Just Thinking..........

Losing by anything less than a four goal margin at Old Trafford will be an achievement by Norwich City. Not the thoughts of a defeatist, but a realist. My only hope is that whatever happens, the players return with their belief undamaged. And whilst I expect nothing, I can't help thinking that in the course of history, the Canaries have given Manchester United a few unexpected beatings over the years. And that in 1959 and 1967, supporters of the day would have held out little hope, going into those games. Their mindset would have been the same as mine right now...........the hope that we just don't make ourselves look bloody daft. Thankfully, from time to time, football delivers something that nobody bargained for. And it is these moments that fans carry with them through the rest of their lives. Cherished moments. Moments that make it proud to be a Canary. Those three points from the Sunderland game gave City a small cushion. The players can go to one of the finest teams in the world without the pressure of needing to avoid yet another defeat. And though I really don't expect the Canaries to have added to their Premier League points tally come Saturday evening, you just don't know, do you? The occasion might well provide another small paragraph in the story of Norwich City Football Club.............one way or another.
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Final League Placings 1930-1931

Football League 1930-1931
Division Three South






Notts County  59
Crystal Palace  51
Brentford  50
Southend United  49
Brighton  49
Northampton  48
Luton Town  46
QPR  43
Fulham  43
Bournemouth  43
Torquay United  43
Swindon Town  42
Exeter City  42
Coventry City  41
Bristol Rovers  40
Gillingham  38
Walsall  37
Watford  35
Clapton Orient  35
Thames  34
Newport County  28
Norwich City  28


Full City Record :  P42  W10  D8  L24  F47  A76  PTS 28    Manager : James Kerr


Arsenal were English champions
West Bromwich Albion won the FA Cup


In This Year :  The airship R101 crashes in France

The first edition of the Highway Code is issued

Whipsnade Zoo opens it's doors for the first time


Final league placings will be posted on a regular basis until every table is listed - click on the label below for years posted so far.

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Norwich City Signings By Manager - Bryan Gunn

an attempt to record all Norwich City signings by the manager who brought them to the club

Ben Alnwick (loan), Jens Berthel Askou
David Carney (loan)
Matt Gill, Alan Gow (loan)
Grant Holt, Stephen Hughes
Chris Killen (loan)
Alan Lee (loan), Adrian Leijer (loan)
Goran Maric, Cody McDonald, Paul McVeigh, David Mooney (loan)
Michael Nelson
Jason Shackell (loan)
Michael Theoklitos, Owain Tudur Jones
Simon Whaley, Rhoys Wiggins 

Total Players :  20

Bryan Gunn was in charge at Norwich City from 16th January 2009 to 14th August 2009

Youth players making the natural progression from the academy are not included. Future articles will take us back through history until all players and managers have been covered. To compare Bryan Gunn's history with that of Paul Lambert, click on the 'Signings By Manager' label below.

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Division Three South

The competition known as Division Three South was the home of Norwich City Football Club for a total of twenty six years in history. That period of time was divided with a six year stay in the second level in the thirties, but that apart, the Canaries were firmly a third tier club.

The first spell started in 1921-22 and lasted until 1933-34 when City finished top of the league, their first ever professional title. Norwich were founder members of the Division Three South. The competition formally started in 1921 when a large batch of northern based clubs joined an expanded Football League. Clubs in the south (Norwich included) had done a similar thing the previous year, in a division simply known as Division Three. But though national coverage of lower level football was greatly desired by the authorities as the game got back into swing after World War One, the logistics of such a move was much harder. Whilst club secretaries warmed their hands to potential new cash from a growing league, the reality was long and costly journeys the length and breadth of the country. And so it was decided that two third divisions would exist - one in the south and one in the north - in order to turn revenue into small profit.

Norwich played their first ever Division Three South game on the 27th of August 1921 at the Nest against Luton Town, but lost 1-0. William Bertram scored our first ever goal in the division in a 1-1 draw at Plymouth Argyle two days later. The competition was of course made up largely of the same teams that had been in Division Three the previous year, and in that first campaign City bettered themselves by just one place in the final table, finishing 15th. Though never in danger of finishing bottom (and there was of course no league below the Third Division South to get relegated to), at no time in the twenties did the Canaries get above half way. A corner was seemingly turned in 1930 when new manager Jim Kerr led them to eighth place, though this proved something of a false dawn because twelve months later the club did end up in bottom place. Thankfully that season was merely a blip, as they bounced back to tenth the following year.

Little did the fans know - Norwich City's first spell in Division Three South was slowly coming to a close. 1932-33 saw a fantastic third place secured. In more modern times of course that would have given City a promotion or play off place at least. But back in the thirties only the champions of Division Three South and Division Three North went up. This meant many good and improving clubs were denied an elevation in status and were literally stuck in the third level for a very long time.

A big push was needed to see if Norwich could do just a little better, and the following season they did. They won the title, comfortably ahead of Coventry City, and took their place in Division Two along with the North section champions Barnsley. It should be added that Jim Kerr did not live to see the day, he tragically died in February 1933, leaving Tom Parker to become the first manager to win City a trophy in the professional era.

Norwich did not return to Division Three South until 1946-47, though it would have been sooner had the Second World War not intervened. In fact three matches were played in 1939, before football was suspended. These matches were all expunged from the records. So officially it was in 1946 that the Canaries kicked of their second spell in the division and it would last almost as long as the first - twelve years instead of fourteen. And this time, the club moved away from a largely mid table existence and for the first time in history (though not the last) treated supporters to an emotional roller coaster ride. In the first two campaigns they finished one from bottom in the table - though missing out on re-election was not a serious threat. And in 1956-57 they did end up bottom of the pile, almost going bust in the process. But in the early fifties, Norwich went close to a second promotion on three occasions - finishing 2nd, 3rd and 4th in successive seasons. Fans of that generation, not unlike many that followed, were never quite sure what the club would do !

