When Ethan first established the foundation, he truly had not considered profiting from it. He simply wanted to create a foundation to help the community and the supporters.
Over the past six months, the foundation had indeed done a lot for the Newton Heath district and the supporters' clubs.
For example, not long ago, New Manchester United took advantage of the league break to collaborate with the Royal Hospital and visit the children's ward, bringing gifts to the hospitalized children.
Additionally, the foundation had provided plenty of assistance to supporters facing difficulties, not just in Manchester, but across the UK and even overseas.
Regardless of whether they were New Manchester United supporters or not, as long as they encountered difficulties, New Manchester United would provide help to the best of their ability.
To date, the Red Rebels Foundation had completed no fewer than twenty charity events, and even some of the club's players voluntarily helped with the foundation's activities, which was something Ethan and Mourinho were very pleased to see.
For instance, recently, a New Manchester United supporter posted a plea for help on the official forum, saying that he had been accepted into university but lacked the money for tuition.
After learning of this, the club immediately verified the information, found that it was true, and the foundation promptly sent someone to contact the university and pay his tuition, allowing him to enrol smoothly.
Because of this matter, the university student even posted a letter of thanks on the official forum, which received a huge response from countless supporters and internet users.
Recently, the Red Rebels Foundation also planned to launch a series of charity events.
Soon, they would go to Africa with a Manchester charity organization to carry out charitable activities, and the foundation even planned to sponsor several African children to help them complete their studies.
These matters had also resonated online, with many supporters from well-off families expressing their willingness to sponsor them and asking the foundation and club for help.
These activities were carried out outside football, and New Manchester United had not deliberately hyped them up, but in the hearts of New Manchester United supporters, this had undoubtedly greatly enhanced the club's image and status.
And all of this had provided favourable conditions for David's commercial development.
"Besides the original sponsors, I also went to find the travel agency we used to work with. Do you know? They're still using the advertisements our players shot for them, but they haven't paid us a single penny."
Since being promoted to League Two, the club had purchased its own bus and no longer continued its cooperation with the travel agency, but Ethan was aware of the travel agency using New Manchester United players for advertisements.
"I agreed to that because they helped us back then!" Ethan said with a smile.
David approvingly patted Ethan's hand. "I know you're repaying a kindness, so I just discussed the possibility of cooperation with them. They're willing to rent two pitch-side advertising boards and also invite our players to shoot another major advertisement for them. You know, recently, they've made a fortune just by organizing supporters to watch away matches."
Ethan and Walsh burst into laughter after hearing this.
"I didn't realize you've been so busy lately. I thought you were out playing all the time and was just about to have Ethan fire you!" Walsh jokingly scolded David.
David immediately put on an expression that said, you really don't understand me, which made everyone laugh.
Just then, Mourinho finished the team's training session and came over to find Ethan for something. Hearing them talk, he started asking questions.
Walsh explained everything in detail, and David immediately discussed the arrangement of players shooting advertisements for sponsors with Mourinho.
The latter stated that as long as the timing was right, he and the players would cooperate with the club's commercial activities.
"Let me show you some more good stuff!" After settling the sponsor matter, David pulled a piece of paper from his pocket.
When unfolded, it was a map of the area around New Manchester United's City Ground, with the surrounding roads meticulously drawn.
The river behind City Ground was also drawn, with ripples specifically marked on it.
"Currently, our team's performances are getting better and better, and more and more supporters are flocking to City Ground. I plan to talk to the council and request that this be fully considered in the new round of urban planning, with more bus routes passing through here and more stops arranged in this area."
Ethan listened and strongly agreed.
He had long felt that there were too few buses passing by the bus stop outside City Ground, and many supporters from the city either drove or took taxis, all because of the limited bus routes passing by the stadium.
"It would be best to also have light rail. You know there's a light rail line passing near us, and a stop could definitely be arranged nearby. As for buses, it would be best to arrange more routes coming from the city centre or with our stadium as the terminal stop. I believe this move will attract even more supporters to the stadium."
In fact, Ethan had visited many home grounds of lower-tier teams, and he felt that a large part of the reason fewer supporters attended matches was the inconvenience of transportation.
However, New Manchester United's City Ground was located in the urban area of Manchester and should not have such problems. It was just that the current planning was not yet in place.
"Mark, I heard that many large chain supermarkets want to enter Manchester recently, and the council is also planning for this. I think you can go and talk to them. You know, across Alan Turing Way from City Ground, there is a large empty plot of land that can fully accommodate supermarkets and shopping centres."
