The ticket to the top

Calista Marquez meets Lady Danay Grey - Part 2

Read Part 1 here

The office of the CEO of Paradiso Bus Service is high up within the complex now known as the Preston Bus Station Arena. The walls are adorned with accolades from US and UK Universities, including Lady Danay Grey’s sporting achievements. The left side of the office is an entirely glass wall overlooking what was once a park but is now the embryonic stadium of Preston Paradise BS FC. The Grey Lady takes me over to the window and shows me her plans for how the stadium will slowly grow out from the small pitch and temporary stands. Her facade has shifted slightly this is a topic she can speak about confidently and freely.
“The most interesting thing really is that we can turn the multi-story carpark into standing room or let people watch the game from their cars. It is quite unique.” She remarks with enthusiasm. “The bus links obviously will bring the most people in.”
She suggests we take a walk out onto the pitch which I accept.
“Speaking of transport links, we haven’t heard a lot about your offer to provide team buses to all the teams? Is that going ahead?” I ask.

Soccer Pass

We take the stairs out of the office, rather than the lift, Lady Grey is still clearly very fit. The stairs lead out onto service corridors for each level of the building. I notice Lady Grey has very comfortable shoes on, Swordfish island Diseñador Ultraboost trainers, she doesn’t phase at all by the grimy backend of the bus station complex. As we walk, we talk.
LDG: "The interesting thing about that was the uptake was slow at first. Kokomo Kraken and Choco Criollo jumped at it but the others less so. They had other things to think about, kits, branding, players…”
CM: “Considering the history with the cocoa workers and you’re family where you surprised?”
LDG: “It’s all water under the bridge now. The fans need their rivalries. We had fun putting together a bus for them. It did present a problem though, teams realised later down the line that they needed transport. We had to have some frank discussions with the Paradiso FA.”

CM: “What kind of discussions?”
LDG: “Well there were a number of issues. The cost of travel between the Islands was an issue for smaller clubs. We were happy to help but Lavernus Snelgrove took some convincing… hammering out an agreement was something else.”
CM: “What were the sticking points?”
LDG: “Mostly who pays for what and how much… there was an expectation we’d cart everyone around for free but a reluctance from both ends to just let the government or the FA pay. We wanted to build a dynamic footballing ecosystem. Eventually we agreed that the Department for Sport would raise it’s funding for the leagues so the Paradiso FA could increase prize money. This made the league mostly sustainable and allowed clubs to go halves for transport. We pushed together something called SoccerPass – any easy package for clubs to get the transport they needed around the islands.”
CM: “It sounds like you were quite heavily involved in advising the Paradiso FA?”
LDG: “A little, fortunately the Swedish adviser they got in – a chap called Mikaelinho got it. Worked hard on modelling different scenarios. There was one sticking point though… the Youth Leagues.”

Lavernus Snelgrove's Paradiso FA promotional poster

CONCACAF Complications

By this point we have made it to the ground floor. Existing the service corridors we find ourselves in a foray with many bus terminals and fencing leading through the complex out onto the pitch. Through some 40-year-old sliding doors we walk out onto the once rundown park that sits in the centre of bus station. It seemed so much smaller from above, now it stretches out in front of us. There are temporary stands being built closer to the area of grass marked out as the pitched off to the far side.
Lady Grey stops her story to point out various zones of construction she referenced earlier. The facilities are already impressive by Paradiso standards. The main stand is sturdy concrete converted room part of the bus depot with temporary stands that will get moved and rebuilt as the stadium expands, until it – in Lady Grey’s words – is akin to the Estadio Azteca.
CM: “You were saying about the Youth Leagues?”
LDG: “Ah yes. So as you’ll know the Paradiso leagues are structured based around regions and then the top tiers are international. You would expect this to be the same for the youth teams but sadly not…”
CM: “How so? Lavernus Snelgrove’s decision?”
LGD: “Not exactly… Paradiso entrance into The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football came with significant seed funding for developing the sport – it’s unheard of a nation like Paradiso to start from a standing start so CONCACAF allocated funds to help. You may know that FIFA has been pouring money into smaller leagues around the world… we got some of that money. The issue is that CONCACAF took issue with the regional format. It wasn’t transparent enough for them…”
CM: “As in corruption?”
LGD: “I couldn’t say… but you know what the Social Clubs in Paradiso are like…”
CM: “Does this explain some of the lack of details about the league start?”
LGD: “I can’t say, that’s for the Paradiso FA to announce. But I can tell you how we fixed it.”
CM: “Please do!”
LGD: “The youth grants only apply to the youth teams and the youth teams are not regional… perhaps though you can see the challenge this might create considering our earlier issues with travel!”
CM: “How do you get around that?”
LGD: “The Soccerpass – Scholarship.”

Transportation Generation

Lady Grey gives me a shiny ID card. It’s emblazoned with the logos of the Paradiso Bus Service as well as Paradiso Ferries and the Paradiso FA. There are other transport logos on there too and a photo of a smiling young man with the name Lucas Slaughter next to it.
LGD: “Free travel across all of Paradiso for under 20s footballers.”
CM: “That is incredible. Who pays for it?”
LGD: “El Presidente. FIFA. The Grey Estate. Other outside investors… the percentages you don’t need to know.”
CM: “Is it still a long way for teenagers to travel to games?”
LGD: “The Soccerpass isn’t just transport. All clubs commit to provide a base level of education at their grounds, so players arrive the day before and get some classes alongside training. It makes it more appealing to funders not less.”
CM: “Has the take up been good?”
LDG: “If teams want to be in the youth leagues, they have to sign up… we haven’t announced it yet. Assuming you release this when we discussed you will get to break the news. Lavernus and myself are confident it will attract lots of interest from young Paradisians.” CM: “Was this your idea?”
A sly smile creeps across The Grey Lady’s face
LGD: “It was a team effort… took a lot of talks to get it right. Make sure it was all… viable.”
So there you have it the Soccerpass is Paradiso’s answer to developing youth football. As I leave Preston Paradise I am left with a sense of wonder. Lady Grey is a woman who seeks to reshape things how she sees fit. Her ambition is clearly to reshape Paradiso into a footballing nation that can got toe to toe with best in CONCACAF. Would you bet against her? Would you bet against Preston Paradise BS FC? Against the Soccerpass Scholarship being a huge success? Perhaps the Grey Lady is the Soccer Señora of all Paradiso… I do wonder what El Presidente and Lavernus would say about that.