In 1957-58 the Canaries made more good progress, climbing back up to a respectable 8th place. But that year marked the final season in which the Division Three South existed. By this time travel was much easier and the game was back on an even keel after the war. The Football League decided that a Division Four would be introduced. It was therefore imperative that a top half finish was secured in 57-58 as that guaranteed a place in the new Division Three along with the northern clubs who achieved the same. Therefore that eighth place meant Norwich avoided playing at the fourth level (as they have done throughout history).

So Norwich can say they were part of the Division Three South competition in it's first and last season in the English Football League structure. Our final game was at Carrow Road on the 26th of April 1958 against Aldershot, a 3-1 defeat with Derrick Lythgoe netting our last ever goal. The Canaries spent only two further seasons at the third level before getting promotion to the Second Division, and it would be fifty years before they returned to the third tier.

In the thirty years that the Division Three South was played for, Bristol City won it more often than any other club - three times, in 1923, 1927, and 1955. There was always great rivalry between the southern and northern sections as to which was the strongest, and in the fifties at least, this was settled by a series of challenge matches which were heartily supported by fans. The South division often included clubs that were actually closer to the north (such as Nottingham Forest and Notts County) in order for both sections to contain the same number of teams.

[ Some details of Norwich players involved in the South v North representative matches can be found in this earlier post http://canaryseventyninety.blogspot.com/2011/06/south-v-north.html ]
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First & Last - Lee Power

First game :  28th April 1990 versus Aston Villa away Division One 3-3 draw

Last game :  13th February 1994 versus Arsenal home Premier League 1-1 draw



Signed from :  Youth academy
Next club :  Bradford City
Played professionally :  until 2001
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First Premier Meeting For Canaries And Black Cats

..............history isn't just about yesteryear, it's also happening right now, and is brought to you on a regular basis in The Canary Chronicles

Tonight will see the first ever meeting in the Premier League between the Norwich and Sunderland. Both teams of course have spent time in each of the top two divisions since the competition started in 1992-93, and remarkably they have always managed to avoid one another. The teams did meet in the old Division One - the last occasion was in 1990 when Norwich won both matches, 3-2 at home and 2-1 away.

Whilst most readers will know that Sunderland manager Steve Bruce played for Norwich City as a centre half, younger ones may not be fully aware of the impact he had at Carrow Road. He played in 180 matches between 1984 and 1987, scoring 21 goals. He won a League Cup medal in 1985, and the Division Two title in 1986. He captained the club on 74 occasions and will always be remembered for his late League Cup semi final winner against Ipswich. He later had the reputation of being a fine penalty taker - though none of his goals for City were from the spot. He is the only Sunderland manager in history to have played for the Canaries.

Another former Canary on the staff at Sunderland is Keith Bertschin, who is a coach. He was at Carrow Road at the same time as Steve Bruce but their careers overlapped by only a few months before striker Bertschin left for Stoke City.

Should he play against Sunderland, Andrew Crofts will be making his 50th appearance for Norwich City. He made his competitive debut as recently as the 6th of August 2010, and so has raced through to his first landmark. All but one of his 49 matches so far have been as a starter, and all have been in the Football League - he has yet to appear in a cup match for the Canaries.

Update :  Andrew Crofts came on to the field of play as an 84th minute substitute for Elliott Bennett, thereby securing his 50th appearance for City.
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Canary Fact File

Not counting badges and logos, five colours have appeared in the Norwich City first team home strip throughout history : yellow, green, blue, white and black

The referee for the 1973 League Cup Final against Spurs was David Smith of Gloucester

When Norwich played Birmingham City in the Division One play off final at the Millennium Stadium in 2002, the attendance was 71,597

In 2004-05, Arturo Lupoli scored 27 goals in 32 appearances for the Arsenal reserve and youth teams

When Jason Jarrett signed for City in 2005, he was re-united with Nigel Worthington who had been his manager at Blackpool at the end of the nineties

To have purchased a copy of the Pink 'Un in the early fifties, you would have needed 2d. in your pocket

Norwich City 'A'

Some readers will be of an age that they will remember the days when the Canaries had a third team. They were called Norwich City 'A' and competed in the Eastern Counties League. It was always one of my first jobs on a Saturday evening to check out the Pink 'Un to see how they had got on that afternoon. In the late sixties/early seventies it meant a lot to me. Even then I had real desire to see any Norwich City team doing well and used to get a bit mardy if they lost. I also loved following all of the local sides, which included another Norwich team, Gothic FC, whose home ground was at Heartsease Lane, and I used to watch many of the best players when they performed again the next morning in the Norwich Sunday League.

It was great back in those days because all three City teams kicked off at the same time. If the first team were away, you sometimes had a choice........the Reserves at Carrow Road in the Football Combination, or the 'A' team at Trowse. In fairness, the third team were never in the running to win any trophies. The side was made up of young apprentices and trialists and found themselves up against the very best semi-professional and amateur players in the region. Another problem they faced each week was so many changes to the line-up - and occasionally it even included the odd first teamer returning to action after a long lay off. At this time, sides were only allowed a single substitute on the bench which meant 'squad' players turned out regularly for the Reserves and a few found themselves on third team duty as well.

The set-up did however produce some home grown talent. Players such as Trevor Howard, Clive Payne and Greg Downs came up from the 'A' team ranks. It was the fore-runner to more organised youth football, though still a far cry away from the splendid facilities that prevail today.

