As part of MyFootballWriters’ pre-match preview, I look back at previous clashes between Norwich City and our upcoming Premier League opponents.
Big games, historic matches, significant milestones and player connections. I’ll delve into moments in time where our respective clubs have met, looking at trends, quirks and key talking points, all of which have helped contribute towards Norwich’s rich and colourful history.
One to appeal to the nostalgic side in us, so enjoy the memories…
City’s tough start to the season continues with a glamorous Saturday lunchtime date, as we welcome Frank Lampard’s Chelsea to Carrow Road. It is another fixture that Norwich will begin as unfancied underdogs, but as we shall see, when it comes to City v Chelsea games, this hasn’t always been the case…
To our younger readers, in particular, it may come as a surprise to learn, that in the pre, cash-rich Abramovich days, Chelsea and Norwich were clubs of a similar size, stature and trophy count.
In the 24 league meetings before the launch of the Premier League, City led the head-to-head record with nine wins to Chelsea’s eight. It took the fashionable Londoners eleven attempts before they finally left Carrow Road with three points in the bag.
A pub team formed two years after the Canaries, Chelsea managed to avoid the Southern League (unlike most of their London rivals). Already the ‘big club’ bias kicking in as Chelsea were elevated straight into the professional set up, within the English 2nd Division.
The first match between the clubs would, therefore, come later, in the FA Cup. On the 11th January 1936, the two met in the 3rd round, a 1-1 draw at Carrow Road. This was followed, four days later, by a 3-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge, in the replay. A sequence that Norwich would become familiar with having lost 3rd round replays, at Chelsea, on two further occasions (2002 and 2018).
2018 was the last time the two were paired together, with City claiming a famous away draw courtesy of a rare Jamel Lewis goal and all in front of the BBC cameras. Norwich’s resistance, that evening, was finally ended on penalties, but they had shown a watching nation that they could compete at that level and what may be possible playing ‘Farkeball’.
The most famous FA Cup meeting between the two was in the 2002 competition.
A 4-0 Chelsea win was fairly routine, but it would be a game remembered in history, thanks to a moment of genius from the Blues play-maker Gianfranco Zola. In the 63rd minute, Zola improvised to score from a corner with a back-flicked volley. Captured on camera it was one of the finest goals ever conceded by City, or by any team for that matter.
The FA Cup may have brought joy for Chelsea but in the League Cup, it has been a different story.
The League Cup semi-final in 1972/73 was one of the biggest games to-date in Norwich’s history. Carrow Road was packed to the rafters on the 20th December 1972, anticipating a first trip to Wembley, after Norwich had won the first leg at Stamford Bridge, convincingly, 0-2.
Deep into the second half, it was almost job done, with the Canaries leading 3-2 (and 5-2 on aggregate), however, the weather had other ideas. There had been a heavy fog hanging in the air throughout the game, in the 85th minute it decided to make its presence felt swirling in from the River End leaving players, the ball and the pitch all but invisible. The ref had no choice but to abandon and replay the game – Chelsea had a reprieve.
A fortnight later, justice was done in-front of just under 35,000. A 1-0 Norwich win was meet with jubilation and relief. That first Wembley final confirmed and much-fancied Chelsea with Peter Osgood and co sent packing.
(Footnote: the Chelsea side that lost at Carrow Road contained ten Englishmen in the starting eleven – how times have changed).
Honours were even in the league throughout the 1970s. In general, during that era, City had developed a reputation as draw specialists. They took that to the extreme versus Chelsea, drawing seven consecutive games between 1974 and 1978. A run finally ended on 10th March 1979 and a 2-0 Norwich home win.
There was a famous win in West London at the end of the 1984/85 season. The 14th May was City’s final game of the season and a 1-2 win, in the rain, seemed certain to guarantee another season of top-flight football. Eight points clear of Coventry who occupied the final place in the drop zone, the Sky Blues still had three games to play and subsequently went on to win all three, leapfrogging Norwich to safety.
Never again would clubs finish their season on different days.
1992/93 and the birth of the Premier League.
That memorable first season, it was Norwich, not Chelsea challenging for the title. In a quirk of the fixture list the two meet twice within a month – Norwich winning both. The victory at Stamford Bridge was particularly pleasurable, as City came back from 0-2 down, thanks largely to a couple of Dave Beasant goalkeeping howlers, to win 3-2.
The victory was especially sweet, as the Chelsea side included ex-Norwich heroes, and Hall of Famers, Andy Townsend and Robert Fleck. Fleck was the most recent big-money departure having become Chelsea’s record signing (£2.1m) in the summer of 1992.
During those early Premier League days, City lost just once in their first six Premier League fixtures against Chelsea. There was even a rare win in the relegation season of 1994/95, when two goals from new signing Ashley Ward, and a young debutant, Jamie Cureton game City a comfortable 3-0 home win.
