Delia full of praise for the ‘best fans in the world’ as City unveil their brand spanking new home shirt

According to majority shareholder Delia Smith today, City supporters are the “best in the world” as the league leaders continue to all but pack Carrow Road to the rafters every other week.

Attendances have rarely dipped below the 25,000 mark and considering that Norwich are now plying their trade in the third tier, it really is quite remarkable.

‘Loyal’ doesn’t even come close and with many thousands taking to the road to follow City across the country as well, the club really are the envy of League One and most of the Championship.

And with season ticket sales nearing the 20,000 mark yet again and unlikely to dip going into next season, with the Canaries getting closer and closer to a return to the Championship, the celebrity chef is certainly grateful.

“The most brilliant thing at the moment is sitting in the Directors Box and seeing all of the supporters,” said Smith, speaking at today’s launch of their new home shirt at Carrow Road – a traditional Canary yellow effort which will be available to purchase from March 27th.

“They’ve had a horrible time and three years out in the desert.  And watching them now, for me, is very moving.  It’s wonderful to see them having such a great time.

“They are the best in the world.  I don’t think there are any supporters like Norwich supporters.  They are here and they are making a lot of noise but they are brilliant away from home as well, travelling in huge numbers.

“It’s incredible in this league to bring that many people.  They’ve got to keep shouting and screaming and cheering their team on.  Definitely.”

One key component of the success so far this season, and let’s remember that City haven’t achieved anything just yet, has been boss Paul Lambert.

Since his arrival in August, the Canaries have been an unstoppable force and now sit seven points clear at the top as a result.  But did the joint owner expect his impact to be so dramatic?  I don’t think anyone did to be fair…

“You tend to think ‘here we go again’ when you have a new manager so the answer to that is probably no.

“I didn’t think it would be like this straight away but it’s been wonderful because of the hard times we’ve had.  The good times then tend to feel even better but I think that is true of anything in life.

“Whatever hardships you go through and whatever hurt you endure, the highs end up being bigger and better.”

Elsewhere there was some welcome news for Lambert on the injury front today as left-back Adam Drury completed 60 minutes of the 1-0 reserves win, via a Danny Kelly goal, at Southend.

The City stalwart has been out for over a month with a thigh complaint but returned to training last week and with an hour under his belt today, Drury will be looking to compete for a first-team slot with Michael Rose in the near future.

City reserves: Rudd; Spillane, Askou, Tudur Jones, Drury (Francomb 60); Gill, Adeyemi, Hughes, McVeigh; Daley (Dawkin 60), Kelly.  Subs not used: Steer, Lathrope, D Stephens.