Norwich City 'A' first joined the Eastern Counties League (which was formed in 1935-36 and is today known as the Ridgeons League) in 1948-49. For the two previous campaigns, the first in which football was played after World War Two, City had entered a Reserves team into the league. But in 1948-49 the second team moved up into the Football Combination and the third string took their place. Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, Arsenal, West Ham and Ipswich also joined with their 'A' teams that year which gave exciting new competition for the likes of King's Lynn, Great Yarmouth Town, Gorleston and Lowestoft Town. Former left back Maurice Tobin was one of the early men in charge of the team and it formed a vital part of the Carrow Road recovery from war.

Membership continued until the end of the 1957-58 season when the Canaries withdrew from the league, but they re-joined again for the 1963-64 campaign. Eleven more years of existence followed for the 'A' team but they finally ceased when Norwich entered a youth team in to the South East Counties League. At the end of the 1974-75 season, the Trowse ground was suffering from severe drainage problems and their final games had to be played away from home.

There are references to Norwich City having had an 'A' team at various times during the twenties and thirties. During the 1950's and 60's there was also a Norwich City 'B' and they played in the East Anglian League, which later helped form the Anglian Combination.
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They Wore The Shirt

........players who appeared in ten games or less for Norwich City Football Club


Charles Abbs - a centre forward from East Runton, he played just one game for City in the season before football was suspended due to World War One - it was on the 24th of October 1914 in a Southern League match against Millwall Athletic at the Nest, which the Canaries lost 3-1.

Gary Sargent - Bedfordshire born forward who appeared for just 30 minutes for Norwich City in the 0-0 draw against Fulham at Craven Cottage on the 28th of August 1971. He moved on to Scunthorpe United in the summer of 1972 and later played for Peterborough and Northampton.

Andrew Cave-Brown - young defender who first appeared for Norwich as a 90th minute substitute in the 2-1 FA Cup defeat against West Ham United on the 7th January 2006. In his only start, against Torquay United in the League Cup the following season, he was stretchered off after just 27 minutes with a serious ankle injury. Has since played for King's Lynn, Leyton Orient and currently, Lowestoft Town.
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Norwich City Signings By Manager - Paul Lambert

an attempt to record all Norwich City signings by the manager who brought them to the club

Daniel Ayala
Leon Barnett (loan to permanent)  Elliott Bennett  Ryan Bennett
Andrew Crofts
Ritchie De Laet (loan)
Rob Edwards (loan)  Stephen Elliott (loan)
Fraser Forster (loan)   David Fox
Jonny Howson
Simeon Jackson  Bradley Johnson  Oli Johnson
Henri Lansbury (loan)
Russell Martin (loan to permanent)  Anthony McNamee (loan to permanent)  Steve Morison
Kyle Naughton (loan)
Dani Pacheco (loan)  Anthony Pilkington
Michael Rose (loan)  John Ruddy
Steven Smith  Andrew Surman
Marc Tierney
James Vaughan  Sam Vokes (loan)
Elliott Ward  Zak Whitbread  Aaron Wilbraham

Total Players :  31

Paul  Lambert was in charge at Norwich City from 18th August 2009 to 1st June 2012

Youth players making the natural progression from the academy are not included. With Paul Lambert still being in office, any further signings during his reign will be added. Future articles will take us back through history until all players and managers have been covered.

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A Special Début - 1963

The calendar year of 1963 saw six men introduced into the Norwich City set up for the first time. One of them was goalkeeper Kevin Keelan, and he went on to play a massive 673 matches for the Canaries, a record. In fact, his final tally was more than that of the other five players put together. The other debutants that year were Ron Davies and Freddie Sharpe, who both went on to play 126 times for Norwich City, Mike Sutton (54), Ken Hill (50) and Ron Barnes (25).
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Debutants 1910

Here is a list of all players who made their first team débuts for Norwich City Football Club in 1910 :

Arthur Fielding    5 February 1910   v Exeter City  (Southern League)  (h) won 1-0
Billy Ingham    3 September 1910   v Bristol Rovers  (Southern League)  (a) won 1-0
Len Jobling    3 September 1910
Jock Mackenzie    3 September 1910
Tommy Makin    3 September 1910
Eddy Whiteside    3 September 1910
Fred Wilkinson    3 September 1910
Harold Levi    10 September 1910   v Millwall Athletic  (Southern League)  (h) drew 1-1 
Leslie Askew    1 October 1910   v Brentford  (Southern League)  (a) lost 2-0
John McCall    12 November 1910   v Plymouth Argyle  (Southern League)  (a) lost 1-0
Ralph Bibby    26 November 1910   v Southampton  (Southern League)  (a) lost 2-1
Russell Hemnell    17 December 1910   v Exeter City  (Southern League)  (a) lost 3-1
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Norwich City Signings By Manager - Chris Hughton

an attempt to record all Norwich City signings by the manager who brought them to the club

Sebastien Bassong, Mark Bunn, Jacob Butterfield, Luciano Becchio
Lee Camp (second spell)
Javier Garrido (loan)
Harry Kane (loan), Kei Kamara (loan)
Robert Snodgrass 
Alexander Tettey, Michael Turner
Steven Whittaker


Total Players :  12


Chris Hughton is the current Norwich City manager, having been appointed on 6th June 2012.



Youth players making the natural progression from the academy are not included. To compare Chris Hughton's history with the managers that preceded him, click on the 'Signings By Manager' label below.

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Quote Unquote

“It should never have been a football ground and I was glad to get away from the place – it was a wicked ground. At one end of the ground it just went straight up and to stop all the earth coming down on to the pitch they had a huge cement wall. It was five or six feet from the touchline so wingers had to be careful. Behind the other goal were the dressing rooms and a small stand and apart from that there was just a row of houses and the gardens were 15 to 20 feet below the level of the pitch. There was a big wire netting fence to stop the ball going in there. It was very dangerous.”

