CHAPTER 2
“It is such a pleasure having you here with the Manchester Bees, Miss. Simmons,” Chard Mohammad, the majority owner of the football team, said as his assistant, a slim man in a black suit, poured several cups of tea in his office. “From what Mr. Conrad said on the phone, you’re a miracle worker.”
“Oh, well, I wouldn’t say that,” Scarlett said, her hackles rising at the praise of her ex-boyfriend and former employer.
She sat in front of a glass desk in an office with a gold-leaf honeycomb pattern stenciled onto a matte-black wall on one side and a glass wall overlooking the practice pitch on the other. The floor was covered in a gray carpet with the Manchester Bees emblem stitched into it.
It was a dramatic office, but the company in the room was far more imposing than its style.
Chard’s brother, Jaffi, was leaning against the dark wooden cabinets that sat behind his brother’s desk.
While the brothers shared the same almond-shaped brown eyes and salt-and-pepper hair, the similarities ended there.
Chard was square-faced and jovial, with a small nose and a large, stylized mustache.
Jaffi’s face was long and clean-shaven. Centered with a large nose and a sour expression, it was intimidating, to say the least. Yet the person who held the most dominant position in the room, at least to Scarlett, was Mr. Perpetual Frown, who was sitting to her left, out of the corner of her eye. He made Scarlett’s skin tingle.
On a black leather couch that sat in front of the windowed wall were the head managers of the Manchester Bees.
Diane Marrero was a woman in her early fifties.
With brown hair cut into a pixie style, she was dressed in a black-and-gold training suit with the Bees logo over the chest. And sitting next to her was the man Scarlett had maimed with her coffee yesterday.
Theo Ross, dressed in a nearly identical gray suit, sans any coffee stains.
“Nonsense. I’ve heard great things about you.
It’s why I brought you here.” Chard reached out to his left and picked up a file from his desk to hand to her.
“These are the statistics of the team’s fandom over the last five years.
We’ve been on a steady downfall for the past half-decade, with no prospects of turning it around. ”
Scarlett flipped through the charts, analysis about jersey sales and trending topics across several social media sites, but nothing to do with players or coaches, although over here they were called managers.
She glanced up, noting the hopeful, friendly smile on the middle-aged man’s face.
She wasn’t sure why he had given her this folder.
“Mr. Mohammad, jersey sales and trending names don’t necessarily matter. If the Bees aren’t winning games, support for the club will flounder.”
“I’m well aware of that. But Mr. Conrad said you single-handedly did enough PR for the Thorns to become a nationally recognized name.”
Scarlett gritted her teeth at the second mention of her ex. She hoped no one knew about their relationship. Thankfully they had kept it professional, but still, it reeked of favoritism.
“I don’t know why Mr. Conrad said that. The Thorns have been a stellar team since they started, and while I’m good at my job, I’m not a miracle worker.”
Chard’s dark brown eyes watched her with hesitation. “Don’t underestimate yourself.”
“I’m not, I promise. I would simply want to keep everyone’s expectations in check.”
He frowned. “Do you think that starting a women’s team is a misguided idea?”
“Not at all. It’s just… There’s a different temperature for female clubs over here.
In the United Kingdom, football is the main sporting event, whereas in America it comes in fifth overall and because we have such a male-dominated landscape in sports, it’s made it a little easier for women’s teams to lead in this one. ”
“I’m not sure I follow.”
Scarlett leaned forward.
“The thing is, in America, we have American football, baseball, basketball, and hockey. These four sports have been the leaders for sports entertainment for over a century, and because they’re all dominated by men, when soccer came into the mix, it wasn’t necessarily, shall we say, in demand, considering the other leading sports.
Because of this, soccer has always been a more female-dominated sport across the pond, and one that’s been embraced by American sports fans.
Now here, soccer, or football, is the leading sport and it’s been a man’s game for over a century.
” She placed the folder on his desk. “It would be like trying to start a female version of the NFL. Or maybe it’s more comparable to the WNBA.
That organization has been around for nearly thirty years, but it’s only now starting to get noticed. ”
“I’m not interested in a team that will be profitable in thirty years.”
