Norwich City

Norwich City FC is a professional football club from Norfolk in England's East Anglia that was founded in 1905 and began life playing games at Newmarket Road and joining the Southern League where they were placed in Division One with a nickname of ‘The Citizens’.

Attendances were too high for the ground, so they moved to the former chalk pit on Rosary Road in 1908 which they named The Nest to fit in with the clubs new nickname of ‘The Canaries’ as the canary breeding chairman of the day changed the club colours to yellow and green.

The Nest was a most unusual venue which made the old "chocolate box" lay out at The Dell, Southampton look normal in comparison. The club was hit with spiralling debts in 1917, going into voluntary liquidation before reforming in February 1919.

The Football League was extended for the 1920-21 season, with City given a place in Division Three South. The team won their league title in 1933-34 under manager Tom Parker before the club made the move to Carrow Road in 1935.

The side were relegated in 1938-39 before Norman Low led City finished as runners-up in 1950-51. After league reorganisation the Canaries were placed in Division Three prior to Archie Macaulay leading his team to the semi-final of the FA Cup in 1958-59 where they lost to Luton Town.

Promotion to Division Two was secured in 1959-60 by virtue of a runners-up place. Ron Ashman had taken over as manager when City won the League Cup in 1961-62. Two goals from Derek Lythgoe along with those from Bill Punton and Jimmy Hill were enough to defeat Rochdale 4-0 on aggregate.

The rest of the decade saw City generally finish in mid table, with sixth place in 1964-65 their best return. After a spell under manager Lol Morgan, Ron Saunders was appointed in July 1969, taking the side to the Division Two title in 1971-72 to reach the top flight for the first time.

The Norwich side included stalwarts Kevin Keelan, Duncan Forbes, Dave Stringer and the young talent of Graham Paddon. The following 1972-73 season saw City return to the final of the League Cup, where they went down to a solitary goal against Tottenham Hotspur.

John Bond took over as manager in November 1973. The team were relegated at the end of the 1973-74 campaign, but the directors kept faith with their appointment, with City reaching the semi-final of the league cup where they were defeated by Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The Canaries regrouped and won promotion in 1974-75 as well as reaching the League Cup final, where Aston Villa lifted the trophy with a 1-0 win. The team continued to perform creditably in the league as youngster Justin Fashanu attracted rave reviews.

Ken Brown replaced Bond in November 1980. City were relegated in 1980-81, but once again the board chose not to change their manager, for which they would be rewarded with promotion in 1981-82 and then in 1984-85 when an own goal was enough to beat Sunderland in the final of the League Cup.

The City line up provided quality from the likes of Steve Bruce, Dave Watson, Chris Woods, Mike Channon and John Deehan. Despite this, Norwich were relegated in the same season before returning to the top tier as Division Two champions in 1985-86.

Former player Dave Stringer took over as manager in November 1987, leading the team their best ever fourth place in 1988-89 as Robert Fleck put away the goals while being assisted by Dale Gordon. The season also saw a run to the semi-final of the FA Cup in where the side lost out to Everton.

In 1991-92 City again went out in the last four of the Cup, this time to Sunderland before Mike Walker was appointed as manager as the club became founder members of the Premier League in 1992-93, where they finished third as Mark Robbins topped the scoring.

The success led to an amazing adventure in the UEFA Cup in 1993-94. Vitesse Arnhem were defeated before a 2-1 win in the Olympiastadion with goals from Jeremy Goss and Mark Bowen helped City defeat German giants Bayern München.

Internazionale ended the run in the third round for the side also including star men Bryan Gunn, Chris Sutton and Ruel Fox. The talent was hunted down by bigger clubs before another ex player, John Deehan was at the helm as Norwich were relegated in 1994-95.

The club was taken over by TV celebrity chef Delia Smith and her husband in 1996 after an unhappy period under previous head, Robert Chase. Nigel Worthington was in the manager’s seat after a few bosses and come and gone when City reached the play-offs in 2001-02.

Wolverhampton Wanderers were beaten before Birmingham City won the final on penalties at the Millennium Stadium. However, City were to be crowned as champions of the Championship in 2003-04 with Robert Green in goal to return to the Premier League.

The rise proved too steep, as Norwich were relegated just twelve months later. Peter Grant and Glenn Roeder had spells as manager before Bryan Gunn was in charge when Norwich were relegated to third tier League One in 2008-09.

On the opening day of the following season Colchester United won 7-1 at Carrow Road. City managed to attract their manager Paul Lambert to take over as their boss a week later. The forward partnership of Grant Holt and Chris Martin helped take the Canaries to the League One title in 2009-10.

After just two terms in the second tier, the team under manager Paul Lambert put in many great performances during the 2010-11 season to finish runners up to QPR and secure promotion with Wes Hoolahan starring in midfield alongside Andrew Crofts.

After an excellent first season back in the top flight, Lambert left the club to take the Aston Villa job, to be replaced by Chris Hughton, who did a steady enough job in his first season at the helm with a mid table finish, despite a home defeat to non-league Luton Town in the FA Cup.

However, he was dismissed in April 2014 with the club fighting to avoid relegation. Neil Adams came in, initially in a caretaker role but The Canaries went down in eighteenth place. Adams was given until January of the 2014-15 season before the board's patience ran out at the inconsistent results.