Former Norwich City defender Bernard Robinson talking to the Eastern Daily Press about the Nest, at the age of 90
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Stars Of The Past - Billy Coxon

William George 'Billy' Coxon was born in Derby on the 28th of April 1933. He was a small but quick left winger who had good acceleration, vision, and a hard shot, and he gave good service to Norwich City in the 1950's. As a young man he had played for Derby Boys before joining non league Ilkeston Town. He made his mark immediately, playing 40 games in their Central Alliance championship winning season of 1951-52 and scored the vital goal in the game that clinched the title. He also played in the FA Cup 1st Round match against Rochdale. The Ilkeston football website noted that Billy was 'obviously gifted (but) had terrible luck in front of goal, and his ability to hit the woodwork bordered on the supernatural'.

His undoubted talents were spotted by Canary scouts and the club paid a fee to bring him to Carrow Road in May 1952. He played his first senior team match on the 20th of December 1952 at the age of 19, and it took him just nineteen minutes to score his first City goal, in the 2-1 victory away to Aldershot in Division Three South. It was a good afternoon to make his debut as the Recreation Ground had a quiet crowd of just 4,871 - the lowest attendance Norwich would play in front of all season.

His game was built on pace, as well as neat and effective passing and he spent a lot of time honing these skills in the Reserve team. He made just five more senior appearances in that 1952-53 campaign, scoring one more goal, in the 3-0 home win over Torquay United in the April. The following two seasons saw just a handful of chances for Billy - in fact he did not play at all in 1954-55 for the first team. His breakthrough year with Norwich City came in 1955-56. He made 41 league and cup appearances with a tremendous return of 13 goals, replacing Martin Reagan in the side. He netted six times in as many matches in the autumn, including twice against Crystal Palace in a 3-1 win at home. It was a good season for the Canaries, finishing seventh in the table and entertaining the fans with a total of 86 goals.

In 1956-57 he was missing for part of the campaign, with Ray Kitchener coming onto the scene and sharing the left wing duties. Billy did not play until October onwards but still managed 26 appearances and five goals. Sadly for City however, they finished the year bottom of the table. In 1957-58 they bounced back to eighth, with Coxon playing 29 times. But by this time, Bobby Brennan had returned to Carrow Road after a year in non league football at Yarmouth Town, and he would go on to play a wider role on the left the following season. Billy Coxon appeared in the yellow shirt of Norwich for the final time on the 8th March 1958 in a 1-0 defeat away to Gillingham.

His final City record was 105 games in all competitions, scoring 26 times. His keen eye for goal continued to serve him well thereafter. He had a short eight month spell with Lincoln City immediately after leaving Norwich, and though he played just eleven times he still scored six goals. In November 1958 he moved down to the south coast, joining Bournemouth, who held the same divisional status as the Canaries at the time. It turned out to be a good decision by Billy, he saw out his professional playing days at Dean Court, eventually playing exactly 200 league games for the Cherries through to the summer of 1966, and scoring 37 goals.

He appeared for non league Poole Town for a short while and continued to live in the Bournemouth area after retirement, running a taxi firm and owning a guest house.
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John Ruddy - 50 Today ?

..............history isn't just about yesteryear, it's also happening right now, and is brought to you on a regular basis in The Canary Chronicles

It seems hardly credible that Norwich City have not won an away game in the Premier League since the 17th of December 1994, but sadly it is true. That millstone exists of course because we failed to get a single victory on our travels the last time we played in the competition in 2004-05. Of even greater surprise is that our last great away day all those years ago was at Selhurst Park, a ground we have rarely excelled at. For the record, Ashley Ward scored the only goal of the game against Crystal Palace. This non winning run is now 32 matches long.

In conceding a penalty in each of their first four games of this Premier League season, City have equalled a record set by Wimbledon in 1999-2000. Worryingly, they were relegated at the end of the campaign.

So 'that' record has finally gone. You know the one. The one nobody quite knew how to describe accurately........something about Paul Lambert not losing two matches in a row as Norwich manager. Defeats to Chelsea and West Brom finally put it to bed, after just over two years in charge.

And the proper description was - Paul Lambert had not lost two consecutive league matches in the same season since taking over as Norwich City manager.

John Ruddy's next appearance between the posts for Norwich City, which we assume will be at Bolton this afternoon, will be his 50th for the club in a competitive match.


Update : Norwich won 2-1 at Bolton, thereby breaking that negative away run. So Fulham's 33 match sequence without victory on their travels is not equalled. Alas, the Canaries unbelievably conceded another penalty - five in five - and therefore an entry into the record books. And yes John Ruddy played to make the 50 game landmark.

Just Thinking..........

Has there ever been a time in history when so many matches have been decided by players taking a soft dive ? Football is a contact sport. Referees should ignore those that fall to ground at the merest touch. And yes we do need technology. To identify the cheats, and give them a rest for a month or two via a suspension. There should be no place for swindlers in the beautiful game. Enough is enough.
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City Links - Norwich City Websites

There is a lot of fine Norwich City Football Club material on the internet and all free to be viewed. The problem is finding it in the first place. Sing Up The River End! will link you up with the best photographs and video clips on the world wide web ...............



There is a growing Norwich City internet community at the moment, and some of the material being posted onto web sites by owners and their readers is really quite exceptional. Following the recent game against West Bromwich Albion for instance, some very observant 'nail on the head' articles were produced within hours of the match ending. These amateur efforts (amateur in the sense that, as far as I know, the writers get no financial rewards for their efforts) are so good that by the time professional journalists get their work published, their really isn't much more to be said. It has led to an interesting world. I was of course brought up in the days when national and local papers were the only places from which scraps of NCFC news could be gleaned. The new stage of the internet has given fans the chance to get their work seen, and quickly, whilst it is still relevant.

