Last summer, a few weeks after Norwich City’s entirely avoidable relegation from the Premier League, the World Cup got under way in Brazil. Of course, I watched it. To bridge the gap between Norwich losing 2-0 to Arsenal and that Brazil v Croatia match, I watched the two friendlies England played in the USA against Ecuador and Honduras – the second game was so uneventful that I remember it mostly for the referee taking the players off the field for a while because of lightning.
England’s friendly with Honduras in Miami last summer was halted by lightning.
The football thirst was not quenched after 64 games in 32 days. I went hunting for more, and found Newcastle playing in the ‘Schalke 04 Cup’ on a Freeview channel so obscure I can’t remember the name of it. At last, the second weekend in August saw the competitive action kick off once again and the waiting was over.
By January, though, I think I was getting a little fatigued. The Premier League was as dull as it had been for a long time – it had been obvious since October that Chelsea were going to win the title, it was just a case of when, and no matter how hard Sky Sports tried to convince us that they were, Manchester City were never really in it. This was a problem, as I find Chelsea difficult to like, as they played less like a fluid example of the beautiful game at its best and more like a machine focussed on winning and winning alone. There was no entertainment. The ‘race for the top 4’ featured only Manchester United and Liverpool, and even that wasn’t a close race. I have so little interest in the Europa League that I did not give two hoots about who qualified for that. At the bottom, Burnley were obviously a hard working side without the quality required to stay up, QPR were the circus that they usually are, and Hull’s final day survival task looked a long shot from the start. The only real excitement was the remarkable recovery of Leicester City, who spent 140 days rock bottom of the league only to finish pretty comfortably safe.
There’s no real reason for this picture to be here other than I never want to stop looking at it.
I was still more than interested in Norwich, of course, especially as in January things changed with Alex Neil becoming manager. I’ve written plenty about the great season we’ve had, culminating in promotion through the play-offs. You can relive it with my season review, which is in twoparts.
With all this in mind, I took the decision to have a proper break from football this summer. I wouldn’t watch any live action between the Champions League final and the start of the new league season in August. That means no internationals, no Women’s World Cup, no friendlies and no Nathan Redmond in the Euro Under 21s. I’m doing this so I can feel properly refreshed for next season, and I’ve made it to 4 days so far – surely the next 60 or so will be a breeze?
This is the second part of my review of Norwich City’s 2014-15 season. If you haven’t seen the first part yet, here it is. I hope you enjoy looking back on an amazing season. This part starts with the appointment of a little known Scotsman…
Alex Neil left Hamilton Academical to become Norwich City’s new manager in January
9th January 2015 – Hello Neil (again)
A few names were linked with Norwich City as the club decided who would replace Neil Adams. I can remember thinking that Nigel Adkins or Uwe Rosler would be sound appointments. In the end it was Alex Neil. Few south of the border had heard of the 33-year-old, but he had been making a name for himself in Scotland where he had been player-manager of Hamilton Academical. Neil had guided Accies to the Scottish Premiership the season before, and when he left to start work at Carrow Road they were third in the table, having already beaten Celtic at Parkhead. It was the sort of left-field appointment that might be expected of chief executive David McNally, who had pulled off something similar with Paul Lambert. But could this young, inexperienced Glaswegian really be the man to arrest Norwich’s slump?
10th January 2015 – Bournemouth 1-2 Norwich
Alex Neil was sat in the stands for this match, with Mike Phelan and Gary Holt taking caretaker charge for one week only. Matt Ritchie put the league leaders in front, but Gary Hooper equalised just before half time. Jonny Howson was harshly sent off for a tackle not long after the hour mark, at which point the new Norwich manager appeared in his suit on the touchline and started barking orders at his players. Cameron Jerome’s great goal ten minutes from time sentenced eventual champions Bournemouth to a rare home defeat and a stirring start to life under Alex Neil for Norwich City.
