Norwich City F.C.

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Norwich City
Full name	Norwich City Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Canaries
Founded	1902, turned professional in 1905
Ground	Carrow Road
Capacity	26,034
Chairman	Roger Munby
Manager	Peter Grant
League	The Championship
2005-06	Football League Championship, 9th
Home colours 　 Away colours

Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries, The Yellows, City or (archaic) The Citizens) are an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. They play in the Football League Championship, appearing in the FA Premier League as recently as 2004–05, having first been promoted to the top flight in 1972. Norwich have won the League Cup twice, in 1962 and 1985.

The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, they have played their home games at Carrow Road and have a long-standing and fierce rivalry with East Anglian rivals Ipswich Town, with whom they have contested the East Anglian Derby 134 times since 1902

The fans' song On The Ball, City is regarded as being the oldest football song in the world.

Contents 1 History 2 Crest 3 Colours 4 Stadia 5 Supporters 6 Ownership 6.1 Board members 7 Statistics and records 8 Players 8.1 Current squad 8.2 Players on loan 8.3 Notable players 9 Managers 10 Honours 10.1 Friendship Trophy 11 Norwich City in popular culture 12 Notes 13 References 14 External links

[edit] History

Main article: History of Norwich City F.C.

Norwich City F.C. was formed on 17 June 1902 by a group of friends and played its first competitive match, against Harwich & Parkeston, at Newmarket Road on 6 September 1902.^[1] Following an F.A. Commission, they were ousted from the amateur game in 1905 for being a "professional" organisation. Later thay year they were elected to play in the Southern League and with increasing crowds, the club were forced to leave Newmarket Road in 1908, moving to The Nest, a disused chalk pit. During the First World War, with football suspended and facing spiralling debts, City went into voluntary liquidation on 10 December 1917.^[2] The club was officially reformed on 15 February, 1919; a key figure in the events was a Mr C Watling, father of future club Chairman, Geoffrey Watling.^[3] In May 1920, The Football League formed two regional Third Divisions and Norwich joined the South Division for the following season.^[4] Their first league fixture, against Plymouth, on 28 August 1920, ended in a 1–1 draw. The club went on to endure a mediocre decade, finishing no higher than eighth but no lower than 18th.^[2]

The following decade proved more successful for the club with a club-record victory, 10–2, over Coventry and promotion as champions to the Second Division in the 1933–34 season under the management of Tom Parker.^[5] With crowds continuing to rise, and with the Football Association raising concerns over the suitability of The Nest, the club considered renovation of the ground, but ultimately decided on a move to Carrow Road. The inaugural match, held on 31 August 1935, against West Ham United drew the club's biggest ever crowd of 29,779 and ended in a 4–3 victory to the home team. Only four years later, the club were relagated to the Third Division,^[6] but the league was suspended only games into the season as a result of the outbreak of the Second World War.^[2] The league did not resume until the 1946–47 season and City finished this and the following season in 21st place,^[7][8] the poor results forcing the club to apply for re-election to the league.^[9] The club narrowly missed out on promotion under the guidance of manager Norman Low in the early 1950's, but following the return of Tom Parker as manager, Norwich finished bottom of the football league in the 1956–57 season, made worse by seeing Ipswich promoted the same year as champions.^[10]

The 1958–59 season saw Norwich reach the semi-final of the 1958–59 FA Cup as a Third Division side, defeating First Division sides including Tottenham Hotspur and Matt Busby's Manchester United on the way.^[9] They lost the semi-final only after a replay against another First Division side, Luton Town.^[11] Norwich were promoted to the Second Division after finishing second to Southampton F.C. in the 1959–60 season which was followed by a fourth place finish in the following season.^[9] In 1962 Ron Ashman guided to Norwich to their first piece of silverware, defeating Rochdale 4-0 on aggregate in a two-legged final to win the League Cup.^[12] Sixth place in the league was the closest the club came to promotion to the First Division during the 1960's, but winning the league in the 1971–72 season under manager Ron Saunders, Norwich City reached the highest level of English football for the first time in their history.^[13] They played at Wembley Stadium for the first time in 1973, losing the League Cup final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur.^[14] Relegation to the Second Division in 1974 resulted in the resignation of Ron Ashman and the appointment of John Bond.^[13] A highly successful first season saw promotion back to the First Division and another visit to Wembley, again in the League Cup final, this time losing 1-0 to Aston Villa.^[15] Bond resigned during in the 1980–81 season and the club were relegated, but bounced back the following season after finishing third.^[16]

