Raymond Wilfred Hudson (born 24 March 1955) is an English former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and manager who currently works as a radio host for

SiriusXM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius S ...

FC 157. He started playing professionally at 17, in 1973, with

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

. Fans nicknamed him Rocky and he stayed with the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

side for four years before moving to the U.S. and playing with various teams for about 15 years. When he finished his playing career, he started coaching. He was named the head coach in the middle of the 2000 season of the Miami Fusion and was then hired by D.C. United on 8 January 2002 to be their head coach. He was replaced in 2004. Hudson then began a broadcasting career as color commentator in television and radio. In 2012, he joined

Sirius XM Radio Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...

as the morning show host of ''The Football Show'' on SiriusXM FC 157.

Playing career

Hudson signed with

in 1973 at the age of 17, from local team Whickham Juniors. He made 25 appearances for Newcastle and fans there nicknamed him "Rocky". After four years in the

, Hudson moved to the United States, playing for the

Fort Lauderdale Strikers Fort Lauderdale Strikers may refer to: *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), member of North American Soccer League from 1977 to 1983 *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994), member of American Soccer League from 1988 to 1989 and American Profes ...

of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

from 1977 to 1983. His former teammate at Newcastle, Paul Cannell, who like Hudson had struggled to get a first team place, in his book ''Fuckin' Hell It's Paul Cannell,'' claimed he was one of the people responsible for getting Hudson to play his football in America. Cannell had spell on loan at the Washington Diplomats in the 1970s. When Cannell came back to Newcastle, Hudson, was keen to know what life and playing football was like in the US. Cannell claimed he gave Hudson tales of sex, drugs, rock and roll and football. In the next season Cannell played against Fort Lauderdale Strikers, a team full of world class players, and he explained Hudson was by far the best player on the pitch... Hudson played the winter season of 1983–84 in Germany with

Union Solingen SG Union Solingen was a German association football club from Solingen, North Rhine-Westphalia. History The side can trace its roots back to an earlier ''Union Solingen'' club founded in 1897 out of the merger of a number of clubs from the d ...

, making 10 appearances without scoring. Hudson also played for the Strikers following their move to

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

in 1984, which proved to be the league's final year. Over the course of his eight years in NASL, Hudson scored 44 goals in 197 matches with 99 assists, and was named to five All-NASL squads, including once as a ''Best XI'' in 1984. He followed this with a season playing for

Edmonton Brick Men The Edmonton Brick Men (also Edmonton Brickmen) were a Canadian soccer team in Edmonton, Alberta that competed in the Canadian Soccer League and the Western Soccer Alliance. During their time in the WSA and the CSL, the team played at both John D ...

before joining the

of the American Soccer League. After a knee injury sidelined him, the Strikers released him. He spent one season (1990) playing for cross-state rivals

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater in ...

before returning to the Strikers in 1991. By this time the team was playing in the

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. It ...

. He was released by the Strikers when the club was mired in a four-match scoreless streak to begin the season. In 1992, he injured his other knee while playing in an NASL reunion match between NASL-era Strikers and Rowdies.

Coaching

After starting out as the

Miami Fusion The Miami Fusion was a professional soccer team based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They played in Major League Soccer (MLS) for four seasons, from 1998 to 2001. Announced in 1997 as one of the league's first two expansion teams, their best seas ...

's community outreach director and TV commentator, Hudson was named its head coach in the middle of the 2000 season, finishing the season with an 11–1–12 record. He led the club to the best regular season record in

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

(the

MLS Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since ...

) in 2001 with 16 wins, 5 draws, and 5 losses. However, the club was defeated by the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

in the semifinal round of the playoffs. Hudson quickly became known for his fiery personality. One memorable incident occurred after a Miami home win against the

Tampa Bay Mutiny Tampa Bay Mutiny was a professional soccer team based in Tampa, Florida. They were a charter member of Major League Soccer (MLS) and played from 1996 to 2001. They played their home games at Tampa Stadium and then at Raymond James Stadium. The ...