24th January 2015 – City blow their chances of a play-off place
Victory against Brentford would put Norwich back in the top six, but they blew it as Jota and an Alex Pritchard penalty gave the West London side the points. It was the first defeat for City under Alex Neil. They would go on a seven match unbeaten run afterwards.
Norwich’s magnificent February
The Canaries moved back into the promotion picture with a perfect February. Victories over Blackpool, Charlton, Wolves, Watford and Blackburn suddenly put Norwich in touch of the automatic promotion places again. It is worth pointing out that they beat Watford for a second time this season, again 3-0, and that the 2-1 win at Blackburn was secured with an 84th minute winner from Bradley Johnson after City had been behind for a long while.
1st March 2015 – Norwich 2-0 Ipswich
Norwich were in red hot form going into the second East Anglian derby of the season, and it showed. A thumping goal from Bradley Johnson sent Carrow Road wild, and a scrappy second off the heels of Lewis Grabban made it a double over the old enemy and a fourth derby win in a row.
Bradley Johnson celebrates after his fantastic strike against Ipswich sent Norwich on their way to doing the double over the old enemy
4th March 2015 – Norwich 0-1 Wigan
It was very much after the Lord Mayor’s show for City as they were beaten by Wigan three days after the derby triumph. An early goal from Kim Bo-kyung was enough for the Latics, managed by former Norwich defender Malky Mackay. It was a game City didn’t get going in and was another missed opportunity, as a win would have put them top of the table. Wigan would go on to be relegated to League One, having sacked Mackay and replaced him with club captain Gary Caldwell.
17th April 2015 – Norwich 0-1 Middlesbrough
Norwich’s hopes of an automatic promotion place were all but ended on a cruel Friday night against Middlesbrough. Alex Tettey flicked an early Boro corner into his own net, and the disgusting timewasting that followed was a low point of what had been a fantastic Championship season overall. The referee stopped the game more than once for Patrick Bamford’s minor injury, and the almost comical sudden collapse of goalkeeper Dimi Konstantopolous capped a disastrous night for Alex Neil’s team.
2nd May 2015 – It’s the play-offs, and guess who we are playing…
With Bournemouth and Watford promoted automatically, and a play-off place secure for Norwich, issues were being dealt with elsewhere as the Canaries finished the regular season with a 4-2 win over Fulham and a first victory over the Cottagers since 1986. Derby County incredibly collapsed from automatic promotion favourites to missing out on the play-offs altogether after losing 3-0 at home to Reading, and it was Brentford who took a play-off place at their expense by beating Wigan by the same scoreline. City’s rivals Ipswich lost 3-2 at Blackburn but managed to hold on to 6th place, meaning the play-off semi-finals would see two more East Anglian derbies as well as the tie between Middlesbrough and Brentford.
Nathan Redmond scored as Norwich won the play-off semi-final against Ipswich to make the final at Wembley
16th May 2015 – Norwich 3-1 Ipswich
After a 1-1 draw at Portman Road, it was winner-takes-all in the second leg at Carrow Road. After a nervy first half, Wes Hoolahan played in Nathan Redmond, who had his shot blocked on the goal line by the arm of Ipswich defender Christophe Berra. Berra was shown a straight red card, Hoolahan buried the penalty and Norwich were in front. Ipswich responded well and capitalised on some poor defending from a free kick to equalise just ten minutes later through Tommy Smith, but Nathan Redmond and Cameron Jerome put City ahead again and on their way to Wembley.
Middlesbrough overcame Brentford 5-1 on aggregate, following up a late 2-1 win at Griffin Park with a resounding 3-0 success at the Riverside to set up a fascinating play-off final.
