Chapter Five: Not a Charity Home

Two years later, THE GIANTS' SCRAPYARD was Greyport's bestselling scarf. It began as a mocking headline in the Northern Football Gazette. In tier seven, nine of Greyport's twenty-three players were academy rejects. Critics said Lin was buying therapy for his own wound. Mara trademarked the insult and sold five thousand scarves in three days. “At twenty-five pounds each,” she said, “an insult is an asset.” Revenue had risen from £270,000 to £2.6 million. More than four thousand season tickets were sold. System rewards and sponsorship built drainage, a gym and an analysis room. But the ground still was not theirs. The council raised its price to £1.1 million after Red Anchor Capital bid to build apartments.