It would be the last time Norwich beat Chelsea…..
It was a decade later before the two would resume battle and a lot had changed in those ten years. Now at opposite ends of the footballing spectrum, cash-rich Chelsea were establishing themselves among Europe’s elite, Norwich just happy to be back on the Premier League.
The games – City losing 3-1 and 4.0 – reflected the gap between the two. Chelsea ended that season Champions. Norwich ended it with relegation.
The Norwich goal in the 3-1 defeat was scored by Leon McKenzie and was significant in that it was the first goal conceded by Petr Cech in 1,025 minutes, a Premier League record.
Another player, who played in both of those games, (and scored in the 4-0) was Frank Lampard. ‘Super Frank’, of course, is now back at Chelsea in the managerial hot-seat.
The midday Carrow Road kick off will only be Lampard’s third game as a Premier League manager. It could be a good opportunity for City to strike as he finds his feet, although saying that, Lampard was one of only two managers last season that took four points of Daniels Farkes’ champions…
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Similar ‘trophy count’ Alan. I think that might be wishful thinking. Pre-Abramovich they had won the First Division title once, the FA Cup three times and the European Cup Winners Cup twice. We only equalled them in that period with our two League Cup wins.
That’s very true Andy – Even if I had said ‘Pre-Premier League’ days that would still have been stretching it a bit. Hands up they have always been more successful than us but I was just trying to ‘educate’ our younger readership that the gap hasn’t always been so big.
Actually my favourite memory of “Norwich v Chelsea” was that two-legged Youth Cup final win. Me and Mrs P went to both games.
A brace of Murphys, Carlton Morris, Cameron McGeehan, Ben Wyatt and so many others I cannot remember featured, of course.
My only other abiding recollection (apart from most of those Allan has already cited) was when Townsend took a corner at the River End, half dropped his shorts and made a totally obscene gesture (reference onanism) to us. He’d have been booked for that these days, of course, although crowd and player were all smiles about it.
I’m not one for stats and lists so thanks Allan for informing me that Townsend is in the HoF.
I must admit that I am slightly surprised:-)
Hi Allan
Great memories. I was at both the 1972/73 semis at CR and what a drive had back to Stanmore that night.
Chelsea nearly missed out on the big payday from the Russian oligarch as he was trying to by Spurs but had to get Alan Sugar and Enic to agree a price, then heard Chelsea was about to go into administration so got it on the cheap.
Over the years since the Premiership, I have worked with many Chelsea supporters and most I would call good time bandwagon supporters – they only know the more recent club, not the struggling yoyo club that had great English players like Hudson, Cooke, Baldwin, Bonetti – something I don’t think will ever happen again there.
How the history of both clubs mirrored each other until the advent of the Prem.
Onwards and Upwards
OTBC
That relegation when Coventry still had three games to play was a travesty. Coventry played the league champions, Everton, away in the last game. Everton had been away for a celebration holiday while waiting for Coventry to play the other two games. If ever there was a definitive “on the beach” performance, it was the Toffees that day. If I remember rightly, Coventry won four nil, and the Everton crowd and players couldn’t have cared less. However, is was such a blatant miscarriage of justice that the Premier League and the EFL changed the rules so that all games had to finish on the same day, so I suppose we’ve made a small contribution to history.
I’ll never forget “the night the fog come down” standing in the corner of the Barclay and South stands being clearly able to see Peter Osgood in the fog launch a vicious kick on Dave Stringer’s legs,flattening David without the ref being able to see it,leading to the famous chant of “Osgood,No Good”.Justice was certainly done after the replay and ,course,Osgood returned to Carrow Road as a NCFC player on loan in 1976/77 and the chant disappeared.
Older fans may also remember the FA cup 4th round visit to Stamford Bridge in 1968 when Charlie Cooke scored the only goal of the match.That was my first away match so I certainly do,especially because of the awful violence I witnessed from the hoodlums in the Shed end of Stamford Bridge.I was very glad of my father’s protection that day and felt huge relief of getting away from “The Smoke”.That experience put me off the “Great Wen” of London,a dislike a share to this day and one reason I hope we put one over the Blues come Saturday.OTBC.
Hi Alex
Sorry to be pedantic. I did History at the UEA but despite that I’m pretty sure of my ground on this one:-)
Harald Hardrada was a Norwegian Viking invader who our very own Anglo Saxon king Harold saw off at Stamford Bridge – somewhere very northern, I can’t remember exactly where just now.
As you so rightly say our Harold then had to march his lot to Battle near Hastings and they were knackered before they got started against Billy the Conk and his mates, plus Harold made a serious tactical error by splitting his shield wall and sending them after the retreating Norman cavalry.
He lost the match in the last five minutes cos he had no subs to bring on.
Somebody whose knowledge is far greater than mine told me that the “arrow in the eye” myth was just that – a myth.
Not a bad start to the cricket.
Nice work, dude!