25th May 2015 – The perfect day
The days after the semi-final win over Ipswich saw City fans make a mad scramble for tickets for the club’s first appearance at Wembley since 1985. On the day, 40,000 headed to London by car, coach and train to create an amazing atmosphere at the national stadium. Those 40,000 could not have wished for a better start when Cameron Jerome stole the ball from Middlesbrough defender Daniel Ayala and slotted past Konstantopolous at his near post to give Norwich a 12th minute lead. Nathan Redmond finished off a brilliant passing move with an arrowed shot three minutes later and the Canaries had one foot in the Premier League. Alex Neil had said before the game how important it was to start well, after what had happened in the defeat to Boro a little more than a month previously. City saw the game out with little worry to spark jubilant celebrations at the final whistle. Norwich City, after an incredible ride, were back in the top flight at the first attempt.
Norwich’s aim when the season began was to make an instant return to the Premier League. It’s a difficult task. We were going to have to do a lot of hard work. But we did it, and we have the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea to look forward to playing again. What a roller-coaster ride it was, with all the late goals and defining moments. I can’t wait to go through it all again.
We did it! It was an amazing day at Wembley yesterday and it capped off a thrilling season for Norwich City – full of ups and downs – but we can celebrate because we have achieved our aim and we are Premier League once more. I have never been prouder of my club and my fellow supporters.
My article about wearing my dad’s old City shirt to Wembley got a lovely response. Thanks to everyone who read it. I didn’t write it looking for pity or sympathy, I just thought it was a nice story to tell. To my surprise the Norwich Evening News got in touch wishing to feature the story and you may have seen it in the papers yesterday. Thanks to Peter Walsh for that.
I’ve picked some pivotal and memorable moments from the season for my season review. I got a bit carried way writing it so I’ve split it into two parts. This is part one. Part two is here. I hope you enjoy looking back at this incredible season for Norwich City.
Norwich fans head down Wembley Way before the Canaries’ glorious victory in the Championship play-off final
22nd May 2014 – Hello Neil
Norwich City were licking their wounds in the days and weeks after relegation from the Premier League. The club’s decision to sack Chris Hughton as manager had come too late to save them, and chief executive David McNally – who had said relegation would be ‘worse than death’ – appeared on BBC Radio Norfolk with other members of the board to give the fans some answers. Eventually, Neil Adams was given the job on a full time basis. Adams had played 182 games for City as a midfielder, and had led the club’s Under 18s side to winning the FA Youth Cup a year before.
5th June 2014 – Welcome aboard
A club that is run very smartly in financial terms, and backed up by Premier League parachute payments, Norwich did have some cash to spend in the summer transfer window. On 5th June they made their first purchase, with striker Lewis Grabban signing from Bournemouth. Grabban had scored 22 goals in 44 games in the season that had just ended and was seen as an exciting buy. The club would end up buying nine players in the summer window – players such as Cameron Jerome and Gary O’Neil were signed for their experience of Championship promotion, and others such as Conor McGrandles and Louis Thompson were signed with an eye very much on the future.
30th June 2014 – Hull of a fee for Snodgrass
When any team is relegated from the top flight, the fans expect the players who don’t think they belong in the Championship to find moves elsewhere. Norwich’s player of a bad season was Robert Snodgrass, who worked tirelessly down the right for the club for two seasons after joining from Leeds. On 30th June 2014 it was announced that the Scotland international would be leaving to join Hull City for a fee believed to be around £7m. Many City fans were pleased with the money the club made on the deal. As it turned out, Snodgrass suffered an agonising-sounding dislocated kneecap in the very first game of the Premier League season and would not play again for the rest of the campaign. Hull were relegated.
Anthony Pilkington, Leroy Fer and Andrew Surman also left Norwich – for Cardiff, QPR and Bournemouth respectively. The club had managed to keep hold of the core of a decent squad and it was a reason for optimism as the season approached.
