After becoming the new joint owner of Vere United, Phoenix Academy boss Craig Butler says he not only plans to win the Wray & Nephew Jamaica Premier League (JPL) next season but to vastly improve football development in Jamaica.

On Friday at the Wembley Centre of Excellence in Clarendon, Butler signed a 10-year agreement with the club, which will now be called Vere Phoenix United.

Among the leadership changes, Shelly McFarlane replaces Lothan Cousins as club president, and Laura Ann Butler is to serve as head of public relations and player development. Cousins will remain involved as club chairman.

Butler, the agent of Reggae Boyz forwards Leon Bailey and Dujuan “Whisper” Richards, has mainly been involved in youth development locally through his academy as well as his three-year spell with Mona High School who became Manning Cup schoolboy champions last year.

He served as technical director of fellow Clarendon and JPL club Humble Lion for a brief stint in 2014. Butler told the Jamaica Observer he has unfinished business as he attempts to prove critics wrong.

“There’s a saying in life: blessed is the man that sees and believes but more blessed is he who doesn’t see and believe. When I first came to the parish, I had that vision but instead the club that I was at held on to the older players and didn’t have the vision. At that time you had Leon Bailey, Kyle Butler, Kemar Reid, Rayland Paisley, all those top shining players were here. Now those players are playing professionally in Europe or have played and retired,” he said.

“Today, we’re here with the same vision but now we have shown at Phoenix that it can be done and one of the things I want to do is take this team and win the Premier League. In the next two years, we must win the Premier League, hopefully this year but for sure by next year. It’s not out of disrespect to the coaches and the talents in the Premier League but to bring a higher level, a different brand, a more professional outlook and discipline of players and more exposed players so we can help to take Jamaica’s football, in terms of international recognition, to a higher level.”

Cousins says bringing Butler and Phoenix on board wasn’t a difficult decision and believes the young footballers in the parish will be in good hands.

“When you look at where the [JPL] is going, clubs like Montego Bay United and their ownership structure and bringing in coaches from overseas, the league is becoming more and more competitive. We need persons who have a deep appreciation of football and football administration, so it was a no-brainer to have Phoenix, who has several years of experience, to help us with the administration of the club,” Cousins told the Observer.

“We want to see younger players who are playing at the daCosta Cup level to be given an opportunity to be part of the programme. We have Vere Technical, Glenmuir, Garvey Maceo, Foga Road, all teams with an abundance of talent, so we know the talent is here so as soon as we’re able to recruit some of these talents into the team then I’m sure everybody will start to see the benefit of the agreement,” he added.

Butler is expected to serve as technical director and says he plans to bring a wealth of expertise from his academy, including his son Kyle Butler.

“We always say I’m not involved anymore and I’m going to rest and stay home but one of the problems I have is that it is who I am. No matter how you run, you can’t run from who you are,” he said.

“Kyle will be here; we’ll have a proper coaching system, Ricardo Martin, who also played professionally in Europe, will help in the coaching. We have young talents that are coming up who have played through the Mona system and several other players who have played for other high schools but played in the Phoenix system and know what to expect. I will be here, whether I’m coaching today or not today, what is important is the way that I coach lives on.”