Here is the low down (in alphabetical order) on Norwich City sites I follow regularly. They are all different - in content, layout, design, and writing style. But collectively they give splendid coverage of the club. Links to all can be found in the sidebar, and if you are not already familiar with them, they are well worth a visit :

Canary In The Coalmine is a relatively new site and is produced by a Norwich City fan in Australia. It is in some ways the site closest in style to Sing Up The River End! in that recent posts have all concentrated on nostalgia - the owner has converted an old collection of Betamax tapes and put the contents onto You Tube. There is plenty of rare footage on offer, and this makes the blog very interesting to all City fans. I am not sure how many more videos will follow, but I hope there is lots to come.

Carrowroad.net is a mixture of news, gossip and forum chat, and has been around for a long time. The man behind it, good old Gordo, gave me much encouragement when I first started SUTRE! so his site remains a favourite of mine. He has a small but faithful forum membership, and though I no longer personally contribute to chat there (or anywhere else for that matter), I know it is a place to go to check out the thoughts of mad keen Canary fans.

Some of the sharpest Norwich City writing can be found on Holtamania. The analysis of matches is first class, and on a slow news day you can always expect to find a bit of irreverence on the front page! Owner Matt Wallace does much of the work himself, but there have also been some great articles posted during the summer from City fans. Very much worth a visit.

Kick The Whistle is produced by Lee Payne, who is studying journalism, and again is very well written. Posts are appearing very regularly at the moment, and are topical and thought provoking. The 'One Game At A Time' series - which covers old Norwich City matches and includes short notes on what the featured players have done in football since - is a particularly interesting idea, and well delivered.

Unfortunately Let's Be 'Avin You is a blog that has not had any new material added since the end of last season. I have always liked this site - Girl In The City writes from the heart, the posts are often the very thoughts many Canary fans have had. There was never any attempt to be clever here - just genuine. I hope it returns, but at least the old content still remains on the net.

Little Norwich is another nice site that deals largely with current news and issues surrounding the club. It is easy to read, and very cohesive, and the design is good on the eye. Again, the fact that it is fan written means you are getting views that are pertinent and enjoyable.

The story telling skills of Nick Richards go way beyond the world of blogging, but he is another Norwich City fan who goes to a match, and returns home to produce compelling articles about the Canaries. You will find his thoughts on Nick Sports Junkie - the 'Ten Things We Now Know' post match report format is excellent and very accurate.

Off Of On Here grasps a few nettles that one or two others may choose to avoid. I always enjoy the experience of a visit here. The writer often shoots from the hip - on current topics and anything that he feels need dealing with. Some good opinions are on show here.

Sound Bites is totally different from the others - with only small references to NCFC. It is the work of Wunjot, a dedicated Canary fan exiled in Stirling, and weaves her favourite music into her life memories. A childhood in Norfolk features a lot, and football occasionally. Plenty of nostalgia here.

Another blog that started in the summer was Splendidrush. It has been a while since anything new was added and I hope it returns after a promising debut.

And last, but certainly not least, is Vital Norwich, a comprehensive site that has just about everything. If you want discussion they have a thriving forum, news is very regularly updated, and the articles they feature are always top class and thought provoking. One to add to your favourites.

It is not often that I am driven to write anything remotely current or topical. Putting aside the fact that I find parts of the modern game loathsome, I also know that I would struggle to bring anything new to the party. I am guessing many followers of Sing Up The River End! already know about the sites listed above and will agree that collectively they give fantastic internet coverage of our great club. In a typical week few stones are left unturned. And whilst they exist, I will keep well away from anything too fashionable. I know I would not compete.
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Carrow Road - 1968

By the time I started to get interested in association football in the mid sixties, Carrow Road had been the home of Norwich City Football Club for over thirty years. The standard of facilities at the ground were slowly but surely improved over that period, though always within affordable budgets, because at no time in history were the club ever considered to be rich. Prior to the start of the 1968-69 season, the stadium consisted of the following :



43 turnstiles
14 exit gates
11 bars
31 gents' toilets
22 ladies' toilets
invalid facilities for 30 people
car park for 200 cars
2 half time scoreboards

The capacity at Carrow Road in those days was 48,000 though police did apply a limit of 42,000 for all ticket games. Though attendances never actually reached those heady heights, the club were still confident that the ground could be cleared of spectators in about twelve minutes.

Perhaps the most telling difference with the modern day is the fact that there were only 4,860 seats available, and only three quarters of the ground was covered - the River End was of course, roofless.
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Lost Opponents : Mansfield Town

Norwich City's history against clubs no longer in the Football League or no longer in existence

Mansfield Town are another side that fall into the category of ' lost opponents ' by virtue of the fact that they are currently outside of the Football League and cannot even meet the Canaries in cup competition.

Meetings between the clubs stretch to just ten matches in history and that figure would have been less had Mansfield not swapped between the North and South divisions more than once in the days when the third level of English football was regionalised. Being situated at the very top of the Midlands, it was sometimes a question of juggling teams to balance the two divisions and Mansfield were sometimes asked to swap. However initially, their inclusion in Division Three South came about because that was the only way they could get entry to the Football League. They joined in the 1931-32 season, and Norwich City were only the second team they played. Having beaten Swindon Town 3-2 at home in their first ever league fixture, they travelled to the Nest two days later on an August Bank Holiday afternoon. The match ended in a 1-1 draw, with captain and centre half Tom Williamson scoring for Norwich in the first half before Mansfield equalised after the break.