Alex Neill was recruited from Hamilton Academical in his place. Neill took the side on a magnificent run all the way to the play-offs. Bitter rivals Ipswich Town were defeated before City beat Middlesbrough 2-0 at Wembley to return to the Premier League with goals from Cameron Jerome and Nathan Redmond.

Again, City’s spell in the Premier League lasted just one season. Neill was replaced by Daniel Farke in May 2017. The German introduced Angus Gunn, son of Bryan, into the side along with James Maddison and Timm Klose.

Tim Krul took over in goal in 2018-19 as the goals of Teemu Pukki propelled City to their league title and promotion. The 2019-20 season was disrupted by the Coronavirus pandemic. Norwich were relegated at the end of it.

City won promotion back to the Premier League at the culmination of the 2020-21 campaign as Teemu Pukki put away the goals. Farke was sacked in November 2021 to be replaced by Dean Smith as the Canaries finished bottom of the table and were relegated once more.

David Wagner was appointed as manager in January 2023 as the club rebuilt its playing squad. Josh Sargent led the scoring in 2023-24 as Norwich pushed for a playoff place which ended in semifinal defeat to Leeds United and the dismissal of Wagner who was replaced by Johannes Hoff Thorup.

Norwich City FC will play in the EFL Championship in the 2024-25 season.

My visits

Norwich City 1 Brentford 0 (Tuesday 1st September 2009) Johnston Paints Trophy Southern Section Round One (att: 12,540)

The reason for the excellent crowd for this normally disregarded competition was City used their common sense and sold tickets for £5 with £1 for concessions. It was this offer that tempted me so I could cross another ground off my list of 92.

I was going to have a look around after alighting from the train, which I had imagined would be a beautiful cathedral city with tree lined avenues. I walked up a hill from the station in that direction which had more cheap chicken and kebab outlets than Willesden High Road which is no mean feat.

There was also a massively high propensity of young girls wearing next to nothing despite it being tea time on a coolish Tuesday night. Carrow Road is near the station but away from the centre. I went through a new Riverside development containing flats and all the chain names in catering and bars. It was a bit like Stevenage in a smarter location.

I went into the ground early to take some photos and get something to eat as there was a long wait in the pub. I have to say that the stadium was superb and the club seemed to care about their fans. My seat was for the Barclay Stand and the rear had a facility up there with any clubhouse I’ve ever been in, with the catering being done by Delia Smith’s catering company. 

Each match they have two special matchday pies on offer as well as the usual food. They did meal deals at reasonable prices. There were TV’s everywhere as well as some cracking old photos on the wall. Leaflet wracks advertised everything the club did along with match posters and a suggestion box. It was very impressive.

My seat was for Block A, Row A, Seat No 1. It was a poor view. I was right in the corner at the front and then it started teeming down after 15 minutes. I asked the steward if there was any chance of a move? I reasoned I was being punished by buying early and ensuring the club money. 

He kindly shifted me into the corner section where the 'lads' were, called The Snakepit. Mmmm it was different. City have their own chant "On the ball City". That was the only line I could decifer. Some of the other chants and songs were right back from the 80’s. 

A lot of the crowd was made up of concessions who were enjoying their moment of glory taunting the 100 away fans. The Barclay and Snakepit Stands had a singing competition between themselves, apparently oblivious to the reasonable game going on.

The ground in general was a good place to watch football in and the fans should be very proud of it. Behind each goal stand similar two tier constructions, The Barclay and the Riverside End. 

Each previously had standing in the lower tier. before that the Riverside End was an open bank of terracing and the Barclay a low covered standing stand with the away fans behind fences in the corner by the South Stand. 

The Geoffrey Watling Stand was a replacement for an old Main Stand structure that burnt down in the 80's and is one tier of seats with various boxes at the rear. Corner sections add to the continuity with the end stands. The corner between the Riverside End and the new South Stand has been filled in with a seating block. 

The new stand replaced a much lower one in 2004. In the corner the club have leased the land to Holiday Inn who have filled in the area with a hotel with rooms that face out onto the pitch, maximising possible revenue from room rates.

Out on the pitch City went through to the next round as Chris Martin scored after thirty minutes with a low shot that went in off the post from the edge of the box after been teed up by Goran Marić. The closest the Bees went was when Marcus Bean had a header superbly saved by Ben Alnwick with an hour on the clock.

Monday 17^th August 2020

Some of the restrictions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic were gradually being lifted. I’d been alerted that Travelodge were doing an offer with an additional free night when booking one. I had a couple of weeks off work and fancied a proper look at Norwich, so I booked up.

The area heading towards the city hadn’t changed too much. However, it soon became apparent that I hadn’t gone far enough on my previous visit. I found a beautiful historic city which also had a good centre with a large market and modern shopping where I thoroughly enjoyed my stay.

I’d looked at the area around the castle and market before checking into my room. It was time for a walk along the banks of the River Wensum which offered some most photogenic views despite me getting drenched soon into it.

The circular tour took me back round to drop down the hill and cross the Carrow Bridge to end up outside the stadium, which was sadly all locked up, but allowed me to have a stroll all the way around it.

Before heading back to my room for food I headed to the excellent Coach and Horses. The popular pub with City fans served their own Chalk Hill Brewery ales where I enjoyed a further visit the following evening.