If you missed Coach Napier’s other blog posts, start with Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.

Coming to America

My first venture to this great country started in the summer of 1975. I got a call from Doug Millward, the coach of the Baltimore Comets in the NASL (North American Soccer League), and he wanted to know if I was interested in playing in America during the summer break from May to August. All professional teams in England took those summer months off, so many pro players wanted to see what America was all about.

It was a great experience that summer in Baltimore. We had a lot of different cultures on the team, players from all over Europe and South America, players from different nations, players from Jamaica and other islands. Our home field was Memorial Stadium where the baseball team played. We traveled to different large cities mostly within the East Coast and Midwest. Yet, the level of play was not the greatest and the stadiums were mostly empty except for NY Cosmos, Tampa Bay and maybe Minnesota. It seemed like nobody was really into soccer back then. The club provided us with a three-month contract, a nice Mustang car, and a comfortable family condo. The lifestyle was something that we had never experienced, everything was massive it seemed compared to back in England - cars, homes, restaurants, 4-lane highways and so many other things.

This was also the year that some of the biggest world soccer stars arrived to play in the USA with different teams. Pele, Carlos Alberto from Brazil, and a German player Franz Bechenbauer were with NY who had so much money they loaded up. Portuguese legend Eusebio was in Toronto, George Best was in LA, Tampa Bay was loaded led by Rodney Marsh an English International. And Gordon Banks was with Fort Lauderdale. In addition, Italian Giorgio Chinaglia, Bobby Moore, Alan Ball, Mike England, Geoff Hurst, Charlie George, and Liverpool great Tommy Smith were some of the many well-known players in the league. It was great to be able to take the field against most of these legends of the game.

San Diego Jaws (NASL)

I returned to England after the 1975 summer back to Bradford and then in 1976, the Baltimore franchise moved to San Diego. We had not been to Southern California the previous year, so I really wanted to get a summer in San Diego. The coach Derek Travis arranged for me to come to San Diego and once we arrived my family was picked up at the airport by Jeff Bishop who was working with the San Diego Jaws, (many will know of Jeff he owned the Soccer Man stores for many years). We drove west on highway 8 to La Mesa where a condo and a club car was waiting. We played out of Balboa Stadium and the Aztec Bowl over at SDSU. It was a small comfortable stadium, our home crowds were about 4,000 plus unless we played the higher profile teams with big name players. Some of the older generation might remember some games. Again, we had players from all over the world, and our very own Seamus McFadden was one of our players which is when I first met the SD Legend. I met all his family and they invited all the players into their home many times, these are very good memories. The San Diego Jaws were not a great team, we struggled against the better teams, but the lads always fought and left it on the park. The league had gotten stronger in 1976 and the northern teams of Seattle, Portland, Vancouver and San Jose Earthquakes were all strong. YES, these are the same clubs today in MLS league. SO, soccer has come a long way. We also had the opportunity to travel to Hawaii and play an International tournament in Aloha Stadium for a week.

My family loved San Diego, in fact all the players did, how can you not? We trained out at Alliant University, (was called USIU) back then and sometimes down at the beach, it really was a great three months. But in August of 1976 it was back to England and Bradford City.

Coming back full time to San Diego in December 1979

This was a life changing decision, to move full time to live in San Diego County. We invested in a business with some partners in Escondido. It was a soccer store and we named it The Soccer Locker. This was probably the biggest gamble I had made that far in my life. I had decided to move with my young family halfway around the world to invest in a sport that was not even in the probably top six sports at that time. It was interesting to say the least, no internet back then, limited soccer supplies to buy, the store was small with limited foot traffic, so it was a struggle to keep it going and pay the lease on the building. The funds invested in the store were our life savings from soccer in England, and it was drained very quickly. Back then soccer players and former players were not making the millions like they are today, it was just another job for most of us. You had to make the extra money through transfer moves to other clubs, and that is why many players moved frequently in their careers.

Being a businessman was not working out at that time; I had hoped to retire from soccer and concentrate on building the store and maybe open others. I did meet some great local soccer people coming and buying equipment. We provided the uniforms for numerous groups, one of the biggest was the NCYSA (North County Youth Soccer Association) which is now Escondido Soccer Club and FC Heat, where I am still on the board of Directors some 40 years later.

I started back playing locally, we had a men’s team named after the store and would play in a Sunday League. I started coaching, men, women, and referee’d, I did some work with the San Diego Sockers as a youth coordinator out of Jack Murphy Stadium. I would drive all the players in the club van to schools for presentations. That was a lot of fun with Kaz Deyna, Eric Geyer, Jean Willrich, Juli Veee, Volkmar Gross and many more. This was before the present SDSC coach and Director of Coaching Brian Quinn arrived at the Sockers. I enjoyed those days; I was able to train with the boys - it was like old times when I was playing.

The Soccer Locker was barely hanging on and in 1985 we decided to sell. It went on the market but there were no bidders and we finally had to liquidate the business and sell off all the supplies and equipment. It was a sad loss indeed. There was doubt at the time if a move back to England and back into professional coaching might be the best thing? But my family had settled and that was not going to happen, so I was going to make the best of the situation.

Soccer Camps

Probably the biggest move I made was starting my own John Napier Soccer Camps which gave me the opportunity to get out into the county and meet soccer people and grow the sport. Mike Hovenic and I were the big camps back then and we could easily fill the camps every summer week with over 100-150 kids. Mike and I had a good understanding that we would not set up camps in each other’s county area, and that worked great. I had a lot of respect for Mike and the way we did business.