The return fixture was on the last day of the season and the Stags won 5-2 at Field Mill. Mansfield had raced into a 3-0 half time lead - a good performance considering they finished third from bottom whilst Norwich were comfortable mid table. For the following season however, Mansfield switched to the northern section and would not come into contact with City again until the first season after World War Two when they spent another solitary campaign in the south. The Canaries were back down to the third level themselves after a spell in Division Two. That 1946-47 season saw Norwich win 3-1 at Carrow Road with goals from Len Dutton (2) and Les Eyre. The return fixture in Nottinghamshire ended 4-4, Les Eyre again scoring and Harold Joy getting a hat-trick. The clubs finished in the bottom two of the table, Norwich one better than their rivals though only on goal average. Then it was back to the north for Mansfield for the following season.

The final four league fixtures all took place during the calendar year of 1959 - two campaigns of course, now in the newly formed Third Division. Both clubs had qualified due to respectable finishes in the last year of regionalisation. This mini series resulted in two wins for Norwich, one for Mansfield and a draw. The final match was part of a Christmas double-header - Mansfield won 3-2 at home on Boxing Day and two days later Norwich gained revenge with a 5-1 walloping at Carrow Road with Terry Allcock, Jimmy Hill, Errol Crossan (2) and Barry Butler scoring. Norwich ended the season in second place and returned to Division Two whilst Mansfield were relegated to Division Four. The clubs would never meet again in the Football League.

Two minor cup matches took place in the late seventies/early eighties - a 1-1 draw was played out at Carrow Road in the 1978 Anglo Scottish Cup, and four years later the teams met at Field Mill in the Football League Trophy (the equivalent of today's Johnstone's Paint Trophy) with the Canaries winning 3-1.

In total, Mansfield Town held membership of the Football League for seventy seven years, from 1931 to 2008. They were founded slightly before Norwich, in 1897, and like so many clubs in that era were formed by a church. They were originally known as Mansfield Weslyans and played in chocolate and blue shirts. When they turned professional in 1906-07 they offended the church and for a short time were re-named Mansfield Wesley. However, due to fierce local rivalry with another club called Mansfield Mechanics, in 1910 the decision was made to adopt the name Mansfield Town in order to establish their seniority.

In 1921 they moved into the Mechanics' ground at Field Mill and as members of the Midlands League were annual applicants to get into the Football League from the mid twenties onwards. Success came only when they switched tactics and applied to get into the southern section of Division Three. They replaced Newport County who had finished second from bottom of the league in 1930-31. Terrifyingly, the only side below them were Norwich City, though it was the Welsh club who failed to secure enough votes for re-election.

Mansfield spent all of their time in the third and fourth levels apart from a single campaign, in 1977-78, in Division Two. The nineties, and then again this century was largely in the bottom tier, and the Stags finally lost their place in the Football League after the 2007-2008 season. Recent years have been riddled with financial uncertainty though the club have managed to re-gain some degree of respectability on the field - playing in the Conference.


Update :  In the 2012-13 season, Mansfield Town won the Football Conference to gain entry back into the Football League. They therefore can no longer be considered 'lost opponents' to Norwich City, as the clubs could be drawn together in the League Cup.


pictured : Mansfield Town playing colours during the period they first met Norwich City in the Football League (copyright Historical Football Kits - not to be reproduced without permission of the owners).
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Life After City

...........keeping a beady eye on ex Canaries and those out on loan

Norwich have loaned out Tom Adeyemi once more, this time to League One Oldham Athletic in an initial five month deal. Young Tom spent last season with Bradford City in League Two, featuring in 37 matches in all competitions, and has already appeared in two matches this term for his new club as his footballing education continues. Our other player out on loan, goalkeeper Jed Steer, is at long last getting regular football. League One Yeovil Town have given him eight games already this season. He has kept one clean sheet so far.

The final days of the transfer window saw some frantic activity involving some old Canaries. Headlining was Peter Crouch who secured a move to Stoke City. The fee was reported as £10 million, and the thirty year old is said to have signed a four year deal. Dani Pacheco has returned home to Spain from Liverpool after much speculation about a further loan spell in England. He has joined Atletico Madrid, again on loan, though his new club have the option of purchase at the end of the season. But he has already been loaned out again, to La Liga side Rayo Vallecano who are also based in Madrid. Henri Lansbury has returned to the Championship, to West Ham on a season long loan from Arsenal, who hinted all summer that he was going to be given a first team chance. Joining him in East London is David Bentley, on another loan deal, this time from Spurs. In contrast, Craig Bellamy goes back up a division, with a plum move to Liverpool after spending a loan season at Cardiff City last term. Fraser Forster has returned to Celtic for another loan period from Newcastle United. 

Jens Berthel Askou, who was released by Norwich City in the summer has joined VB Kolding in his native Denmark. His new club are just that.............a new club, having only been formed in the summer following the merger of Vejle Boldklub and Kolding FC. They will play in the second tier of Danish football.

In the goals already this season.............Ryan Jarvis has hit the net three times in nine appearances for his new club Walsall. Robert Earnshaw can boast three in six games on his return to Cardiff City. At the other end of the range, Jamie Cureton has failed to score after eight appearances for Leyton Orient, following his summer switch from Exeter City.

Following news last time that former loan striker Alan Gow had switched to Kingfisher East Bengal FC, I now note that our 1980's midfielder John Devine also had a one year spell with the Indian club.

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Final League Placings 1929-1930

Football League 1929-1930
Division Three South







Plymouth Argyle  68
Brentford  61
QPR  51
Northampton  50
Brighton  50
Coventry City  47
Fulham  47
Norwich City  46
Crystal Palace  46
Bournemouth  43
Southend United  43
Clapton Orient  41
Luton Town  40
Swindon Town  38
Watford  38
Exeter City  35
Walsall  34
Newport County  34
Torquay United  31
Bristol Rovers  30
Gillingham  30
Merthyr Town  21


Full City Record :  P42 W18 D10 L14 F88 A77 PTS 46     Manager : James Kerr


Sheffield Wednesday were English champions
Arsenal won the FA Cup


In This Year :  Comedian Ronnie Barker is born

Wall Street crashes

Amy Johnson becomes the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia


Final league placings will be posted on a regular basis until every table is listed - click on the label below for years posted so far.

