Zoe Webber opens up on impact of social media barbs

Webber opened up about her struggles with social media criticism in a video for the Canaries Trust to mark Mental Health Awareness Day centred on Women In Football. 

The City chief, married to former City sporting director Stuart, has often seen her marriage used as a stick to beat her with, even though she isn't responsible for the football operations at Carrow Road and has carved out a career on merit of 25 years worth of experience. 

Ben Knapper succeeded Webber last November, but she has remained at the club, overseeing the off-pitch departments and leading the executive team. 

Those comments have naturally impacted Webber throughout her time at Norwich, and she explains how she has dealt with them. 

"It was a lesson that I probably learnt from Stu because when he first came in, he looked at social media too much, and it had a really negative impact on his mental health. I don't look at it, and I don't read it. 

"So much of it is coming from a place where maybe somebody doesn't have all the information I've got when I've made a decision. 

"The one thing I've really struggled with is when I just get called 'Webber's wife'. That has been a big challenge for me because it's always used as a really derogatory term. It's never a positive scenario. 

"I've worked really hard to carve out a career in this amazing industry for 25 years, but that is how I get referred to as because I happened to be married to someone that I worked with. 

"You develop a tough skin and brush it off, but it doesn't help your confidence when you're going to work and trying to lead people. You almost have to put a mask on and a brave face to make yourself walk through the door. 

"I don't think people think about it or the human being behind what they're saying. You become almost like a character and they don't realise the impact of what they say on the people that they're saying it about."

Those challenges and barriers extend beyond social media or even from within the stands, but have also manifested in boardrooms or meetings whilst representing City. 

Zoe Webber has revealed the impact of social media barbs about being married to former sporting director Stuart Webber. (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd) In her current role, Webber often represents the Canaries in league-wide gatherings and is still baffled by the lack of diversity amongst senior officials at the top of the English game. 

"It's a very interesting dynamic," Webber admitted. "It's probably because I've been in and around the game for a long time, but I feel much more comfortable now. 

"It's quite interesting - earlier this week, we had a Championship call of all of my counterparts, and I am the only female, which I think is a sad state of affairs in this day and age. It was only because it was all on screen, and I was like, 'I'm the only female'.

"It's not actually about having to shout louder but more about feeling comfortable and confident to speak up when you're in that environment. That has been a challenge for me sometimes in those environments.

"If you have big, overpowering meetings, you have to find your voice and have the confidence that it will be listened to. 

"I've got past that point now, and I feel very confident and comfortable in those environments, but it has been a challenge to put yourself out there. If I just went 'it's going to be difficult to achieve this because I'm female and I'm not going to push myself', that doesn't set the example for people moving forward. 

"To do that, you have to develop tough skin, put up some walls and brush things off."

Zoe Webber works closely with sporting director Ben Knapper and the executive team at Norwich City. (Image: Adam Harvey/Newsquest) Throughout her career, Webber has worked as a football administrator in a host of high-ranking organisations, including Liverpool, where she assisted on big-money transfer deals, and the Football Association before moving to Carrow Road and working her way into the boardroom. 

That journey has involved breaking down barriers amid a constant need to prove herself owing to her sex. 

She recalls one eye-opening moment during a visit to a Championship counterpart last season, while representing Norwich, which underlines the progress that still needs to be made within the game. 

"I had a situation last season where I was in another club's boardroom, and one of their directors came over and shook hands with the other five members of the executive team, got to me, and then turned around and walked away," she recalled. 

"Actually, it infuriated each one of those colleagues more than it did me. They were so angry about it. That's where it is hard because you retreat into a shell because you think 'am I not acknowledged or recognised?'. That is a challenge you have to fight against in your own head." 

- The full video from the Canaries Trust for Mental Health Awareness Day involving Norwich City executive director Zoe Webber is available to watch below