Most of us think the life of a professional footballer consists of being rewarded with huge wages for doing something you enjoy for a living, holidaying on yachts, consorting with models, and generally exploiting la dolce vita to the full. While much of that is true – yes Beckham, Rooney, Balotelli I’m calling you out […]
Archives Index
“Operation Restart Part 2” – But what will City’s squad look like when it’s KO time?
2020-21 will be better. If for no other reason than it isn’t 2019-20. We’ve had a season of brutal kickings and now that we’ve had a chance to lick our wounds, we have to roll up out of the dirt, dust ourselves off, and come up swinging. Easier said than done after ten dismal defeats […]
The NASL … a City legend … Pelé … Cruyff … Beckenbauer … and Peter ‘Columbo’ Falk
Which ex-City striker shares a footballing award with Johan Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer, and Pelé? First we need to consider England’s win in the 1966 World Cup. Importantly, it was a tournament enjoyed by a global audience on television – even in the famously soccer-shy United States. Sensing the American public may finally be ready to […]
Buzzwords & clichés aplenty, but where have the left half, inside right and lino gone? :)
I can lay the blame for this article fairly and squarely at the feet of my MFW colleague Chris Sadler, who came up with a lovely piece of nostalgia last week featuring photos of Max Miller and Lenny Bruce, clever word play on footballers’ names and some pretty tasty anagrams to boot. As somebody who […]
While a Jamal replacement is already in the house, how do you fill an Emi-shaped void?
After a busy couple of weeks when it was only ins and not a single out, the chatter has inevitably turned to those destined to depart the City walls. Liverpool were first to show their hand, with a modest £10 million bid for Jamal Lewis, although it sounds like one of those emails that Stuart […]
Dream move awaits Jamal, but just because City were bullied on the pitch this season…
It’s clear that Liverpool want Jamal Lewis. That much we do know. They see him as the ideal cover for Andy Robertson – the Scot they signed from Hull in July 2017 but for whom they still have no natural replacement should he get injured. James Milner does a good job there, but he’s… James […]
VIDEO: Jamal to Liverpool? ‘Yosser’ Larouci to be part of the deal?
In today’s video we take a look at the recent rumour, via Sky Sports, that Liverpool are interested in signing City youngster and Northern Ireland international Jamal Lewis.
Well, it is called the ‘silly season’ for a reason. So… what’s in a name?
Is it silly season yet? Well, it is now… Some nostalgic fun with NCFC player names from over the years. City players who share a famous name… – George Martin (played for Norwich City FC, 1913-27) – Beatles’ producer: ‘We All Live In A Yellow (And Green) Submarine’. – Will Smith (1931-34) – US movie star: ‘Men In Black […]
So, we’ve already had a few ins, but who’s on their way out of Carrow Road?
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.” – Albert Einstein. Well that quote now feels rather apt. I’ve kept my powder deliberately dry over the re-start, but having watched the same smorgasbord being served up game after game I decided on the theme for this article: When it feels […]
VIDEO: Should Norwich City Sign Alfie Mawson?
Football without fans is nothing – the PL and EFL should never ever forget that
“Today is 47 days before the start of the League One season and Charlton remain in limbo. The EFL should issue an immediate public explanation of what is happening and should take decisive action so that alternative futures for our club can be explored if necessary. That clock ticks more loudly with every passing day.” […]
The summer intake of 2020 (so far…): What do we think?
We’re a funny old lot are us Citizens of the Canary nation. So united in some ways yet so divided in others. The major issues just now are: are you for or against the Smiths? I’m against. Are you for or against Webber and Farke? I’m for. But I’ve never assimilated so many divisive opinions […]
The fightback starts here…
It’s only seven days since the nightmare that was the 2019/20 season ended, but, oddly, it does feel like an age ago. Just as well really. Part of this is down to the club’s insistence that we move forward, prepare for the new season, and not dwell on the wrongs of last season. Which is […]
Who is City’s best (or least bad) Premier League manager of the 21st century?
Six men have managed Norwich City Football Club in the Premier League since 2000: – Nigel Worthington – Paul Lambert – Chris Hughton – Neil Adams – Alex Neil – Daniel Farke Taking into account all competitive league and cup matches while they were in charge, how do you think they compare on: – Percentage […]
To hell with perspective – we’re hurting. But in a quieter moment…
Let’s not pretend. We’re Norwich City fans and we’re hurting. It hurts that we got relegated. It hurts that we had ten games when football resumed, and lost the lot. It hurts that the verve and belief, which had helped us win admirers and overachieve for much of the past eighteen months, has gone. It […]
GUEST BLOG: An alternative view of Norwich City’s disastrous 2019-2020
Another day, another guest blog, with the stripes today being handed to Debbie Hewitt, who gives her take on the season that wasn’t… *** I am an avid listener of Radio Norfolk’s excellent Canaries coverage, especially the quintessential Chris Goreham commentary. I also love (most of) the partisan guest commentators. If our game is live […]
When fantasy football turned into the stuff of nightmares…
Back in March of 2019, Dad and I walked through the turnstiles at the Riverside stadium, knowing that victory over Middlesbrough would create a seven-point gap to third-place, with just seven games left. “God, I hope we get promoted”, I said. “I know next year would be a total car-crash and we’d probably lose every […]
GUEST BLOG – Do we *really* love the second tier more than the Premier League?