The 1984–5 season was of mixed achievements for the club; under Ken Brown's guidance, they reached the final of the Milk Cup at Wembley Stadium, having defeated Ipswich Town in the semi-final. In the final, they beat Sunderland 1–0, but in the league competition both Norwich and Sunderland were relegated to the second tier of English football and were also denied their first foray into Europe with the ban on English clubs after the Heysel Stadium disaster.^[17][18] City bounced back to the top flight immediately by winning the Second Division championship in the 1985–86 season.^[19] High league placings in the First Division in 1986–87 and 1988–89 would have been enough for UEFA Cup qualification, but the ban on English clubs remained.^[18] They also had good cup runs during his period, reaching the F.A. Cup semi-finals in 1989 and again in 1992.^[20][21]

In 1992–93, the inaugural season of the English Premier League, Norwich City led the league for most of the season,^[22] before faltering in the final weeks to finish third behind the champions, Manchester United, and Aston Villa.^[23] The following season Norwich played in the UEFA Cup for the first time, losing in the third round to Internazionale, but notably defeating Bayern Munich of Germany winning 2–1 away and are the only English team to beat Bayern Munich in the Olympic Stadium.^[24] Mike Walker quit as Norwich City manager in January 1994,^[25] to take charge of Everton and was replaced by 36-year-old first team coach John Deehan who lead the club to 12th place in the 1993–94 season in the Premier League.^[26] The club were relegated to the First Division the following season,^[27] and just before it was confirmed, Deehan was sacked as manager and his assistant Megson took over until the end of the season.^[28] Martin O'Neill, who had taken Wycombe Wanderers from the Conference to the Second Division with successive promotions, was appointed as Norwich City manager in the summer of 1995.^[29] He lasted just six months in the job before resigning after a dispute with chairman Robert Chase over money to strengthen the squad.^[30] Soon after, Chase stepped down after protests from supporters who complained that he kept selling the club's best players and was to blame for their relegation.^{[citation needed]} Chase's majority stakeholding was bought by Geoffrey Watling.^[31]

English television cook Delia Smith and husband Michael Wynn-Jones took over the majority of Norwich City's shares from Watling in 1996,^[31] and Mike Walker was re-appointed as the club's manager.^[32] He was unable to repeat the success achieved during his first spell and was sacked two seasons later with Norwich mid-table in the First Division.^[33] Nigel Worthington took over as Norwich City manager in December 2000 following an unsuccessful two years for the club under Bruce Rioch and then Bryan Hamilton. He had been on the coaching staff under Hamilton who was fired with the club 20th in the First Division and in real danger of relegation to the third tier of English football for the first time since the 1960s.^[34] Worthington avoided the threat of relegation and, the following season, led City to a playoff final at the Millennium Stadium, which Norwich lost against Birmingham City on penalties.^[35]