20th July 2014 – We have Novara idea who we’re playing
One of the lighter and perhaps more farcical moments of Norwich’s preparations for life in the Championship, on the club’s pre-season tour of Italy they were due to play a friendly against little-known Novara, but they pulled out of the fixture at short notice. A game against Saint-Christophe Vallée d’Aoste was hastily arranged, which Norwich won 13-0. Saint-Christophe Vallée d’Aoste later denied that it was them that had faced The Canaries, and that in fact it was an amateur team made up of players from all over the region that had been given a beating. Later friendlies against Sampdoria and Livorno were also cancelled at short notice, and Norwich’s trip to Italy wasn’t quite the preparation they were after.
5th August 2014 – The Wolf departs
Everyone with a connection to Norwich City was so excited when Ricky van Wolfswinkel became the club’s record signing. But after a terrible season in which his debut goal against Everton would turn out to be his only positive, van Wolfswinkel left to join French team Saint-Étienne. It was only a season long loan, but there was an option to buy at the end of it. After 9 goals in 40 games, Saint-Étienne have not taken up that option and so The Wolf will be returning to Carrow Road.
10th August 2014 – Wolves 1-0 Norwich
On a warm Sunday afternoon in August, Norwich got back into competitive action with the opening game of the Championship season at Wolves. The year before there had been two divisions between the teams but they pretty much matched each other. The game will be mostly remembered for Martin Olsson’s push on the referee earning him a red card, which was later put down to the out-of-sorts left back grieving the loss of a family member. A header from David Edwards saw City got off to a losing start in the second tier.
16th August 2014 – Norwich 3-0 Watford
The first game of the season at Carrow Road felt like a fresh start after the depression that had captured the place in the grim end to the Premier League campaign. Watford defender Joel Ekstrand was sent off just two minutes in for drawing blood on Nathan Redmond, and lovely chipped goals from Bradley Johnson and Lewis Grabban were punctuated by an Alex Tettey strike to give Norwich a comfortable 3-0 win. Watford would go on to get automatic promotion.
23rd August 2014 – Ipswich 0-1 Norwich
Of course, being back in the Championship meant the return of the East Anglian derby for the first time in more than four years, and the fixtures computer decided that the first meeting would be at Portman Road just weeks into the season. The Canaries showed how strong they would be on the road by holding out for a 1-0 win – Lewis Grabban’s first half header was the only goal. It gave the City fans a sweet taste of derby success once more and was the third win in a row in the league.
Lewis Grabban heads the winner for Norwich in the first East Anglian derby of the season.
13th September 2014 – Cardiff 2-4 Norwich
A theme of Norwich’s relegation season was how poor they were away from home, so the fans who had travelled all the way to Cardiff would not have expected much after Joe Ralls and Aron Gunnarsson had put the home side 2-0 up after 22 minutes. But second half goals from Martin Olsson, Wes Hoolahan, Michael Turner and Cameron Jerome sealed an incredible comeback. Cardiff had come down with Norwich and would finish 11th in the Championship, proving just how hard it is to bounce straight back.
20th September 2014 – Norwich 2-2 Birmingham
Norwich were among the Championship’s pacesetters going into the home game against struggling Birmingham. However, goals from Callum Reilly and Demarai Gray saw the Blues were 2-0 up at half time. Cameron Jerome scored twice against his former club in the second half to make sure of a point but this was a sign of Norwich having trouble breaking teams down and being too open at the back.
30th September 2014 – Norwich 0-1 Charlton
If the Birmingham game hinted at the problems Norwich would have if they couldn’t break sides down, this game against Charlton was a clear example. City dominated the match but couldn’t find a way through a resolute Addicks defence, and to add insult to injury Johnnie Jackson’s deflected shot gave Charlton a late winner and all three points.
21st October 2014 – Cameron Jerome vs Giuseppe Bellusci
The 1-1 home draw with Leeds would play second fiddle to the moment Norwich striker Cameron Jerome lost his cool with defender Giuseppe Bellusci. Jerome complained to referee Mark Clattenburg that Bellusci had used racially abusive language towards him, and an investigation got underway. Several months later, The FA cleared Bellusci, accepting that the Italian defender had been ‘misheard or misinterpreted’ and that he had actually threatened to give Jerome ‘a black eye’.
