Training Ground Guru | Webber considering long-term future outside football after abuse
Written by Simon Austin – March 3, 2023
NORWICH CITY sporting director Stuart Webber admits his long-term future may not lie in football after revealing the abuse he has endured from some sections of the club’s fanbase over the last year.
Webber was appointed Norwich’s first sporting director in April 2017 and has led them to two Premier League promotions and oversaw the transformation of the club’s training ground in Colney.
However, last year he was criticized by some sections of the local media and fan base after the Canary Islands were relegated back to the league. They are currently in seventh place, one spot behind the play-off places.
“It’s disappointing when society has come this far. I don’t think anyone should go to work and put up with that. Don’t get me wrong, if I went to a pub in the middle of town every Saturday night, you’d almost ask.
“It’s still not right, but you’re probably coke in an environment where everyone’s drunk, you’ll get a little bit of that. I don’t, I have a very, very quiet life. It’s in and around the stadium, stuff like that.
“I don’t like it, I don’t think it’s right, but it also helps teach you, ‘I’m not sure I want to do this forever, I think there has to be something else.’ Because what I won’t let is kill my love and excitement for the game.
“Because one thing I definitely know I want to do when I’m 60 is watch football, with my son, with my family, with my friends and love the game. The day I ever stop doing that would definitely be the day I go because I don’t let my little kid as I always see football clouded by anyone to be honest.”
Webber has not spoken to the Eastern Daily Press since front page news last April.
He said: “The local paper didn’t help when they did a headline like ‘do you want this job’ or something and it was like, – sorry? For five years I devoted all my time to the local newspaper. Every time they called, sent messages – official, confidential – I was there to answer, in times of trouble, in times of good.
“To be honest, I didn’t think I deserved a headline like that. That caused a breakdown between me and them, which I think is very different from what happened between the club and them.
Webber also said he stands by his decision to take on the mountain challenges, with the money raised going to help young people in the Norfolk area reach their potential through the Summit Foundation, which he runs with his wife Zoe, Norwich chief executive founded.
“People are trying now and digging out – ‘You’re more interested in climbing mountains, mate,'” Webber said. “Maybe I’ll go up a mountain in June instead of going on vacation with my family. My family should probably have the bigger problem with it, not the club.
“I don’t do anything that hasn’t had the blessing of the owners. I’ve never been away during business-critical times. I also think with the amount of staff we have here it’s an insult to them if I can’t climb Mont Blanc for a week where I still have phone signal every day. They don’t get up at 5 a.m. and climb until 5 a.m., it’s often short windows.
“And I’m not embarrassed to say I want a hobby. When you’ve given everything for the club for six years, missed holidays, missed your son’s birthday, the important birthdays of your mother, I’m not embarrassed to admit that I’ll take a week or two off to go climbing to achieve something dream I had since childhood, with the blessing of the club.”