Rosary Notables: Robert Webster (1859-1913)

If one person should be credited with forming Norwich City Football Club it is Robert Webster. He called the public meeting that led to the club’s formation and was its first chairman. The son of a Norwich publican, he was a promising amateur boxer but his main love was football. After training as a teacher in York he returned to Norwich where he taught at the Quayside School for boys and played for several local football teams. After he ceased playing he channelled his energies into forming a Norwich football club – one that would represent the city in the way the established football clubs of the north and midlands represented their towns and cities.

Robert Webster 1859-1913.

In June 1902 he called a public meeting at the Criterion restaurant to see if there was sufficient interest in forming a club. He was pushing at an open door. The meeting was well attended and agreed to form the club. Webster was elected as the Chairman and Arthur Turner appointed as Match Secretary – responsible for recruiting players and arranging matches. The new club, in a blue and white strip, played its first match on the 6th September 1902 at Newmarket Road, a friendly against Harwich and Parkeston. It ended 1-1.

The new club joined the Norfolk and Suffolk League, which it won in 1904-05. However, the celebrations were marred by news of a Football Association investigation into allegations that the club had breached its amateur status by paying players. The club was found guilty and Webster, Turner and another official were suspended from all involvement with football. The punishment was really just a slap on the wrist, as, within a few months, the suspensions were lifted. Webster returned to the club and served as a director for several years.

Sadly, Webster’s final years were marred by ill health. He developed a severe spinal problem that made walking painful. He also suffered from kidney problems that led to his death in February 1913. He was 54 and left a wife and three children. Robert Webster ‘the first Canary’ is buried in plot G1110 where his headstone records that he had reached ‘the final goal’.

Nick Williams