My soccer camps really expanded and the biggest areas besides Escondido was Rancho California (now called Temecula), which was a growing area with many younger families moving there, and new schools and new fields opening up. I was the first soccer camp in the area. Rancho California finally split up into what is now Temecula and Murrieta. I also was traveling further north into the Lancaster, Palmdale, and Quartz Hill cities, where again a lot of younger families were moving out there and commuting to LA. At the same time soccer was growing through the 80s and 90s with stronger competition, and more and more clubs forming. I was now more involved than ever I thought I would be.

It was a lot of work, but I built up a good reputation and business, also an exceptionally qualified staff. I still remain awfully close to some of the former staff. Steve Yorke, now the FC Heat Director of Coaching, was my lead coach, and present SDSC coach Ralph Ginese was on staff also.

I finished the camps in 2017 after 37 continuous years. It was a decision I made after having my two hips replaced, as the wear and tear had taken its toll, but they were great times and I met so many great people over the years.

NCYSA, Escondido Soccer Club

The years that followed were not easy, I became the Director of Coaching for NCYSA and we started putting teams in the competitive area of Presidio Soccer League, and our recreational program was one of the biggest in the whole county with over 2,000 kids playing rec soccer in Escondido. Our competitive side was called FC Heat before changing our name to the Escondido Earthquakes in the late 80s. Soccer was obviously not as big or as well organized as it is now at the youth level, and there were very few qualified coaches. I started giving coaching license courses through Cal South to get more adults involved in the game to coach at the youth level. In the mid-90s the two bigger clubs in Escondido combined: the Earthquakes and North County Alliance. We came together for the best interest of the youth players in Escondido, forming as Escondido Soccer Club, and the competitive side would once again be called FC Heat. We had some good teams back then and a large Hispanic group under the P.A.L (Police Athletic League) provided teams in our “Select” division. The Presidio League was growing every year with more and more new clubs forming.

As the years progressed, so did the skill level and clubs becoming more and more competitive. I remember Nomads being one of the top boys’ programs in the nation and SD Surf were strong on the girls side as well. We at FC Heat were more of a local community club and it was always hard to keep our best players. Corey Baird, who now plays for the National team, started on the fields of Escondido. There were many more that went on to play at a high level and good college programs, I have always felt that Escondido was a hotbed of soccer talent.

ODP (Olympic Development Program)

I became more involved with the Cal South ODP program, which was district only in 1996. Our district 2 team was particularly good, mostly SD North County boys, and we had a great selection pool for many years traveling up to Bakersfield for Finals. Chiky Luna, a great SD Sockers indoor favorite, was one of my 15-year old’s back then (he was a terrific technical player).

My commitment to the Cal South ODP program is still very strong. I started with the boys in 1996 and had many great teams. I stayed with the boys’ program until 2006 and then took over the older girls’ program, which I am still with today. We certainly do have the strongest girls programs in Southern California and have proved it year after year with Regional and National Championships. I now watch a lot of the former ODP girls playing in the Women’s professional league and more and more considered for the National Team. Caterina Macario is without a doubt in my eyes the most technical player that I have seen in women’s soccer. This young Brazilian will become a big star. I had the chance to work with some great young men, US Men’s National players Bobby Wood and Aaron Long when they were young men in the ODP program.

Brian Quinn

During some of my camp summers, I was sponsored by the SD Sockers when Brian Quinn was coach, and I got to know Brian well as I would pick up camp shirts at the Sockers office and have a chat. Brian unbeknown to me then would play a major part in my future decision making. He was a fellow Nr. Ireland native like myself, we were born about 20 miles apart (but also many years apart). No need to mention Brian’s fabulous career, it certainly speaks for itself; he certainly is a San Diego legend.

FCSD, SDSC

In early 2006 I had decided to retire from Escondido Soccer Club and move with my wife to Arizona to retire and play golf, or so I thought. We had bought some retirement property in the town of Kingman and a piece of property on a golf course called Valle Vista. It seemed at the time to be a good situation. We got as far as purchasing a home and having it completed and spent some long weekends over there in the late 2000s.

But we had some thoughts and finally did not move. In late 2006 I was in Nevada coaching my ODP team in Regional Championships finals when Brian Quinn called me and wanted to know if I was interested in coming out of a very short retirement to coach at his club. I really was not sure at the time and said I would have to decide when I returned from my ODP weekend. But I joined Brain and Raffi shortly after, and of course I am still here today fourteen years later and after many changes.

The club joined with PQ Premier and Seamus and Peter in later years to form one of the strongest and well-respected programs in San Diego County. When the clubs merged it was time to meet up with Seamus McFadden again after all the years, although we did play on the same men’s Sunday League team for a few years. We go back a long time.

My time with SDSC has been a fantastic experience, I have met and worked with so many great coaches in this program. They are in it for the right reason, to try to help every young player that comes through the club to reach their soccer potential. Of course, we lose some players like any other club. The movement in youth soccer programs is mostly overanxious parents looking for the best solution for their children, and that is not going to change. Sometimes it will work and sometimes not, but I know that SDSC will continue to work with every child to help them achieve those soccer dreams.

In Conclusion

My life journey in soccer has been amazing. I often dreamed as a young boy growing up in a far-off land of being a “soccer player.” Never did I think that I would have the career that I have had - the places I have been, representing my country, the players I had the honor to play with and against, the amazing people and wonderful coaches I have met. It has been a wonderful soccer life and still is. I had the wonderful honor of being selected into the Cal South Hall of Fame in 2015, which was an incredibly special evening with all my family present.

I still have the passion and desire I had as a player and professional coach, that never goes away. I have always told my players that the road in soccer and in life is never straight, there are many bumps, many curves, and many setbacks, but you have to accept all of those and always keep going; always give your best in everything you do. You may not be the best player, but there is NO excuse for not being the player with the biggest heart and the desire to be best and the hardest worker.

Thank you all and I will continue to work as hard as hard as I can to help youth players enjoy and love this beautiful game.

John Napier