JACK SEALY is an Englishman living the Chinese dream.
The Southampton-born right-back once earned just £20 a week playing for non-league Bristol Manor Farm in the Western League.
The son of former Saints, Crystal Palace, Leicester, Bournemouth, QPR, Fulham and Sporting Lisbon striker Tony, he is plying his trade this season in the mega-rich Chinese Super League for Changchun Yatai.
Sealy, 29, moved to Hong Kong with his family at the age of five but returned to the UK to attend the University of the West of England in Bristol.
While there he played non-league football for Bristol Manor Farm, Shortwood, Pucklechurch and Almondsey.
But now he is a Hong Kong passport holder who plays for the national team and is classed as a home-grown Chinese star.
Sealy can earn up to £20,000 if he features in a Changchun victory after the club’s owner doubled the win bonus in a bid to motivate his team in their relegation battle.
SunSport’s JUSTIN ALLEN spent a day with Sealy to find out how life in the People’s Republic is treating the only English player in their top flight.
10:30AM – CUP OF GREEN TEA
JACK welcomes me into his modest but modern two-bed apartment.
It is situated around 20 minutes from the centre of Changchun, a city to the north east of the country with a population of about seven million.
While we sip Chinese green tea, he tells me how Changchun Yatai FC initially gave him a flat next to their training base when he joined in January. He said: “I wasn’t happy. It was small and not as modern as this. It was too local for my liking.
“The thought of the club knowing where I was all the time felt weird.
“So I found this place. It costs me about £1,000 a month and it’s a nice distance away from the club.
“It’s perfect to get away from it all during my downtime.”
11:30AM – TIME FOR THE GYM
CHANGCHUN YATAI put on just one weekly gym session, so Jack does extra work in a complex near his flat three or four times a week.
“I usually go in the morning,” he tells me. “A, for something to do to help fill the day up and, B, it helps my performances, makes me faster and stronger.”
The team’s coach is South Korean task-master Lee Jang-Soo.
Jack explains: “He loves physical players, ones who run all day and who take care of their fitness.”
1PM – LUNCHTIME
JACK cooks for himself and rustles up poached eggs, bacon and home-made guacamole on toast.
“All the right stuff to give me energy for training later,” he tells me proudly as he shows off his full plate of nosh.
“If I couldn’t cook for myself I’d be stuffed.
“I had to learn at uni.
“I do like pasta and dabble with Mexican.
“There are a few restaurants here but I only tend to eat Chinese food when we dine together as a team.”
1:50PM – THE SUN IS SHINING
DESPITE living more than 5,000 miles from his birthplace, Jack still keeps up with all the UK news . . . and reads Britain’s greatest newspaper, using the The Sun Classic app on his iPad.
But he cannot easily keep up with friends back home on social media because China’s government has blocked most foreign sites.
He said: “Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp are all banned and can only be accessed through a VPN.
“But it takes forever to access messages and pictures.”
2:15PM – QUICK GO ON THE PLAYSTATION
WHEN Jack is away from the training ground, he often whiles away a lot of his spare time playing PlayStation 4 games.
He lives alone and admits sometimes it gets lonely.
But he said: “I have made a few friends here — they are all English teachers and sometimes we go out together.
“But I am quite independent and don’t have too many problems being in my own company.
“My family are just a 3½-hour flight away in Hong Kong if things did happen to get desperate.”
related stories
2:30PM – TAXI TO THE TEAM HOTEL
WE bundle into a cab as Jack must meet his team-mates ahead of training.
In the cab, Jack admits: “I always like to get everywhere early because if you’re late they fine you.
“The discipline is quite strict because they want to keep you on your toes.”
The club are engaged in a relegation battle, sitting six points from safety with four matches left.
Jack has not started a game since Jang-Soo became coach and said: “He has not even communicated with me about my situation. It’s the Korean way . . . they don’t like confrontation.”
3:30PM – COACH TO TRAINING
TIME to head for training. Changchun’s star player is Bolivian striker Marcelo Moreno — who played in the Premier League with Wigan six years ago.
Jack says: “Marcelo has 20 goals for us this season so far and has saved us on more than one occasion.”
Each club is allowed five foreign players — one must be Asian — and one European superstar has already asked Jack for his views on China.
He says: “We played a friendly against Werder Bremen and Julian Draxler asked what it’s like here. He is obviously interested in coming at some point.”
4PM – TRAINING
THE session starts with Brazilian fitness coach Walter Grassmann putting the team through their usual warm-ups before the high-intensity stuff gets underway.
Jang-Soo gets the squad working intensely on pressing and keeping the ball. The translating, though, at times becomes farcical.
One translator had to relay Jang-Soo’s commands from Korean into Chinese, before another had to interpret it into English.
And then it had to be translated into Spanish and Portuguese!
Everyone gets the message — eventually!
5:30PM – BUS BACK TO THE HOTEL
JACK enjoyed the training session even though it was gruelling.
He said: “We are told to train just like we play.
“When we come off the training pitch, it always feels like we’ve just played a full 90- minute match.
“This is a big jump up for me because I played at a much lower level that this.
“It’s all about being three steps ahead now — thinking a lot quicker and knowing the position you will be getting yourself in much earlier.”
8PM – SHOPPING
AFTER a team meeting at the hotel, a quick shower and change, it is time to visit the supermarket.
Jack says: “Once training is finished, I nip in here to grab a few things and start cooking. It’s an impressive shop. You have to give the fruit and veg a wash a couple of times to make sure there’s nothing that can damage your stomach.
“But you can pretty much get everything that you need and it allows me to be inventive with my cooking.
“Normally, I go home and cook myself something before chilling.”
8:30PM – EN ROUTE FOR DINNER
WALKING past street food stands in the bustling city centre, many locals stop and stare at Jack — because it is rare to see a Westerner around these parts.
He tells me: “You try to say ‘Hello’ to them but often they just ignore you.
“They’re intrigued because they rarely see foreigners. I once got a taxi and the driver stopped at the lights, turned to me and looked me up and down for 45 seconds.
“I’ve even had a guy touching hairs on my arms and putting his arm next to mine because he has no hair on his.
“It’s weird but you have to not let it bother you.”
9PM – BEER FOR ME, WATER FOR JACK
WE conclude our day together by dining at an Italian restaurant.
While I opt to treat myself to a pint of lager, Jack stays professional and orders sparkling mineral water, with bolognese to come.
I ask Jack if he believes the Chinese Super League is the real deal? He says: “For the league to make the step up, there needs to be improvements at grassroots.
“And if they start allowing more than five foreign players into each team, I’ve no doubt the Chinese Super League could succeed.”
10PM – IT’S GOODBYE FROM ME . . . AND GOODBYE FROM HIM
AS we head our separate ways, I tell Jack he must pinch himself at playing in the Chinese Super League — after remembering he used to play on a park pitch in front of one man and his dog at Bristol Manor Farm.
He laughs: “Sometimes I do. When you’re not having a good day, not enjoying yourself or feeling a bit lonely, it is easy to think, ‘What am I doing here?’
“But then I speak to people back home and they say, ‘Wow . . . amazing . . . I can’t believe you’ve done it and the opportunity you’re getting’.
“I’ve only been playing professionally for five years and to think where I was at university and where I am now, it’s unbelievable.”
Leave a comment