The 2003–04 campaign saw the club win the First Division title, finishing eight points clear of second-placed West Brom F.C. and returned to the top flight for the first time since 1995.^[36] For much of the 2004–05 season however, the club struggled and, despite beating Manchester United 2–0 and Newcastle United 2–1 towards the end of the season,^[37] a last day 6–0 defeat away to Fulham condemned them to relegation.^[38] A mediocre season followed in The Championship as the club finished in 9th despite hopes of bouncing straight back up to the top flight,^[39] and as results in the 2006–07 season went against City, the pressure mounted on manager Nigel Worthington, culminating with his sacking on October 1, 2006, directly after a 4–1 defeat at the hands of Championship rivals Burnley.^[40] On October 16, 2006, Norwich held a press conference to reveal that former City player Peter Grant had left West Ham United to become the new manager,^[41] and in February 2007, Grant replaced assistant Doug Livermore with his fellow Scot, Jim Duffy.^[42]

[edit] Crest

The club badge consists of a canary resting on a football with the City of Norwich arms in the top left corner.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Colours

Canary breeding was a popular hobby in Norwich and Norfolk at that time, (contrary to some suggestions, the canaries were not bred for use in mining, they were bred purely as a hobby). One of the early managers partook in this hobby and often referred to his players as "his canaries".^{[citation needed]} Originally, the club was nicknamed the Citizens, and played in light blue and white halved shirts,^[2] but by 1907, the nickname Canaries had come more into vogue, to such an extent that the famous yellow shirts were adopted, to match the nickname.^{[citation needed]}

The traditional club colours are yellow shirts, green shorts and yellow socks. As of June 2006, the away kit is all white.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Stadia

Main article: Carrow Road

Norwich City F.C. played at Newmarket Road from 1902 to 1908, with a record attendance of 10,366 against Sheffield Wednesday in a second round F.A. Cup match in 1908.^[43] Following a dispute over the conditions of renting the Newmarket Road ground, in 1908, the club moved to a new home, in a converted disused chalk pit in Rosary Road which became known as "The Nest".^[44] By the 1930s, the ground capacity was proving insufficient for the growing crowds and in 1935 the club moved to its current home in Carrow Road.^[45] The original stadium was terraced on three sides with only one stand (along Carrow Road) having wooden bench seating and a roof.^{[citation needed]}

Today, Carrow Road has a capacity of 26,034, but the record attendance was 43,984 for a 6th round F.A. Cup match against Leicester City in 1963.^[46]

[edit] Supporters

See also On The Ball, City, Pride of Anglia and the East Anglian Derby.

Although the first use of the tune and song is disputed, by 1902 On The Ball, City was the fans' song and it remains in use today in part if not the whole.^[47] It has claims to be the oldest football song anywhere in the World still in use today and is in fact older than the club itself having probably been penned for Norwich Teachers in the 1890s and adapted for Norwich City.^[47] Today, fans sing only the chorus:^{[citation needed]}

“

Kick off, throw it in, have a little scrimmage, Keep it low, a splendid rush, bravo, win or die, On the ball, City, never mind the danger, Steady on, now’s your chance, Hurrah! We’ve scored a goal.

”

Locally, much is made of the informal title "Pride of Anglia". Fans variously claim the title for either winning the East Anglian Derby, finishing highest in the league, having the better current league position, having the more successful club history or for reasons without any apparent logical basis. The club's main local rival is Ipswich Town. When Norwich and Ipswich meet it is known as the 'East Anglian Derby', or, informally, as the 'Old Farm Derby', a comic reference to the 'Old Firm Derby' played between Scottish teams Celtic and Rangers.^[48] Over the 134 matches played against Ipswich since 1902, Ipswich boasts the better record, having won 45% of the matches to Norwich's 37%.^[49][50] Another commonly employed measure for "Pride of Anglia", and one that encompasses all of the East Anglian teams is to dub the side finishing as the highest placed East Anglian team in the Football League as the Pride of Anglia.^{[citation needed]} Norwich City has finished highest in each of the past three seasons.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Ownership

At the 2006–07 Norwich City FC Annual General Meeting (on the 18 January 2007); majority shareholders Delia Smith and her husband Michael Wynn-Jones admitted that they would be open to offers on selling their majority stakehold of the club. However, they made clear that any prospective buyer would have to invest heavily in the squad, with regards to team improving.^[51]

“

The only way we would relinquish our shares is if somebody is going to put money into the football....Only if they put money into the squad - not if they buy our shares, we don't want money. It has to be that there is money for the squad, serious money for the squad.