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Debutants 1909

Here is a list of all players who made their first team débuts for Norwich City Football Club in 1909 :


Ernest Hunt    21 January 1909 v Walsall  (United League)  (h) drew 3-3
Arthur Brooks    4 February 1909 v Peterborough City  (United League)  (h) lost 4-2
George Sims    4 February 1909 
Sam Bacon    15 March 1909 v Rotherham Town  (United League)  (a) lost 6-1
Hugh McQueen    15 March 1909
Horace Chambers    1 April 1909 v Coventry City  (United League)  (h) won 3-1
Percy Barnfather    1 September 1909 v Luton Town  (Southern League)  (a) drew 1-1
Billy Hampson    1 September 1909
Archie Hubbard    1 September 1909
Sam Wolstenholme    1 September 1909
George Cooch    9 September 1909 v Luton Town  (Southern League)  (h) won 6-0
John William Chick    25 September 1909 v Exeter City  (Southern League)  (a) drew 2-2
Fred Riddell    13 October 1909 v Crystal Palace  (Southern League)  (a) lost 4-0
Bill Rayner    1 December 1909 v Brighton  (Southern League)  (a) lost 5-0
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Crewe Alexandra 1 Norwich City 3 - 2004

Unfortunately in football, fans do not always get the chance to say farewell to their heroes. Players move on in all kinds of circumstances of course, and often transfer dealings are either concluded during the summer months or hurried through in the window. Stars depart with a few well worded statements in the media. This game, played on the 9th of May 2004, brought the curtain down on not only a very successful Norwich City season, but also the career of one of the supporters' modern day favourites.

Promotion to the Premier League had been secured at Watford as far back as April 24th, and five days before this trip to Cheshire, the title had also been bagged, following West Bromwich Albion's heavy defeat at Stoke City. But just days before the Crewe match, City announced that the contract of Iwan Roberts would not be renewed. It was a brave decision, for Roberts had seven years of huge Canary commitment to his name - and the little matter of 95 club goals also to his credit, a tally placing him in third position in the all time Norwich City scoring charts. Fans had mixed feelings about the situation. Loved for his robust style, few would argue that the odds were against Iwan, now in his mid thirties, getting regular football in the top flight. But many would have loved seeing him given just one more campaign.

It wasn't to be, but at least the travelling City supporters got the chance to pay their respects. Packed into two stands at Gresty Road, they were treated to another comfortable win - and a brace of goals from their departing hero. Crewe themselves played their part in the festivities - not least by lining up and clapping their champion opponents on to the field at the start of the match. Both sides had chances to score first but it was the Canaries who took the lead on 28 minutes when centre back Craig Fleming headed home a terrific Phil Mulryne cross with aplomb. His full length diving celebration was worth the ticket cost alone. And just three minutes later, Iwan Roberts got in on the act with a cracking shot into the top corner of the net from inside the box. Goal number 96 was special for many reasons.

In the first minute of the second half, Crewe striker Dean Ashton, who would later join Norwich of course to fill the huge void created by Roberts' departure, had a goal ruled out for offside. Though Nigel Worthington's side were largely in cruise control, there was always the fear that plucky Crewe could haul themselves back into the match. And they eventually did, with just under ten minutes left. Ashton tried his luck with a long range shot, which Robert Green, the City keeper, made a hash of collecting before bizarrely knocking the ball into his own net. City fans knew the closing minutes would be difficult - though not tense, for all the winning that mattered had been capably achieved in the preceding weeks.

But how nice it would be to go out on a winning note. And how much nicer if we could see just one final flourish from the talismanic Iwan Roberts. He duly obliged. With just two minutes left on the clock, the referee awarded Norwich a penalty. The big man stepped up. And missed. Thankfully, the goalkeeper had moved too early, and second time around Roberts made no mistake. Goal number 97, over and out. A hero acknowledged, in the most fitting way possible.

Norwich Team : Robert Green, Adam Drury, Marc Edworthy, Craig Fleming, Malky Mackay, Phil Mulryne, Damien Francis (Ian Henderson), Gary Holt, Darren Huckerby (Kevin Cooper), Matt Svensson (Leon McKenzie), Iwan Roberts
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First & Last - Sandy Kennon

First game :  4th March 1959 versus Sheffield United home FA Cup 3-2 win

Last game :  4th November 1964 versus Workington away League Cup 3-0 defeat





Signed from :  Huddersfield Town
Next club :  Colchester United
Played professionally :  until 1967 (then non league until 1970)
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League Cup - Norwich City Record 1990-1999

1990-91
26 Sep 1990  2nd Round 1st Leg  (h)  Watford won 2-0
9 Oct 1990  2nd Round 2nd Leg  (a)  Watford won 3-0
30 Oct 1990  3rd Round  (a)  Middlesbrough lost 2-0

1991-92
25 Sep 1991  2nd Round 1st Leg  (a)  Charlton Athletic won 2-0
9 Oct 1991  2nd Round 2nd Leg  (h)  Charlton Athletic won 3-0
30 Oct 1991  3rd Round  (h)  Brentford won 4-1
4 Dec 1991  4th Round  (h)  West Ham United won 2-1
8 Jan 1992  5th Round  (a)  Tottenham Hotspur lost 2-1

1992-93
22 Sep 1992  2nd Round 1st Leg  (a)  Carlisle United drew 2-2
7 Oct 1992  2nd Round 2nd Leg  (h)  Carlisle United won 2-0
28 Oct 1992  3rd Round  (a)  Blackburn Rovers lost 2-0

