My Kind Of Town
Sebastian Pelzer’s stay in the Ribble Valley may have been only a couple of years, but the experience has taken him all the way to Chicago. David Fearnhead speaks to the former Blackburn Rovers’ footballer, who is now Technical Director of Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire. Image courtesy of Chicago Fire MLS
Sebastian Pelzer is up early. He likes to get started on the competition. After all, Europe is already seven hours ahead. His apartment on the 21st floor looks out over Lake Michigan and on a clear day you can see all the way to Michigan itself. Having got the red eye back from New York, he’s had little sleep but the world of football never rests.
The 41-year-old is a little greyer these days, but he’s still in good shape. Current players can still recognise he used to play. Pelzer is not your typical German. He drinks Lancashire tea. He also uses expressions such as ‘lovely jubbly’ and ‘cushty’, which he says with a knowing laugh. Those with accustomed ears will also notice the distinct flattened vowels of a Lancastrian nature – testament to where he learnt his English.
“I watched Only Fools and Horses when I was in England,” he smiles. His viewing habits might have reflected a broader sense of England, but there is no doubt his deepest connection was with a small part of Lancashire called the Ribble Valley. His stay here may have been brief but he formed a deep connection. He says he may return one day, even just for some homemade English scones.
“I’ve three boys now, who were all born in Germany, but I’ve told them so much about life in England. They ask me about English football. The Premier League is a league on its own. It’s competitive, but don’t underestimate the Championship. In the Championship you have even more competition because the top teams are not so clear.”
Pelzer was a rising star in the Bundesliga for Kaiserslautern when Blackburn came calling. Joining the then Premier League side, aged just 21, would sadly prove a misstep. He returned to Germany after two years and re-established his career going on to captain sides such as Dynamo Dresden and Hansa Rostock. You might have thought the experience would have left a sour taste in his mouth. That England would be the last place he’d show any affection for. Instead, he sees it as the making of him.
“The time under Graeme Souness was where I truly became a professional. It was the making of me. There were some great people at the club such as Rob Kelly, who did a lot of extra session work with me. Also, Terry Darracott who always made time for me. I took a lot back to Germany. I captained some big clubs and had a successful career, so I must have learned something from my time at Rovers.
“I still watch out for Blackburn’s results and watch their games whenever they are shown on TV,” he says. “The fans, they have been through so much in the last decade, so it’s nice to just have some stability in the club. Hopefully they can start to move in the right direction again.”
Pelzer retired from playing in 2015, but never retired from football. An obsessive personality, he relentlessly watched games from every corner of the globe and meticulously built up a player database, which now contains the names of close to 1,000 professionals. Players such as Jhon Jader Duran, who he first spotted as a 16-year-old whilst scouting the Colombian First Division. The six-foot-three striker turns 18 in December and is regarded as one of the most promising young players in the world. Despite attracting the interest of both Villareal and Club Brugge, he agreed a move to Chicago. In football it pays to be first.
Pelzer’s ability to find talent is what brought him to the attention of Georg Heitz, the sporting director of Chicago Fire. Heitz refers to him as a ‘maniac’ due to his encyclopaedic knowledge of players. Prior to the Chicago hire, it was not unknown for Pelzer to drive eight hours for a two-hour meeting and then drive eight hours home. That dedication to the game has not relented or slowed. He’s recently returned from Mexico, where he took in four games in five days. Prior to that he was in Switzerland overseeing recruitment for Chicago’s sister club FC Lugano.
The MLS has grown into a global league. Pelzer says the days when America was seen as a retirement plan for Europe’s ageing stars is well and truly over: “We had one player who joined us from playing in Poland, and he’s now playing in Ligue 1 in France. The MLS is very physical and competitive. It’s an attractive league for anyone coming from England as playing here would definitely progress a player’s career.”
