Nick Webster, Editor-in-Chief of Football.com
By Dick Dornan / Special to The Malibu Times
As the London Olympics concluded with the closing ceremonies Sunday night, one Englishman sat by his television and bristled with pride and patriotism. Nick Webster wasn’t able to attend the XXX Olympiad in his home country, but his heart and love for England will never go away. Meanwhile, his passion for soccer is ever-present here in Southern California.
Born and raised 60 miles north of London in Meldreth, England, Webster began playing soccer, he recalls, “before I could even walk.” He moved to San Paolo, Brazil, at age eight and attended his first professional soccer game featuring Brazilian greats Pele and Roberto Rivelino. Webster moved back to Harrow, England, in 1975 where he fell in love with his two favorite English Premier Club teams, Arsenal and Tottenham.
After spending the first 22 years of his life in England, Webster wanted a new challenge and moved to the United States, where he began to learn about coaching soccer under the tutelage of coach Norm Jackson. Since then he has conducted soccer clinics on his own, including several at Bluffs Park in Malibu to instruct and motivate young aspiring coaches.
Webster, 47, parlayed his coaching license into jobs at Alemany High School, Marlborough HS, Beverly Hills HS and ultimately to the Windward School in Mar Vista where he has coached for the past 16 years. He has coached Windward to seven league titles and a California Interscholastic Federation Division VI championship in 2004.
He is perhaps best-known as a broadcaster for the Fox Soccer Channel, where he has covered three World Cups and two European Cups. He is also the voice of the English Premier League, former senior writer for Foxsoccer.com and is currently the Editor-in-Chief at Football.com.
Webster also recently served as an assistant coach for the club team Cal FC, which became the first amateur team in the history of the 99-year-old United States Open Cup to defeat a Major League Soccer team in Open play when they upset the Portland Timbers, 1-0, on May 30.
The Malibu Times caught up with Webster to talk about the miracle run of Cal FC as well as his thoughts on American soccer and his time at the Windward School.
Talk about the incredible run by Cal FC and the impact it had on you as a coach.
It was one of the most magical coaching experiences I ever had. To be involved with Eric Wynalda (coach) and Mike Friedman (owner) as they put this team together was special. I saw the team grow from a small seed into this huge oak tree, and we really took U.S. soccer by storm. We were a traveling road show for five weeks. The game versus Portland was one of the greatest games to ever have been a part of. We were trending on worldwide Twitter after we beat the Timbers. We competed with the best bit of American soccer had to offer. It was unbelievable.
How do you feel about American soccer?
I started here in 1987 and you couldn’t see a game on TV unless it was on a Spanish-speaking channel. Now you cannot get away from the sport on TV. There wasn’t a professional league. Now we have the MLS and my colleague Eric Wynalda scored the league’s first goal in 1996. Both our men’s and women’s national teams are doing well. The sport has exploded. Kids didn’t know anything but now they’ve got Ronaldo on the back of their shirts. They know about Barcelona and Manchester United. The sport is here. It has arrived. Soccer is here to stay and it isn’t going anywhere. All we need is that one superstar. That one Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson. Then it will take off.
Talk about your love of soccer as the coach at Windward.
Coaching kids is the most rewarding thing anybody could ever do in your life. It’s so much fun. To have kids look you in the eye and believe in you is so powerful. It is such a precious gift that you should never take it for granted. You have the opportunity to change people’s lives and I have done that. I have kids to this day who make me cry when they say ‘Hey Nick, I want to thank you so much for what you did for me.’ You cannot beat that. My two favorite teams are Windward and England. I’m coaching the greatest sport in the world here in beautiful Southern California.