Cameron Jerome accused Leeds defender Giuseppe Bellusci of racially abusing him during the 1-1 draw at Carrow Road
4th November 2014 – Middlesbrough 4-0 Norwich
Norwich’s heaviest defeat of the season would come on a Tuesday night on Teesside, as Chelsea loanee Patrick Bamford, Grant Leadbitter and winger Yanic Wildschut scored to give Middlesbrough the win in a game the Canaries never turned up in. They would pick up only one point from their four games in November.
3rd January 2015 – Out of the FA Cup with a whimper, and it’s goodbye Neil
The first game of the new year saw Norwich travel to League One Preston on FA Cup third round day. Two Paul Gallagher goals knocked City out after a dismal performance. It took some by surprise, but this turned out to be the last game Neil Adams was in charge of – he left two days later, with a suggestion that he had jumped before he was pushed. With half of the season still to play, Norwich were in mid-table and 11 points behind leaders Bournemouth. The search began for a manager who could get the club back on track.
Going to the football was the thing me and my dad did together.
Dad was 48 when I was born. He had the son he had always wanted – someone to kick a ball around with and watch the match with him. Yet I was a latecomer to football, and to his obsession with Norwich City. I can remember protesting that I wanted to watch cartoons when dad had sat himself in the living room ready for the Super Sunday game on Sky Sports.
My dad in his room in his care home, a Canary from beginning to end.
It is an old family tale that dad was a very handy footballer, who scored plenty of goals for teams such as Gothic. He was part of the Norwich Boys team, a side made up of players picked from local schools. He played at Carrow Road several times. He always insisted that someone from Norwich City asked his father about him turning professional, but his father refused and made his son go and get an apprenticeship. Whether that’s true I’m not so sure, but it’s a lovely story.
At some point, I became interested. Perhaps through sheer osmosis. I remember getting very excited at England beating Germany 5-1 a week after my 9th birthday. The next May I went through emotional turmoil watching the now defunct ITV Digital, who were showing Norwich’s agonising penalty shootout defeat to Birmingham in the Division One play-off final. I was in tears at the end of that game. At that point, the Canaries had got me. From then on I was a Norwich City fan, and I always would be.
Dad had got up extremely early that morning and travelled to Cardiff on a minibus to be at the match. On his return, our conversations about football would become more knowledgeable on my part, and increasingly partisan. He must have loved it. I can imagine him thinking ‘Finally! After nearly a decade my boy has got the football bug!’.
Less than a year later, in March 2003, I went to my first Norwich game. We lost 2-0 to Ipswich, of all teams, but that didn’t put me off. I was part of the enormous crowds as our Division One champions of 2004 celebrated with an open top bus parade. I recall both me and dad jumping up and down in pure elation as we went 2-0 up against Manchester United in what would be a brief stay in the Premier League. Dad was 61 at that point, but he certainly didn’t look it or move like it.
As the next few years passed dad’s memory became something of a concern. He had to give up working after more than 40 years. He was eventually diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
In August 2008, me and dad took our seats at Carrow Road for our first game sitting next to each other as season ticket holders. I had only been to the odd game a season up to that point. We sat three rows back in the upper Barclay, just to the right of the goal. We watched a 1-1 draw with Blackpool. We got relegated to League One that season. In fact, our first seasons with those tickets saw us witness a relegation, a promotion and another promotion. We sat through the 7-1 defeat to Colchester, through the 2-0 win over Gillingham that confirmed Norwich as League One champions, through the joyous last game of the season against Coventry as we celebrated promotion to the Premier League.
