ZingSync

Walking through the Minnesota United office in Golden Valley, it’s hard to ignore the growing brand of the franchise.

Walls are painted blue, gray, and black. Every couple months, wall decals are updated with recent team photos and memorable goal celebrations. A neon light version of the crest hangs behind the reception desk, which also supports an original miniature design model of Allianz Field. The lobby TV alternates between international football clips, league-wide content, and team highlight reels. Amidst the music, Callum Williams’ voice is prominent.

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As I stare at the familiar footage of Ethan Finlay’s goal in Orlando, a plethora of Bobby Shuttleworth saves, and Darwin Quintero chipping another goalkeeper, it’s increasingly difficult to separate the action from the narration. Just then, Williams strolls out into the lobby and leads me to the office dining room. England is playing Croatia in the UEFA Nations League, a game played in front of an empty stadium. Before we settle in, he asks if I’d like a tea.

Watching the Three Lions with a native Brit while sipping on a tea? Who could pass that up?

“I’m an Englishman,” Williams says. “I love my cup of tea. It’s as simple as that.”

Williams bypasses the public offering of teabags and heads to his desk, digging into his secret stash. He grabs two bags (one for each of us) and prepares the brew. By the time he returns, Raheem Sterling has already gotten a breakaway against the defending World Cup runners-up, causing us to get sidetracked in a discussion about the state of the English men’s national team. It’s clear that he lives and breathes the beautiful game, as he has his entire life.

As for his career in the game, it all started with making a mean cup of tea.

Getting a head start

For most broadcasters, there’s a tried-and-true path that goes from radio to television. To that end, Williams’ career followed a conventional order. Unlike others (or certainly most commentators in the United States), he was able to get a head start from an early age.

“I first started working in radio when I was 16,” Williams recalls. “I didn’t do the whole university thing. My dad had his own graphic design company in Birmingham and used to do a bit of work with a radio company (BRMB)  based out of the city. I was just going into shadow and see what it was about, which was fine by me. By that point, I knew I wasn’t going to be a footballer, so I was trying to find what I could do to stay with the game.”

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The early days at BRMB had the teen doing fairly basic stuff. He was able to observe the voices he grew up hearing as they went about their business. Balancing the shadowing with his schooling, it gave him insight into what quickly became a deeper passion. Fairly quickly, he was interacting with one of the main matchday producers.

“The producer had all of the scores coming through and feeding them to the commentator,” Williams says. “There was a player for Portsmouth at the time called Benjani Mwaruwari. I just remember the producer going, ‘Who the fuck is that?’ Being a sprite 16-year-old, I rattled off that he was a Zimbabwean international, where he’d arrived from, and for how much money. He just froze up and said, ‘You want a job here?’ Yes. Of course.”

Due to his need to prioritize his studies, much of his early work was done on a voluntary basis. He largely served as a production assistant, answering the phones for the football phone-in shows, clipping down goal calls for highlight packages, and “becoming the best tea-maker in the world,” as he recalls. After two years, he’d finished his A-level studies and was ready to move onto the next venture.

“I was very active, emailing a bunch of people,” Williams says of that time. “I encourage anybody trying to get into it to put themselves out there. It’s all good going to university and everything, but how do you make yourself different from everyone else?”

He landed with Beacon Radio doing commentary reports for League Two side Shrewsbury Town, as well as non-league A.F.C. Telford United. During main broadcasts, the play-by-play voice would cut to Williams for a quick 10-15 second hit about the action.

As he’s going through and rattling off memories from his early work in lowly 400-seat stadiums, he looks at my recorder and chuckles. “I hope you’ve got enough memory for this. Would you believe that I’m a talker?”

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It’s a voice that carried him to the BBC Blast training program after a listener in rival Shropshire recommended him to the broadcasting giant. At 19, he was training with the BBC in its academy while covering Chesterfield F.C. The amount he learned during these two years was monumental to both refining his play-by-play chops and building up his work ethic. On Christmas Eve of 2010, he got a surprising email.