”

[edit] Board members

Position	Name	Nation
Chairman	Roger Munby
Vice Chairman	Barry Skipper
Joint Majority Shareholder	Delia Smith
Joint Majority Shareholder	Michael Wynn-Jones
Director	Michael Foulger
Chief Executive	Neil Doncaster

[edit] Statistics and records

Ron Ashman holds the record for Norwich appearances, having played 592 first-team matches between 1947 and 1964. Ralph Hunt holds the record for the most goals scored in a season, 31 in the 1955–56 season in Division Three (South).

The club's widest victory margin in the league was their 10–2 win against Coventry City in the Division Three (South) in 1930. Their heaviest defeat in the league was 10–2 against Swindon Town in 1908 in the Southern League.

Norwich's record home attendance is 43,984 for a sixth round F.A. Cup match against Leicester City on 30 March 1963. With the introduction of regulations enforcing all-seater stadiums, it is unlikely that this record will be beaten in the foreseeable future.

The highest transfer fee received for an Norwich player is £7.25 million, from West Ham United for Dean Ashton in January 2006, while the most spent by the club on a player was £3.5 million for Robert Earnshaw from West Bromwich Albion in the same month.^[52]

[edit] Players

For a list of players of the year, see Barry Butler Trophy winners.

[edit] Current squad

No. Position Player 1 GK David Marshall (on loan from Celtic) 2 DF Matthieu Louis-Jean 3 DF Adam Drury (captain) 4 DF Jason Shackell 6 FW Darren Huckerby 7 MF Lee Croft 8 FW Peter Thorne 9 FW Dion Dublin 10 FW Robert Earnshaw 11 MF Luke Chadwick 12 GK Tony Warner (on loan from Fulham) 14 FW Chris Brown 15 MF Youssef Safri 16 MF Mark Fotheringham

No. Position Player 17 MF Andrew Hughes 19 MF Simon Lappin 20 MF Dickson Etuhu 21 GK Paul Gallacher 24 DF Jurgen Colin 25 DF Rossi Jarvis 26 MF Robert Eagle 27 DF Gary Doherty 28 MF Michael Spillane 29 DF Matthew Halliday 31 MF Andrew Cave-Brown 33 FW Kris Renton 34 GK Steven Arnold 35 FW Chris Martin

[edit] Players on loan

No. Position Player 18 FW Paul McVeigh (on loan to Burnley) 22 FW Ian Henderson (on loan to Rotherham United) 23 FW Ryan Jarvis (on loan to Leyton Orient)

No. Position Player 30 GK Joe Lewis (on loan to Stockport) 32 MF Andrew Fisk (on loan to King's Lynn)

[edit] Notable players

Past (and present) players who are the subjects of Wikipedia articles can be found here.

During the club's centenary season, a "Hall of Fame" was created, honouring 100 former players chosen by fan vote and a further 10 players were inducted into the Norwich City F.C. Hall of Fame in 2006.

[edit] Managers

As of 30 March 2007. Only professional, competitive matches are counted.^[53]