Dad’s undying faith in Norwich City showed in his score predictions. Ask him what he thought would happen in that particular game, and he would ask who we were playing. When I told him, he would usually say ‘we should beat them shouldn’t we?’ in a fantastically confident voice as if to say ‘of course we should beat them, we’re the mighty Norwich City!’. His predicted score would usually be 5-0 to City, but if he wasn’t feeling quite as confident that day we might only win 3-0.
Gradually, getting dad to and from Carrow Road became increasingly difficult. His particular type of dementia appeared to strike his mobility. He found it hard to walk, hard to negotiate stairs, and on one occasion he found it impossible to walk over the Novi Sad Friendship Bridge. A very kind couple stopped and helped me get him to the other side, where they waited with him while I ran to get the car. It was a desperately sad and worrying state to see him in, someone I had looked up to so much.
Dad cut down on his trips to see City play. I took him to what would turn out to be his last visit to Carrow Road on Boxing Day 2012, a 1-0 defeat to Chelsea. From then on I would carry on going to home games, but would go and sit with him in his care home to listen to the away matches on Radio Norfolk.
On 1st February 2014, just over a month short of his 70th birthday, my brilliant dad finally gave in to this most evil of diseases. This classic Norwich City song was played at his funeral. I still sit in the same Barclay seat as I did for that Blackpool match nearly seven years ago, and I have often wondered what my dad would make of the latest goings on in yellow and green.
These feelings have been particularly felt in the last week, with Norwich of course preparing for the Championship play-off final at Wembley. He would have been there, without a shadow of a doubt. And he would have loved the sight of around 40,000 fellow City fans inside the home of football.
I have decided to wear dad’s old City shirt to Wembley. This way, I know a part of my old man will be with me at the biggest game I’ve ever been to.
What would he say about the result?
‘Middlesbrough? We should beat them shouldn’t we?’
Me with my dad’s old Norwich shirt which I will be wearing to Wembley.
The relationship a football fan has with their club is unique. There are few other sports that can directly influence the moods and emotions of its followers like football. Weekends are made or broken by the result. The outcome of a local derby can make work on Monday morning joy for the victor, and misery for the loser, with no end of a ribbing to come. Also, who else would travel hundreds of miles to stay just a couple of hours before turning round and heading back? Would the average supporter make the trip from Southampton to Sunderland to see a boyfriend or girlfriend, for example? It’s a topic that fascinates and intrigues.
I am of the opinion that you do not choose who you support, your club chooses you. There’s a certain feeling you get when watching your team. You just know that these are your boys. It can make you look up with pride when they are mentioned on the TV and make the most tepid goalless draw an edge-of-the-seat thriller.
How does a club ‘choose’ you? It could be the team nearest your home, nearest your birth, the team your parents support. It could even be one particular match that captured the imagination. For me, it’s all four. I was born and raised in Norwich – the best city in the world, of course. My mum stood at the Barclay End of Carrow Road in the 1980s, and my dad skipped school to see City play in the FA Cup semi-final of 1959. It was already nailed on, then, that I would be a Norwich City supporter.
The match that ‘got’ me was the play-off final in May 2002. I was a few months away from my tenth birthday. Norwich had been grinding away in division one since being relegated from the Premier League eight years earlier, and at last they had the chance to get back to the big time. The fact it wasn’t automatic promotion made it tremendously exciting. We had to get past Wolves over two legs before we made it to the final where we would play Birmingham City at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
My dad rose in the middle of the night to travel to Wales on a minibus with some friends. I was to stay at home and watch the match on TV. Iwan Roberts put City a goal up. Birmingham equalised. The match ended 1-1. There were no goals in extra time, and it went to penalties. When Norwich lost the shootout – which was apparently always going to happen anyway – I knew I was a fan for life. I knew because I bawled my eyes out. To be fair, I was nine years old!
I love the feeling I get from supporting a football club so strongly. There’s a great sense of unity every other Saturday, when I go to Carrow Road and there’s 26,000 other City fans there. Having had a season ticket since 2008, we all know each other well by now.
LEE PAYNE 