“This is the first time I’ve ever said this, but I’d originally heard from the San Jose Earthquakes. They said they liked my stuff, and it was completely out of nowhere. I’d never thought I’d hear from a team in America. We spoke for a couple weeks, but the talks broke down when they didn’t think they could do the visa in time. I’d asked where they’d gotten my stuff, and it came from a chap called Larry Tiscornia (VP of Broadcasting for MLS). I sent him an email to thank him, and he asked if I’d been in touch with anybody in Kansas City. I said, ‘With all due respect, Larry, where on Earth is Kansas City?’”

Within weeks, he was packing his bags for the United States after a discussion with his family. He’d began to pay attention to MLS a couple years prior when David Beckham made his westward voyage. It was a marquee matchup between the Seattle Sounders and the Galaxy that truly caught his attention, thanks to a huge Seattle crowd and an Edson Buddle golazo.

“It was also my first exposure to JP Dellacamera, who’s unbelievable,” Williams recalled. “That was my first real exposure to MLS. From when Kansas City first called me — so three days after emailing the team — it was seven weeks later that I was in Los Angeles calling my first game.”

Williams became beloved by the Sporting fanbase, and built a strong reputation on his four-year stint with the franchise. After the 2014 season, he returned to his home country with IMG Media, calling MLS games among other leagues, as well as a return to radio doing the Premier League and Bundesliga for talkSport. By late-2016, he was ready for another challenge.

That’s when he got another inquiry from the other side of the Atlantic.

“It wasn’t a difficult decision to come here,” Williams said. “I’ll be honest, I knew very little about Minnesota. I did my homework after (former senior director of video production) Brad Baker reached out to me via a LinkedIn message. I didn’t learn until later that it was actually Taylor Twellman who suggested to Brad to employ me, so I owe Taylor a beer. Brad made me feel wanted here, and he was instrumental in bringing me here. His ideas to do television broadcasting the right way were vital.”

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Fast-forward to today, where Williams, Kyndra de St. Aubin, and Jamie Watson are putting the wraps on their second season as the Loons’ commentary team. The trio and the crew meet twice a week for production meetings where they discuss feedback from the previous match as well as what needs to be done in preparation for the coming fixture. Williams ends up in the Golden Valley office every day, chatting with coworkers, catching up on the latest scores, and preparing for the week.

Getting ready for the call

Come matchday, his routine is fairly well-established. The day kicks off with tea (or coffee), some morning football, and a light breakfast.

In fact, just about everything he’ll eat before a game skews on the light end.

“We’ve all been there where we’ve had stomach issues on the air, and it’s not pleasant. I don’t remember what I ate, but I blame (senior director of public relations Eric) Durkee for this. It was something in the press box last year at home against Vancouver. We were on camera for like 10 seconds and I just felt … ‘uhhhh, oh my word, what’s that?’ So, never again.”

From there, he takes a couple of hours to ease into the game day. Generally, some other soccer match is on in the background as he irons his shirt, shaves, and takes his time to get into the game day mentality. Williams takes the light rail in to the stadium more than two hours before the pregame show begins, and sits back to listen to the passengers’ banter.

“That’s the sort of time where the first few flickers of Loons fans are starting to appear, going to the pub or whatever. I usually don’t bump into the rowdy bunch, but you do find the people talking about the team, wondering what Adrian (Heath) will do with the lineup. I quite enjoy hearing people’s different opinions and matchday speculation. It’s quite enjoyable.”

Once he’s at the stadium, it’s all down to business. Bypassing the catered buffet, Williams heads to a small production meeting to get everyone on the same page about the broadcast. The broadcast team does a preview for the 1500ESPN radio airwaves and knocks out a few pre-recorded segments. When the game starts, everything goes in real-time. Williams swears he doesn’t come to the booth with any scripted ideas in terms of goal calls. It’s a point that differs from other MLS broadcasters, who sometimes have catchphrases when their team scores.

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“At that point, they’re making it about them,” Williams said. “It should never be about the commentator.”

