G14 was an organisation almost every serious European football supporter had heard of.
Its eighteen members represented some of the continent's most powerful clubs, and its headquarters in Brussels were no accident. Brussels was also the political centre of the European Union, and G14 had always sought influence beyond the football pitch.
The organisation was legally recognised as an economic interest group, which gave its members a formal structure through which they could negotiate, lobby and coordinate positions on issues affecting Europe's biggest clubs.
Its membership included national giants from across the continent.
Club presidents and senior executives who already wielded enormous influence domestically came together under one roof, giving G14 a political weight far greater than that of any ordinary football association.
The organisation met several times each year, usually without a rigid public schedule.
In mid-June, once the domestic seasons and European competitions had ended, another meeting was called.
Representatives from all eighteen members travelled to Brussels.
The agenda covered a range of internal matters, but one issue dominated the discussion.
Expansion.
For more than a year, G14 had been considering whether to admit new members.
Roma, Lazio and Parma had all expressed interest from Italy.
Hertha Berlin had applied from Germany.
Rangers and Celtic wanted representation for Scotland.
Anderlecht had put forward Belgium's case.
Benfica had done the same for Portugal.
Yet none of them carried the same combination of sporting momentum, financial strength and commercial influence as the two English applicants under discussion.
Chelsea.
And New Manchester United.
For G14, New Manchester United had become increasingly difficult to ignore.
They were the reigning Champions League winners.
In only three years, they had retained the UEFA Cup, won the Premier League and then conquered Europe.
The club's rise had been almost absurdly fast.
Just as important, their commercial growth had kept pace with their football.
Although New Manchester United had not released every detail of their accounts publicly, estimates in the financial press suggested that their annual operating revenue had already moved into the very top tier of world football.
Some analysts even believed they had overtaken Manchester United and were now second only to Real Madrid.
Others thought overtaking Madrid was merely a matter of time.
Real were entering a difficult period of transition.
New Manchester United, by contrast, were still accelerating.
The club's public image helped as well.
Supporter relations were strong.
The FA respected them.
The Premier League had increasingly treated Ethan as a serious voice in governance discussions.
UEFA had its disagreements with him, but relations remained functional and often constructive.
Ethan had become unusually adept at moving between competing political centres without turning every disagreement into a feud.
That mattered.
G14 had wanted New Manchester United for some time.
The obstacle had been England.
Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal had all resisted the idea of admitting another Premier League club.
From their perspective, every additional English member diluted their own influence.
That opposition had weakened.
Arsenal's position was the clearest example.
The relationship between the two clubs had been hostile on the pitch, and their supporters still disliked one another intensely.
At executive level, however, things had begun to change.
New Manchester United's decision to let Almunia join Arsenal without demanding a transfer fee had been noticed.
So had Ethan's broader handling of football business.
Arsenal's board had become more willing to deal with him, particularly as New Manchester United's commercial model continued to impress across Europe.
Elsewhere, support was even stronger.
Real Madrid backed them.
AC Milan backed them.
Ajax backed them.
Juventus, Bayern, Paris Saint-Germain, Valencia and Lyon had all moved towards supporting admission as well.
By the time the meeting began, New Manchester United had more than enough votes to force the question formally onto the agenda.
Under G14's internal rules, an applicant required the support of at least ten member clubs.
Roberto Bettega, acting as chairman for the meeting, introduced the motion.
The vote followed.
Thirteen in favour.
One against.
Four abstentions.
New Manchester United were admitted.
The only dissenting vote came from Manchester United.
David Gill had opposed the application from the beginning.
He did not want another English club inside G14, and he certainly did not want that club to be Manchester United's most bitter modern rival.
But when the result appeared on the board, there was very little he could do.
He was alone.
Ethan entered the conference room alongside Mark Davey.
Florentino Pérez stood to greet him.
Galliani did the same.
As Ethan moved around the table, executives from several of Europe's most powerful clubs rose to shake his hand and congratulate him.
David Gill watched the scene in silence.
The contrast was difficult to ignore.
Seven years earlier, Ethan had been virtually unknown in elite football.
He had been a young man trying to create a new club from nothing.
Now presidents of Real Madrid, Milan, Juventus and Ajax were welcoming him as an equal.
New Manchester United had climbed from the tenth tier of English football to the summit of Europe.
Manchester United, once considered the gold standard for modern football business, were now burdened by one of the largest debt structures in the game.
Gill could hardly miss the irony.
Tradition required every new member to address the meeting before taking part fully.
When Ethan stood, several people around the room exchanged looks.
He was only thirty.
That alone made him unusual in a room dominated by men who had spent decades in football administration.
Some had children not much younger than him.
Florentino and Galliani looked almost amused.
They had already spoken privately with Ethan several times before the meeting.
They knew what was coming.
Most of the room did not.
Ethan looked around before beginning.
"Standing here today, I can't say I feel particularly excited."
The room changed instantly.
Several executives looked at one another.
Whispers started.
This was not the gracious acceptance speech anyone had expected from a newly admitted member.
Ethan continued.
"In fact, I think that if G14 continues moving in its current direction, this organisation may not exist for much longer."
That silenced more of the room.
"We have become a permanent source of conflict for UEFA, and increasingly for FIFA as well."
Nobody could honestly deny it.
G14 had spent much of its existence in confrontation with football's governing bodies.
It had challenged revenue distribution.
It had pressed for compensation for international players.
It had repeatedly raised the possibility of structural changes to the Champions League.