1993-94
22 Sep 1993  2nd Round 1st Leg  (a)  Bradford City lost 2-1
6 Oct 1993  2nd Round 2nd Leg  (h)  Bradford City won 3-0
26 Oct 1993  3rd Round  (a)  Arsenal drew 1-1
10 Nov 1993  Replay  (h) Arsenal lost 3-0

1994-95
21 Sep 1994  2nd Round 1st Leg  (h)  Swansea City won 3-0
4 Oct 1994  2nd Round 2nd Leg  (a)  Swansea City lost 1-0
26 Oct 1994  3rd Round  (a)  Tranmere Rovers drew 1-1
9 Nov 1994  Replay  (h)  Tranmere Rovers won 4-2
30 Nov 1994  4th Round  (h)  Notts County won 1-0
11 Jan 1995  5th Round  (a)  Bolton Wanderers lost 1-0

1995-96
20 Sep 1995  2nd Round 1st Leg  (h)  Torquay United won 6-1
4 Oct 1995  2nd Round 2nd Leg  (a)  Torquay United won 3-2
25 Oct 1995  3rd Round  (h)  Bradford City drew 0-0
7 Nov 1995  Replay  (a)  Bradford City won 5-3 *
29 Nov 1995  4th Round  (h)  Bolton Wanderers drew 0-0
20 Dec 1995  Replay  (a)  Bolton Wanderers drew 0-0 **
10 Jan 1996  5th Round  (h)  Birmingham City drew 1-1
24 Jan 1996  Replay  (a)  Birmingham City lost 2-1

1996-97
20 Aug 1996  1st Round 1st Leg  (a)  Oxford United drew 1-1
4 Sep 1996  1st Round 2nd Leg  (h)  Oxford United lost 3-2 *

1997-98
12 Aug 1997  1st Round 1st Leg  (h)  Barnet won 2-1
26 Aug 1997  1st Round 2nd Leg  (a)  Barnet lost 3-1

1998-99
11 Aug 1998  1st Round 1st Leg  (a)  Swansea City drew 1-1
18 Aug 1998  1st Round 2nd Leg  (h)  Swansea City won 1-0 *
16 Sep 1998  2nd Round 1st Leg  (h)  Wigan Athletic won 1-0
22 Sep 1998  2nd Round 2nd Leg  (a)  Wigan Athletic won 3-2
27 Oct 1998  3rd Round  (h)  Bolton Wanderers drew 1-1 ***

1999-00
10 Aug 1999  1st Round 1st Leg  (h)  Cheltenham Town won 2-0
24 Aug 1999  1st Round 2nd Leg  (a)  Cheltenham Town lost 2-1 *
14 Sep 1999  2nd Round 1st Leg  (h)  Fulham lost 4-0
21 Sep 1999  2nd Round 2nd Leg  (a)  Fulham lost 2-0

* after extra time
** won 5-3 on penalties
*** lost 3-1 on penalties

  

Family Connections

Canaries who have family connections elsewhere in the world of football

Chris Sutton - scorer of 35 Norwich City league goals between 1991 and 1994, before a £5million move to Blackburn Rovers

is the son of

Mike Sutton - who appeared in fifty four games as a utility player for the Canaries between 1963 and 1966

and the brother of

John Sutton - who started out as a trainee at Tottenham Hotspur and has played professionally since 2002, notably with Raith Rovers, St Mirren and Motherwell

Football History Links No3

Sing Up The River End! is well established with NCFC facts, figures, and trivia, and now we also bring you more general football history information from all eras. In an occasional series we will select the best links, news stories, sites and videos available on the net for those readers whose interest in the past times of football goes, occasionally, beyond the yellow and green

This short clip brings back lots of football memories from when I was a child. It comes from October 1970, Coventry City v Everton in a Division One match, and I remember the way the incident very quickly became the talk of the playground and how everyone tried to imitate Willie Carr's donkey kick. You will need to watch the video through to the part where the goal is replayed - the Match of the Day cameraman on the day managed to miss Carr's ingenuity completely. And should you be left wondering why modern day footballers have not tried to copy the skill, the answer is simple......the FA later outlawed the move. Why exactly I am not sure. I would love to see the overpaid stars of today getting it hopelessly wrong. I certainly know that me and my mates practiced it endlessly down in Sloughbottom Park, eventually getting it right. The goal provided a talking point for quite a while, and has remained part of my own personal football memory collection ever since.

This link will take you to the excellent Spartacus Educational site, one of the very best for football history information, and specifically the section dedicated to cigarette cards  http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Fcigarette.htm

These little pieces of cardboard provide in many cases the only images available of a whole host of players and date to times before newspapers or programmes came with photographs. The whole subject of collecting cigarette cards is an interesting one as it was popular during an age when health issues associated with smoking were very much hidden away. Consumers attached themselves to a brand dependent on what particular series of card was available at the time..............ships, flags, motors, cricketers, animals............ the list was endless. But as I say, the legacy is the fact that we have a few treasured images of old players who otherwise would only be known today through the written word. Cleverly, the cigarette companies did not limit themselves to the international stars. It was common for a number of players from the lower divisions to be covered, thereby sustaining interest in all parts of the country from Carlisle to Plymouth. Some series are better than others - early drawings and caricatures soon progressed into photographs for instance. But still today, cigarette cards (some of which are almost permanently available on e bay at affordable prices) help enormously in bringing football history to life.

The Stockport County v Leicester City match on the 7th of May 1921 is believed to have been seen by just 13 entrance paying people. Manchester United and Derby County had contested a game on the same pitch immediately beforehand, and only a handful of new watchers turned up for the second match.
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