Name	Nat	From	To	Record
				P	W	D	L	%W
John Bowman		1 August 1905	31 July 1907	78	31	23	24	39.7
James McEwen		1 August 1907	31 May 1908	43	13	10	20	30.2
Arthur Turner		1 August 1909	31 May 1910	86	27	22	37	31.4
Bert Stansfield		1 August 1910 1 March 1926	31 May 1915 1 November 1926	248	78	75	95	31.4
Major Frank Buckley		1 August 1919	1 July 1920	43	15	11	17	34.9
Charles O'Hagan		1 July 1920	1 January 1921	21	4	9	8	19.0
Albert Gosnell		1 January 1921	28 February 1926	223	59	79	95	26.5
Cecil Potter		1 November 1926	1 January 1929	101	30	26	45	29.7
James Kerr		1 April 1929	28 February 1933	168	65	43	60	38.7
Tom Parker		1 March 1933 1 May 1955	1 February 1937 31 March 1957	271	104	69	98	38.4
Bob Young		1 February 1937 1 September 1939	31 December 1939 31 May 1946	78	26	14	38	33.3
Jimmy Jewell		1 January 1939	1 September 1939	20	6	4	10	30.0
Duggie Lochhead		1 December 1945	1 March 1950	104	42	28	34	40.4
Cyril Spiers		1 June 1946	1 December 1947	65	15	12	38	23.1
Norman Low		1 May 1950	30 April 1955	258	129	56	73	50.0
Archie Macaulay		1 April 1957	1 October 1961	224	105	60	59	46.9
Willie Reid		1 December 1961	1 May 1962	31	13	6	12	41.9
George Swindin		1 May 1962	30 November 1962	20	10	5	5	50.0
Ron Ashman		1 December 1962	31 May 1966	162	59	39	64	36.4
Lol Morgan		1 June 1966	1 May 1969	127	45	47	35	35.4
Ron Saunders		1 July 1969	16 November 1973	221	84	61	76	38.0
John Bond		27 November 1973	31 October 1980	340	105	114	121	34.5
Ken Brown		1 November 1980	9 November 1987	367	150	93	124	40.9
Dave Stringer		9 November 1987	1 May 1992	229	89	58	82	38.9
Mike Walker		1 June 1992 21 June 1996	6 January 1994 30 April 1998	179	69	46	64	38.5
John Deehan		12 January 1994	31 July 1995	58	13	22	23	22.4
Martin O'Neill[54]		August, 1995	December, 1995	26	12	9	5	46.2
Gary Megson		December, 1995	21 June 1996	32	5	10	17	15.6
Bruce Rioch		12 June 1998	13 March 2000	93	30	31	32	32.3
Bryan Hamilton		5 April 2000	4 December 2000	35	10	10	15	28.6
Nigel Worthington		4 December 2000	2 October 2006	280	114	104	62	40.7
Martin Hunter[55]		2 October 2006	14 October 2006	1	0	1	0	00.0
Peter Grant		13 October 2006	Present	33	13	12	8	39.4

[edit] Honours

Honour	Year(s)
Second Division Champions	1971–72, 1985–86, 2003–04
Football League Runners-Up	1981–82
First Division Play-Offs Losers	2001–02
Old Third Division South Champions	1933–34
Old Third Division South Runners Up	1959–60
FA Cup Semi-finalists	1958–59, 1988–89, 1991–92
League Cup Winners	1961–62, 1984–85
League Cup Runners Up	1972–73, 1974–75
FA Youth Cup Winners	1982–83

[edit] Friendship Trophy

Each time they meet, Norwich and Sunderland contest the Friendship Trophy, an honour dating back to a comaraderie forged between fans of the two club during the 1980s and early 90s, particularly from the League Cup final that they contested. Sunderland are the current holders, having defeated Norwich 1-0 on 2nd December 2006.

[edit] Norwich City in popular culture

In the film Mike Bassett: England Manager, the eponymous hero, played by Ricky Tomlinson, rises to prominence, as a result of success as manager of Norwich City.^[56]

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Canary Citizens by Mark Davage, John Eastwood, Kevin Platt, published by Jarrold Publishing, (2001), ISBN 0-7117-2020-7
• Norfolk 'n' Good by Kevin Baldwin, published by Goldstone Books, (1993), ISBN 0-9522074-0-0

[edit] External links

• Norwich City F.C. on BBC Sport: Club News - Recent results - Upcoming fixtures - Club stats
• NCFC Official Site
• The Pink Un'
• BBC Norfolk's Norwich City Page
• Flown from the Nest

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