And hanging over everything was the same recurring threat.
A European Super League.
"I could stand here and say all the polite things expected of a new member," Ethan said. "But that would be a waste of everyone's time."
"If you think what I'm about to say is inappropriate, then I'll leave."
He paused.
"But I am willing to make one prediction."
"If we continue like this, G14 will be gone within five years."
The room stirred again.
This time the reaction was more serious.
Even David Gill, who had opposed Ethan's admission, did not dismiss the statement outright.
Ethan had developed an irritating habit of making predictions that later looked far less outrageous than they had when he first said them.
Bettega spoke first.
"G14 is based on equality and mutual benefit between its members."
He gestured towards Ethan.
"You are now one of those members. You are entitled to speak freely."
Several others nodded.
Ethan picked up on the phrase immediately.
"Equality and mutual benefit."
He repeated it slowly.
"That is an admirable principle."
"But we should ask ourselves something uncomfortable."
"Whose interests has G14 actually represented since it was created?"
"The answer is obvious."
"The biggest clubs."
The point was difficult to dispute.
When G14 pushed UEFA for larger Champions League distributions, the direct beneficiaries were clubs already capable of reaching the competition consistently.
A mid-table team in France or Germany gained little from a richer Champions League quarter-final.
A financially fragile club fighting relegation cared even less.
For many of Europe's smaller professional clubs, the Champions League was not a realistic ambition.
Survival was.
"I understand what this organisation wants," Ethan continued. "And I understand what many of you fear."
"But let me ask a different question."
"Why has UEFA never treated the European Super League proposal as something it must seriously accept?"
The Super League idea had circulated for years.
In many ways, G14 had been built around the possibility.
Bring Europe's biggest clubs together permanently.
Create elite fixtures every week.
Control the commercial rights.
Reduce dependence on domestic leagues and UEFA.
The theory was seductive.
The reality had never moved much beyond threats and negotiations.
Ethan believed there was a simple reason.
"We don't have a foundation."
That drew more attention than his earlier provocation.
He continued.
"The Premier League is powerful."
"But could the Premier League exist without the Championship, League One and League Two beneath it?"
"No."
"La Liga cannot exist in isolation either."
"Neither can Serie A or the Bundesliga."
"A league is not just the clubs at the top."
"It is an entire competitive structure."
That was the fundamental problem with the Super League concept.
If Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, Liverpool, Juventus, Milan, Bayern and the rest were moved into one permanent competition, what happened underneath?
What happened to promotion?
What happened to relegation?
What was the route in?
What was the route out?
What happened to the hundreds of clubs whose existence helped make the biggest clubs culturally important in the first place?
Ethan moved to another point.
"Think about why certain Champions League matches attract such enormous audiences."
"If Real Madrid finish second in Spain and meet the Italian champions in the round of 16, supporters see two elite teams representing two different football cultures."
"That contrast matters."
"Now imagine both teams are in the same permanent league."
"One is first."
"The other is fifteenth."
"Does that match still feel like a clash between the best of Spain and the best of Italy?"
"Or does it begin to feel like a league leader playing a struggling side?"
The commercial department at New Manchester United had conducted enough audience research to support the argument.
Part of the Champions League's appeal came from scarcity.
Elite clubs did not meet every week.
When they did, the match felt exceptional.
Domestic identity intensified that feeling.
England against Spain.
Italy against Germany.
Madrid against Manchester.
Milan against Barcelona.
Put all of those clubs in one league permanently and the novelty inevitably declined.
The very product the giants were trying to create could become less valuable because of overexposure.
There was an even more serious problem.
UEFA and FIFA still controlled the wider football ecosystem.
"If a European Super League were created without their approval," Ethan said, "what happens if UEFA and FIFA respond by excluding every participating player, coach and referee from their competitions?"
No Champions League.
No World Cup.
No European Championship.
No domestic league sanctioned under the existing system.
The legal questions would be enormous.
The political confrontation would be worse.
And the players themselves would be forced to choose.
"How many footballers would give up the World Cup permanently?"
Ethan asked.
"How many referees would give up international football?"
"How many coaches would accept being locked out of the rest of the game?"
The room remained quiet.
That was one of the reasons the Super League threat had remained a bargaining tool rather than becoming reality.
The biggest clubs possessed immense commercial power.
UEFA and FIFA still possessed institutional power.
Neither side could easily destroy the other without damaging itself.
"So what is our real foundation?" Ethan asked.
"The clubs outside this room."
"The clubs below us in our own leagues."
"The clubs from countries that will never have a permanent seat at this table."
"They are European football."
"We are simply the most visible part of it."
The metaphor Ethan used was simple.
European football was a pyramid.
The giants sat at the top.
They shone brightest.
They attracted the largest audiences.
They generated enormous commercial value.
But the top of a pyramid could not remain suspended in the air.
Remove the base and everything above it collapsed.
Everyone in the room understood the logic.
These were not inexperienced businessmen.
Florentino understood television markets.
Galliani understood football politics.
The representatives of Bayern, Barcelona, Juventus and the rest had spent years navigating exactly these conflicts.
Ethan was not telling them something none of them had ever considered.
The real problem was that understanding a structural weakness and agreeing to surrender an advantage were two completely different things.
And that led to the issue sitting beneath almost every argument in European football.
Money.
Interests.
Every club in the room wanted a stronger football economy.
Very few were willing to become weaker themselves in order to create it.
That was where the real debate began.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)