I have made reference on a few occasions to Norwich City raiding AFC Bournemouth for players back in the seventies. The time has come to add a bit more detail to those events, together with something of a timeline. And whilst these activities all stemmed from the appointment of John Bond as manager of the Canaries, the story actually goes a lot deeper than one of a new boss returning to his old club to plunder the most sought after treasures. He did not stop at players - he also filled his backroom with other Bournemouth old boys (Ken Brown, John Sainty, Fred Davies). He chased, and caught, former Cherries who had played for him at Dean Court and had moved away to other teams. This policy was not restricted to a short spell of time either, as many fans may well wrongly remember. It did in fact carry on for a number of years.
The trade between the two clubs was as busy as the old silk or tea routes from days gone by, and was in fact a two way trek - a number of Canaries found themselves moving south to Bournemouth, who, not surprisingly, found themselves a little short on numbers. It was also a way for Norwich to appease the FA, who had shown concern over what was happening to Bournemouth, and had issued a warning over the number of players City had signed. And just to show that Bond was no one trick pony in his transfer dealings, I hope to explain that he did also look elsewhere for the players who would ultimately have a great say in establishing the Canaries in the top flight of English football. But if they were not associated with Bournemouth, they more likely than not had connections with West Ham United - a club Bond had played over 400 games for.
It is probable that no Norwich City manager in history ever wore his heart on his sleeve as much as John Bond did. He was an extrovert, highly charged and excitable, who always built his teams up to believe they could win at any odds. And of course this was a prime reason why he went after players he knew and could trust. Players that had lived with his dressing room style before. At Bournemouth, where he had been appointed manager in
May 1970, Bond had worked wonders both on and off the field. He won them promotion from Division Four at the first attempt. And behind the scenes he had led a revolution at Dean Court. The club was rebranded AFC Bournemouth, moving away from their traditional Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic Football Club title (though that remains their official name to this day). Perhaps more tangible was the colour change to red and black - a copy of AC Milan, a team Bond wanted his charges to play like. His move to Norwich, then a Division One side, was the typical story of an eye catching manager getting a chance to prove himself in the big time. He was appointed on the
27th of November 1973 and wasted no time renewing an old friendship.
7th December 1973 - signs his old Bournemouth goalscoring machine Ted MacDougall from West Ham United for £140,000. Potentially risky as MacDougall had not had the best of times away from Bond - at Upton Park, and earlier in a spell at Old Trafford. 66 Canary goals in 138 games suggest Bond knew best.
11th/12th December 1973 - a busy couple of days between Norfolk and Dorset as Bond raids Dean Court for John Benson, Mel Machin and coach Fred Davies. In return, City stalwart and local boy Clive Payne makes his way to the Cherries. Benson and Machin both went on to serve the Canaries in managerial positions after they retired from playing.
6th February 1974 - with Norwich embroiled in relegation worries, Bond plays a master stroke by capturing MacDougall's old strike partner Phil Boyer. The pair had also been prolific at York City earlier in their careers and after much arguing, Bournemouth let him go for £145,000. Boyer went on to be the first Canary to win a full England cap.
17th June 1974 - Bond signs his own son, Kevin, as an apprentice, from.......yes, Bournemouth. Despite the stigma of playing for his own father, he was a determined defender whose 161 Norwich City appearances go some way to show he was a worthy Canary.
16th August 1974 - as City start the long hard task of re-gaining top flight status after relegation, Bournemouth midfielder/defender Tony Powell is the next to be pinched. He turns out to be a very dependable centre half, one of the best to play for Norwich. And another local lad, Trevor Howard goes in the other direction, having played for City as man and boy since 1968.
26th September 1975 - back in Division One, and David Jones is recruited from Nottingham Forest - forming a notable partnership with Powell, or at least renewing it from their days together at Bournemouth
1974-1975-1976 - more movement between the two clubs at various times. Harry Redknapp has a loan spell at Carrow Road, playing for the Reserves, and would probably have joined the Bournemouth Old Boys Brigade had injury not intervened. John Benson returns to the Cherries as player manager. Full back Geoff Butler leaves Carrow Road for Bournemouth, and Steve Grapes, Doug Livermore, and Billy Steele all have loan spells on the south coast.
11th February 1977 - with MacDougall and Boyer gone, it's time for a new generation of goalscorers to move in, and Bond wants Bournemouth's young hot shot Kevin Reeves. He gets him too - a snip at £50,000 and the lad goes on to be - 42 goals later - City's first million pound sale.
8th July 1977 - another good young prospect heads east - England youth international Mark Nightingale is signed from Crystal Palace. He had learnt his trade at Dean Court.
Thereafter, the route did not entirely dry up - Roger Brown was signed from Bournemouth in 1979 and even as late as 1983, old favourite Jimmy Neighbour had a loan spell with the Cherries from West Ham United. Which moves us on nicely to John Bond's other nursery club. The Hammers had already provided his first Norwich signing in MacDougall. Part of that negotiation saw Graham Paddon move to East London - though Bond later (in 1976) bought him back. He also found himself endeared to other former West Ham players, the most significant amongst them of course being Martin Peters in
March 1975, signed for what now looks like a ridiculous fee of £50,000. Keith Robson, another determined individual, came from Cardiff, having also earlier been a Hammer. In the second week of
August 1979 City made a double swoop for two experienced West Ham players, striker Alan Taylor and full back John McDowell. And John Sissons signed in
December 1973 from Sheffield Wednesday, and had earlier played with Bond at Upton Park back in the sixties.
The seventies were a special time in the history of Norwich City Football Club, the John Bond era laid down a marker for the way we wanted to play the game. It was a period of great entertainment, but where would we have been without those old Cherries and Hammers ?
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