Goal calls are possibly the most important words a commentator utters in a broadcast. Spanish-speaking announcers are beloved for their drawn-out ‘Goooooooool!’ exclamations, a somewhat universal sound of triumph. It’s rare for an English speaker to hit a similar mark (though Martin Tyler sure came near it with Sergio Aguero’s Premier League-winner in 2012). For that reason, Williams thinks it’s important to keep them fresh instead of canned.

“People have asked me before if I script things. No, of course not. It’s important to explain what you see in front of you. I have a fascination with words. Any time I can explain the action by using a different word, I will. The (call) that gets brought up a lot is the first goal at Portland. That goes both ways — we try to keep the broadcast 51 percent Minnesota, 49 percent opposition. You have to give a beautiful goal its due. I’ve gotten some flack on Twitter for praising another team’s goal, asking if they know who I work for. If you want to hate me, then hate me! That’s great, because that means you’re invested. I don’t care, as long as you don’t call my color analysts anything. I’m going to give a moment its due diligence.”

An educated fanbase

While Minnesota has a distinguished history in the sport, it’s a market that hasn’t seen top-division soccer since the NASL folded in the 1980’s. It would be understandable for Loons viewers to need some time to get used to the sports vernacular. That goes double given the British commentator, where they’re born and raised within the sport. That said, Williams doesn’t worry about a language barrier when he’s on the call.

“The average soccer fan here is very well-educated in the game. We built a culture in Kansas City, but when I came here, that culture was already there. It’s been here for decades. Obviously, there are new fans coming onboard, and they might wonder what I mean now and then. That’s why we have these wonderful people called analysts, who can explain the action. We’ve never felt a need to talk down because the fanbase here are about as educated as any fanbase in the league.”

Being able to hit the ground running has been vital to the broadcast trio’s ability to do their job. De St. Aubin has an extended history in the game and was part of the FOX commentary crew for the 2015 Women’s World Cup. Watson played in MLS, the USL, and the NASL from 2005-2016, winning the sideline analyst role upon his retirement. By not having to start from square one, they’ve quickly become one of the most highly-respected groups across the league.

Having a good relationship with the coaching staff doesn’t hurt, either.

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“The major difference between covering other leagues and this league is the access we get,” Williams said. “Before a game, we get 30 minutes with Adrian Heath. He talks to Kyndra, Jamie, and myself about what his plan is and what he wants from his players off-record. Then we get on the record for a preview for the radio broadcast. You wouldn’t even think about that in England. Adrian is tremendous with the media, he’s brilliant. He tells us so much — too much sometimes. I’ve got a very good relationship with him, and obviously Jamie’s relationship with him is good having played under him. We’re lucky.”

That sort of transparency helps Williams go about his weekly preparations. He estimates that he takes three full days to truly get his notes set before a match. He uses a system of adhesive labels to map out where players are lining up and overlap as substitutions are made. As this season comes to a close, he’ll have to relearn a new set of Loons players, not to mention newcomers to the league. Given the fact that the team’s results this year mirroring the 2017 season’s, it’s a given there will be plenty of change.

So what would he change if it were up to him?

“How long have we got,” he chuckles. “I’m not being encyclopedic here — you have to invest to get better. Just do everything better. I’m sure nobody will have a problem with me saying this, but this just hasn’t been good enough. If you look at Minnesota’s record and compare it to Vancouver, to Portland, to Montreal or Orlando, it’s actually better than usual. You can’t get caught up in what Atlanta or LAFC are doing when they broke the bank.

“It comes down to investing better and making smarter decisions. I think that there are some harsh words directed towards people in the franchise where it simply isn’t their fault. I think that everybody in this front office has to take a bit of responsibility and put it on our shoulders. We’re all a part of this together. I’m intrigued to see what they’ll do in 2019. They’ll invest, no doubt. Allianz Field will be the best stadium in the league, but it’s just not good enough.”

Whatever the result of the offseason, Williams, de St. Aubin, and Watson are slated to be back to break in their new digs. The trio witnessed the progress of the creation of the new press box, so they’ll already have some familiarity with the new home. There’s so much for the franchise to get right in the pivotal third season. At the least, the team can sleep soundly knowing it has found its voice.

(Top photo: Courtesy of MNUFC)

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