Nigel Reo-Coker is preaching the West Ham Way on one of the United States’ biggest football shows.
The former Hammers captain and midfielder has lived in North America for the majority of the past decade, initially playing in Major League Soccer for Los Angeles-based Chivas USA and Canadian clubs Vancouver Whitecaps and Montreal Impact, before returning to live in Florida and establish a successful broadcasting career.
He is now a regular pundit on the recently launched CBS Sports Golazo Network, a free-to-air show which features highlights, opinion, analysis and news updates from across the football world. For someone who has never been afraid to share honest opinions, Golazo is the perfect place for Reo-Coker.
The 40-year-old became West Ham’s youngest captain at just 21 in 2005, leading the Irons to the FA Cup final and helping re-establish the Club in the Premier League. He became the first Englishman to captain a team, England U21s, at the new Wembley Stadium, and led the same squad at a UEFA European Championship finals.
After five more seasons in the Premier League with Aston Villa and Bolton Wanderers, Reo-Coker crossed the Atlantic Ocean and spent three years in MLS. A short return to Europe ended in retirement in 2018, and the Londoner returned to the US to concentrate on broadcasting and business commitments.
Soon, he will relocate again, to New York, where he and his family will live while he commutes to the CBS Sports HQ in nearby Stamford, Connecticut. At the same time, Reo-Coker is also completing his coaching badges and has ambition to work in the elite game as a coach or scout.
We caught up with the former skipper at West Ham’s Sunshine State Tour Open Training Session in St.Petersburg, Florida, just half-an-hour south of his home, where he explained that the Irons can tap into the huge American market for new fans in the future…
First off, Nigel, how are you?
“I’m good, thank you. I’m enjoying life and the next chapter of life. The thing for me is that simplicity is key and being able to concentrate on what’s next and spend time with my wife and kids now is a breath of fresh air.”
From playing for a relocated Wimbledon at the National Hockey Stadium in Milton Keynes to be one of the faces of football coverage in the United States is quite a journey?
“It’s been a great journey, a difficult journey at times but a great journey, and I think what some people fail to realise is that the transition period from when you stop playing, having played in the environment for so long, it’s hard to adjust from that cycle of the buzz from when you’re in the dressing room, warming-up and obviously playing. When I speak to a lot of ex-players, the biggest thing they miss is being with their teammates and playing in games in stadiums, and that’s something that, no matter what you do, you can never really replace that feeling, and you can never put that feeling into words unless you’ve played at the highest level for a big club.”
So, tell us what you’ve been doing since you hung your boots up?
“I played over here in North America for three clubs at around the same time Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard came, and I played with Didier Drogba in Montreal. I had experience of playing in the CONCACAF Champions League too in Mexico, so it was good. For me, I’ve always embraced experiences and wanted to understand different cultures, and I want to be able to do that by staying in football. I’m doing my coaching badges currently and am on my ‘A’ Licence now and I’ve got a love for knowledge of the game I want to pass down. The beauty of playing the game outside of England is the knowledge you gain from other footballing nations. I follow different football and have a worldwide knowledge and appreciation for football.”
Has coming here given you new energy and room to breathe mentally away from the pressures of the Premier League?
“I didn’t mind the pressure, to be honest, as I grew up in it and embraced and enjoyed it and, once you embrace that pressure it can only make you better. When I came over here, then, I wouldn’t be the person I am if I hadn’t had it. I feel that it gives me that competitive edge and drove me to the highest level.”
What is it about football in the United States that drew you here and made you want to stay?
“For me, there is a big appetite for here and we’re only scratching the surface. The difference between here and England and other nations is that there is a great pathway to become professional, there is a competitiveness and there are obviously cultural differences to understand. Here, they have franchises rather than clubs which have great history in their towns or cities, but if you understand the American culture, I feel there is great appetite for the game and people still love it. We’re only really scratching the surface of what it can be here.”
A number of English former Premier League players have come to the US and become the faces of football broadcasting here, and you’re one of them?
“There is a big group of people here already who have the knowledge of the game and now what they want is authenticity and for people to say something is not good if it’s not good and give the reason why. They don’t want to be spoken to like new fans. Most of the soccer fans you speak to in America have an appetite for it and that’s why, crazily enough, there is a bigger love for Premier League clubs than domestic clubs, in some ways. They love the culture aspect of football and I know lots of fans from here who travel across to England to watch their English team at least twice a season, instead of watching domestic games, because they just feel it’s just more authentic. The passion is here and now what the US clubs have to understand is teaching fans about the culture and history of their club, and the togetherness of being part of their fanbase, as that will make them fall in love with their local club. It’s down to clubs to find a way to show more about what it means to support them.”
For West Ham to come to the US and to base themselves at one of the clubs which does have a real history in Tampa Bay Rowdies makes perfect sense, then?
“It does and the Rowdies do. Florida is also a state which has a lot of West Ham fans, both Americans and English expats. I did an NBC Premier League event a few years ago in Miami and met lots of West Ham fans there and they were from all over Florida. It’s great for the Club to come here as it’s a great market and I’ve always been very vocal about my experience at West Ham and the fans and what the Club means to the fans and the people. Americans are more aware of West Ham and the fans and the crowd and the atmosphere and they will absolutely embrace it. I always compare West Ham fans to Pittsburgh Steelers or Green Bay Packers [NFL] fans, as that’s the identity and the family culture. They’re the best comparisons to West Ham fans and I describe them as that on American TV.”
Is awareness of West Ham growing with our recent success?
“It’s slowly growing because there are still lots of American fans looking for a Premier League club to support. The more we spread the word about West Ham and about the Club and the culture, the more it will grow. People are looking for something and when they look at West Ham it has everything – the London factor and the East End and loads of Americans know about Cockney rhyme and want to go there – so we need to keep spreading the word because it definitely is growing. We had fans from all over the US, from Panama, Mexico, Canada and they have so much dedication, but this is an untapped market and there are plenty more people who could become West Ham fans.”
