and the south; a similar situation also occurred in the United Kingdom.
Still, Millwall fans causing ruckus usually ends up being inconsequential. Yet today, the figure leading the protest is Audridge, which alters the situation significantly. Especially since Audridge has been accused of being a real football hooligan and has actually been detained in the past—this won't end quietly!
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