. The Fusion scored five goals, usually considered an excellent performance, but Hudson was apparently unsatisfied. He stormed into the media tent and up to the podium. He said, "I've got nothing to say. Any questions? ANY QUESTIONS? No? OK!" and stormed right back out. Interviews with players after the game indicated that Hudson was angered by a perceived lack of effort, even with the Fusion's dominant win. Following MLS's contraction of the Fusion, Hudson was hired to replace

Thomas Rongen Thomas Eddy Rongen (born 31 October 1956) is a Dutch American football coach who has spent the majority of his playing and coaching career in the United States. In December 2016, he was named Chief Scout of the United States Men's National Team. ...

as head coach of

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

on 8 January 2002. He continued to regale fans and journalists with his wit, stories, and quotes. He said, "There's a lot of talent on this team, and I'm talking Anna Nicole Smith type of talent!" upon taking control of the team in 2002. D.C. United finished at the bottom of the table in the East in 2002 with a record of 9–5–14, and were ousted in the first round by Chicago Fire by a 4–0 aggregate score in the two-game series in 2003. "Someone get me a blindfold and a cigarette!" he said during the post-game news conference. He was replaced by

Piotr Nowak Piotr "Peter" Nowak (; born 5 July 1964) is a Polish professional football manager and former player. He was most recently in charge of Ekstraklasa club Jagiellonia Białystok. Nowak played in Europe for Polish clubs such as Zawisza Bydgoszcz ...

in 2004. Hudson's cumulative record as an MLS head coach stands at 46–20–44.

Commentating

He worked for

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

's World Cup coverage in 2002, and came up with a memorable quote after the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

drew 1–1 with South Korea in group play. Expounding upon whether U.S. goalkeeper Brad Friedel should be thanking his defenders for their work, he said, "I'll be kissing their bums in the showers." Beginning with the 2004–2005 season, Hudson began commentating for GolTV. He was a co-commentator for European league matches and a co-host of ''American Soccer'' until his final appearance on the show on 29 August 2007. During the 2006 World Cup, he was a co-host for the English-language segment of the nightly ''Gol TV En Alemania'' wrap-up show. In 2012, Hudson joined

as lead commentator on SiriusXM FC 85, the service's soccer channel. Hudson hosts ''The Football Show'' with

Charlie Stillitano Charlie Stillitano is an American sports executive and radio presenter. He currently serves as the Executive Chairman of Sports, the company that hosts the International Champions Cup, and as a host of ''The Football Show'' on SiriusXM FC 157 wh ...

, Neil Barnett, and Phil Schoen, which airs weekdays at 7am Eastern Time. His listeners refer to him as 'Rocky' which was his nickname back in his playing days. He is the centerpiece of ''Hudson's Howlers,'' a monthly feature highlighting his most outrageous comments. Hudson's commentating style, which mimics fellow

Geordie Geordie () is a nickname for a person from the Tyneside area of North East England, and the dialect used by its inhabitants, also known in linguistics as Tyneside English or Newcastle English. There are different definitions of what constitut ...

, famous darts commentator

Sid Waddell Sid Waddell (10 August 1940 – 11 August 2012) was an English sports commentator and television personality. He was nicknamed the 'Voice of Darts' due to his fame as a darts commentator, and worked for Granada, Yorkshire, BBC and Sky Sports. D ...

, consists of metaphors and excited, romanticized descriptions (e.g., "magisteeerial") of players and goals, has earned him both praise and ridicule. In March 2020, it was announced that Hudson will serve as color commentator for

Inter Miami CF Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami, known as Inter Miami CF or simply Inter Miami, is an American professional soccer club based in the Miami metropolitan area. Established in 2018, the club began play in Major League Soccer (MLS) in the 2 ...

. In mid 2022, Hudson joined

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W 5 ...

for its television coverage of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

References

Sources

;Books *

External links

*
''Washington Post'' interview''Soccer Digest'' interviewCNNSI.com profile

Newcastle United Player Profile"Hudsonia" blog of all things Ray"New Hudsonia" blog of all things Ray"Shut Tha Windaz" blog with more Hudson quotesThis Is American Soccer interviewRay Hudson on beIN SPORTS USA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hudson, Ray 1955 births Living people American color commentators American Soccer League (1988–89) players American Professional Soccer League players English association football commentators English expatriate sportspeople in Germany Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992) players D.C. United coaches Edmonton Brick Men players English expatriate footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Canada English expatriate sportspeople in the United States English football managers English footballers Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate soccer players in Canada Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate soccer managers in the United States Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994) players Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983) players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Miami Fusion coaches Minnesota Strikers (NASL) players Minnesota Strikers (MISL) players NBC Sports Newcastle United F.C. players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players Footballers from Gateshead Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993) players English Football League players SG Union Solingen players Greenock Morton F.C. players Scottish Football League players Association football midfielders