The first of two consecutive guest blogs is from James Cushing with a timely reminder that the Championship is only fun when things are going well… “We’ll regroup and go again next season”. “It’ll be great, we can win every week”. “We need one season in the second tier to build for the future”. Sound […]
Headteacher’s Report: Andy H delivers his 2019/20 end-of-term appraisal
To coin a phrase, “Whoops”. Unfortunately, the school has experienced the most traumatic year. An Annus Horribilis as terrifying as that of former Chair of Governors Chase, that none of us who have experienced it will ever forget. Mr Webber and the Board of Governors chose to use this year’s bursary on improving the school […]
No splicing of the mainbrace, as HMS Canary is set adrift of the Premier League
Like, surely, all of us, I am bringing the old ship HMS Canary into port, putting it into dry dock and looking forward to what will be a cheap refit before we set sail again on less choppy seas. We hope. But who will Captain Webber and First Mate Farke manage to recruit to join us on […]
‘Only five’. Ten defeats on the spin for the Canaries as the horror show finally ends
Thank God it’s over. You only have to put up with my whining one more time. I guess it was only fitting that five a half weeks of footballing torture should end with the biggest spanking of the lot. That we somehow ended up content that it was “only five” says everything about just how […]
And so we face the final curtain…
So, for one final time. A season that promised so much, yet delivered only a big, fat, Family Fortunes-type UH UH. At least when we headed to Anfield on August 9, we had hopes and dreams. Okay, so there was a little bit of fear over the level of damage the reigning European champions may […]
One game to go in a record-breaking NCFC season… and still Y’Army are clapping
There’s no escaping the paucity of City’s performances since Project Restart became more than just a project. Even the most yellow and green-tinged, happy-clapping, Delia-adoring optimist must be able to admit that the quality of performances have been dire and that something has gone badly wrong? The fact that some refuse to get fired up […]
The Little Yellow and Green Quiz…
Right, you lot, this has gone on too long. I’m calling a halt to it all now. All this negativity swirling round the place. It’s time for a mild diversion… – Are you an NCFC fan? – Do you know your stuff? – Are you prepared to prove it? If you answered ‘yes’ to all […]
♫ Emi Buendia… From Argentina… ♫
It’s fair to say that this season has not been one to live long in the memory of City fans. And yet, it’s going to be very hard to forget. From those early days filled with derring-do, the dismantling of Newcastle, the blow-for-blow battle with Chelsea, and that stunning September evening against Manchester City, to […]
May 2019 vs July 2020… 1st vs 20th… hope vs despair…
I have always been a great supporter of the concept of light and shade. Whether in literature, music, art or even television and film, I’m all for it believe me. So therefore it’s quite natural for me to compare our penultimate match of last season [Blackburn] with this year’s offering – Burnley of course. Last […]
Just when Norwich fans thought things couldn’t get any worse…
♫ I had a wheelbarrow, the wheel fell off… ♫ So sang the NCFC fans, and never had it rung truer. Okay, so by NCFC I mean Notts County, and I’m not even sure it’s a song they sing anymore, but for one day only – maybe one season only – it should replace On […]
The stats tell the story – of a team that’s become a shadow of its former self
Character. Absolutely fearless. Never know when they’re beaten. Self-belief. Determination. Everything that made Norwich City champions. Everything that has been missing over the course of this season. Trying to fathom what’s happened remains a challenge after such success and we’re going to hear plenty of musings; everyone will have their own version of what has […]
GUEST BLOG: Same as it ever was? Or a perfect storm approaching?
It’s guest blog time again, and today it’s City fan Dave Cole, whose journey began in the late 1960s when he was warned by his grandfather that following Norwich would be ‘difficult’! Grandads always know! *** If you look out your window, you’ll notice thunder clouds hanging over Carrow Road. They’ve been steadily gathering since […]
Only just over a month to try and reboot the mindset of this squad for 2020/21
A shallow piece of NCFC dignity was restored at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday. Yes of course we lost, didn’t score, as has become de rigeur and, Olivier Giroud’s header from an excellent Christian Pulisic cross completely bamboozled Timm Klose who got nowhere near his man. Not only did we fail to bother the “goals for” […]
Five saleable assets? Five potential replacements? But how many will depart?