Ethan vaguely remembered reading a travelogue about Manchester City's home stadium in his previous life, which mentioned that there was a Walmart across from the Manchester City stadium.
At the time, Ethan had not paid much attention, but now that he recalled it, if the surrounding area could be transformed into a shopping destination, then why worry about New Manchester United's home ground not becoming prosperous?
"At that time, the value of the area around City Ground will also rise accordingly!" David immediately followed Ethan's words and laughed heartily. "What I admire most is your decision back then to buy all the land around City Ground. Do you know? If it were up to me, as long as the results are guaranteed, we could completely tidy up the land in the four corners and lease it to interested businesses and sponsors."
"Don't worry, I've thought about it. City Ground probably won't be enough for us soon. When we build a new stadium, I plan to develop the inner part of Roselane Road into a car park and leave the large open space outside for rent. I believe that once the surrounding area becomes lively, many people will be interested in that piece of land, such as car dealerships. The other three corners will be the same."
"That's right. If that happens, then we can collect millions or even tens of millions of pounds in rent alone each year. Then, whoever José wants to buy, we'll throw out bundles of cash, and world-class superstars will come one by one. Wow, it'll be hard for us not to become a giant!" David gestured exaggeratedly.
Ethan was also very excited.
Although this was not the city centre, what was even more valuable was that there was plenty of open space, and the potential for development was enormous.
Furthermore, when Ethan acquired City Ground, he had bought all the surrounding land, forming a square plot.
If, when rebuilding City Ground, the stadium's position was moved slightly toward the centre, then the four corners around it could be completely leased out for business.
If, based on his previous life's experience, in addition to introducing Walmart, several other large shopping centres or other service and retail businesses were brought in to develop the surrounding land, then the future environment of City Ground would not lose to Old Trafford.
And once it took shape, with rent and other income, New Manchester United would be fully capable of self-sufficiency.
It was not that Ethan was reluctant to continue investing in New Manchester United, but rather that he felt relying solely on his investment was not a sustainable solution.
The club needed its own way of surviving, and as it currently stood, Ethan's initial planning was correct. The surrounding land would definitely bring huge profits to New Manchester United.
In addition to this, Ethan also planned to incorporate some commercial operations when designing the new stadium in the future, such as opening a dedicated club shop at the home ground to sell club merchandise.
However, it certainly would not be as excessive as the Manchester United store at Old Trafford, which reportedly sold items with a profit margin of at least five times, and some even more than ten times.
Mourinho stood by, listening as Ethan, Walsh, and David discussed everything from stadium planning to the club's commercial development and supporter services like club publications.
Throughout the conversation, he gained a general understanding of how a club operated and deeply realized the difficulties involved in running one.
However, although Ethan strongly supported David's development in the commercial sector, he constantly reminded David that the bottom line of operations was not to affect the team's performances and preparations.
This also made Mourinho deeply feel Ethan's emphasis on the team's competitive strength.
Taking advantage of everyone being present, Ethan also consulted Mourinho's opinion on expanding the coaching staff, stating that the club intended to give him the authority to handle it and let him choose the kind of assistants he needed.
Mourinho, however, stated that the club was currently on a high and it was not appropriate to make personnel changes at this time.
Therefore, he would expand the coaching staff at the beginning of next season.
However, he did want to promote Cassell to the first team to help him, if possible, because he felt Cassell was a very good assistant and very familiar with the team's tactics.
"But then, there won't be anyone to run the youth academy!" Mourinho said with some difficulty.
Paul Hampson could do it, but he was not as good as Cassell and could not handle it independently.
Ethan had already realized this problem.
De Rossi Sr. and Palacio Sr. were not capable of running the youth academy, and their personalities made them prefer mingling with the children.
Once Cassell was away on business, such as during his previous trip to Brazil with Ethan to establish the scouting network there, there would be no one to oversee the youth academy at New Manchester United.
"If possible, I think it would be best to hire one or two more excellent youth coaches to help Jim!" Mourinho suggested.
Ethan nodded repeatedly, but he did not know who to look for.
He was very familiar with players and head coaches, but not so much with coaches.
He tried hard to search his memories, and after a while, he slapped his thigh.
"How could I forget them!" Ethan said with a laugh.
P.S. Both are legends, both in real life and in Football Manager, true Dutch super legends. Guess who!
(To be continued.)