“I understand that. And while there’s a lot more resistance to female teams here than there is in the States, I don’t believe that it’s outrageous to think that the women’s team can’t be as successful as the men’s. If not more so.”
“More than the men’s?” Jaffi sneered, his upper lip curling high to show his teeth. “That’s not only outrageous but impossible, Miss Simmons.”
“Not true. After all, women’s soccer, er, football, was banned in this country from 1921 to 1970 for that very reason.”
“What reason?”
“Women’s games were outselling the men’s at the time of the ban.
They were having more success, and because of that, they were removed as competition.
” The doubtful expressions on Chard’s and his brother’s faces were telling.
Scarlett always liked to share that bit of information when the legitimacy of women’s soccer was called into question.
“The thing is, you need to work with what you have. Unfortunately, what you have is not great.”
Chard leaned back in his chair, and Scarlett noted the pause in his assistant’s movements. She dared not gaze over to see the managers and exhaled slowly before letting her thoughts out.
“The Bees have a laundry list of issues. Terrible attacks, a mediocre defense, a floundering midfield, not to mention a certain local prodigy player who can’t stop getting in trouble with local police, and a superstitious goalkeeper who looks more like an old-school hooligan than a representative of this team.
If it was strictly an on-the-field issue, that would be one thing, but this organization is in desperate need of an image rebrand.
I can handle that, but if you want the Bees to succeed, they’re going to have to start winning games.
The more money the men’s team brings in, the better chance the female team will have, and if things continue to grow for women’s football in this country, I think you can have the top team, but your resources will need to be split and put were they’re most needed. ”
The older man’s mouth quirked. “Do you honestly believe that?”
“Absolutely.”
“But surely we’re not hiring her to run the entire organization?” the brother said. “You’re public relations, Miss Simmons, nothing more.”
“Easy, Jaffi,” Chard said. “Miss Simmons was successful during her playing years. She’s been in every position on a team, and it might benefit to hear from her experience.”
Scarlett kept her face blank, unwilling to appear grateful or annoyed.
She had been hired to help the Bees with their public image as well as prep the city for the women’s team.
She didn’t need to walk down memory lane about her own career.
“If you want the women’s team to make their debut a stellar one, and stack up against teams like Chelsea and United, they need to start practicing. ”
“They’re on the pitch five times a week.”
She spun around to face Manager Marrero, ignoring the permanent scowl on Theo Ross’s face.
“And not just on the field, either. Of course, it would be nice if they had a few practices during the day too. But they need to be prepped to handle life as professional athletes. The majority of these women have second, even third jobs.”
“We cannot afford to pay a team that doesn’t make us any money,” Jaffi said.
“But they will eventually once they start playing, and if they can qualify for the Super League, they may very well be your main income if the men’s team continues to under-perform,” Scarlett said, unable to resist giving Jaffi a pointed glance before continuing.
“Now, I’ve gone over your current roster for the women’s team, and it looks good.
A couple of older players even played for the Lionesses in the last World Cup, and both are solid players.
They’ll be a huge asset to the younger teammates.
I think there’s a chance for this team to be amazing, but I expect the resources to do so. ”
For a moment no one spoke, but then Chard beamed broadly and smacked his hand on the table.
“Exactly what I wanted to hear. Now I have full faith that you’ll be able to do everything that Mr. Conrad said you would be able to do.”
Scarlett smiled through the bitter taste in her mouth. “Great.”
“Let’s get you a tour of our facility,” Chard said, standing as the phone on his desk rang. Picking it up, he answered, “Hello? Ah yes, Davidson.”
Scarlett rose, smoothing out nonexistent wrinkles on the fabric of her dark green pantsuit. She had worn one of two pantsuits that she had brought, hoping to make a good impression.
Eager to be out of the office, however, she was stepping sideways around the chair when Manager Marrero approached her.
“A pleasure to meet you, Simmons. You know, I followed your career in the beginning,” she said, a little pity in her eyes. “It was a shame what happened to you.”
Scarlett sighed, happy to speak on any topic other than her ex, even if it was about her career-ending injury. Her hand involuntarily reached up to her necklace.
“It was unfortunate, but out of my hands. I’m glad to be working in and around the sport.”