Succession planning is pivotal for any long-term success. Norwich have five young talents that will attract interest this summer, but who is ready to step in and replace them? Max Aarons, Ben Godfrey, Jamal Lewis, Todd Cantwell and Emi Buendia. City’s five saleable assets whose auction price will all start at £20million. Max has been […]
It’s all in the mind. When ‘lucky to be here’ changes to ‘lucky to have me’…
I’ll start with a quote. ‘What is history, but a fable agreed upon?’ That’s the original. It’s been revised, redone and rehashed over the years but, whatever variant of it you may hear or read, the above is the mother lode, so to speak, of that well used phrase, one which is generally (but not […]
Over in a flash and, but for some fleeting moments, it wasn’t fun while it lasted
At least it’s done now. But it did feel like death by a thousand cuts. A slow, painful, inexorable slide back to whence we came, with not the merest hint of resistance. These are difficult and surreal times – and of course, there are far more important things going on than our football team getting […]
It may be called the “beautiful game” but it’s just so hard to love right now
Football has been a part of my life almost as long as I have been alive. I was taken to my first game at the ripe old age of 2 weeks old. From then on, I was a regular attendee wherever my dad was playing football – until he tore his ACL. My grandad was, […]
Farkeball’s in full-flight with Mario
Despite a paucity of minutes, Farke’s footballing philosophy can be fully implemented when the Bosnian is involved. Upon his arrival from Germany, Mario Vrancic appeared to play the game a pace too slow for English football. He struggled to adjust with the lack of time midfield players have on the ball in the EFL and […]
‘Never Mind The Danger’ we sing. Seldom has this line been more pertinent
The most wondrous aspect of Norwich City’s romp to the Football League title last season was that it was a triumph for doing things the right way. Being smart beat money and muscle. And so, for me, amid all the disappointments of yet another dismal demotion, one detail stands out as the bleakest: it looks […]
Dropping the goldfish bowl…
I once had a goldfish. I called him Daniel. I never thought I’d have him for long. This is a tale of effort, hardship, achievement, reward, and disappointment. (Actually, I don’t need to tell you the tale, as I’ve just done so – like they did with the Hollywood trailer for Free Willy.) But, the […]
Time for a review – one that goes all the way up to the very top of our football club
There have been warehouse-sized debates everywhere about Norwich City and their way “forward” with the finances of the club in regard to next season. And the inevitable happened. We are Championship. Quelle surprise. This was a nailed-on from the start. No significant investment, key injuries to central defenders, and only Duda and Rupp in January. […]
Back-to-basics for City but still nothing to show for an improved performance
That we’re all slightly chirpier this morning having witnessed an improved City performance says a lot about the level of the current bar. But we are. And it was. It’s hellishly thin gruel though if our spirits are lifted by what was ultimately another error-strewn defeat against some very mediocre relegation rivals. But, there’s no […]
Why Onel has set the tone for the type of wide player City need next season
The Cuban has a completely different skillset to his confreres, and he’s proven he’s exactly what City need going forward. In June 2018, Academy product Josh Murphy was sold to Cardiff City for an estimated £12 million. Six months prior to his departure, Onel Hernandez was recruited form Eintracht Braunschweig for a fifth of the […]
“Your mission, Mr Farke, should you decide to accept it…” And why I hope he does
This season is over, bar the shouting. Or perhaps more accurately, the whimpering. The “little miracle” Farke was seeking at the restart has grown to loaves-and-fishes proportions, and beyond. The really disappointing thing – the main reason for sour feelings among fans, and some unprecedented questioning of Farke’s position – is the appearance of our […]
Each game an arduous torture, another reminder of what might have been
As a Norwich fan, you become hardened to disappointment but I think this season has to be up there as one of the biggest disappointments I’ve had over the years. Coming up we were magic. Unstoppable and unplayable. We had a manager who had embedded a style that was aesthetically sumptuous, and a Sporting Director […]
‘This sadness will go on’ – a clue to Martin P’s three predictions for next season
I’ve long been a believer in the phrase strike while the iron’s hot, so as I begin this article at 14:53 on Saturday knowing it won’t appear in front of you beloved MFW readers until Monday, I thought I’d write it now, get it out of the way and wallow in our collective misery all […]
Another day, another defeat. The Championship beckons for the Canaries
How was your Super Saturday? Even those who were able to resist the call of the pub may have been tempted to turn to drink after City’s latest post-lockdown offering. But let’s forget the performance level for a minute and look at some numbers. *Look away now if you’re of a nervous disposition. One goal […]
Enough already. I cannot wait for this wretched excuse of a season to end
Everyone’s got an Arsenal mate, haven’t they? I’ve got three but strangely didn’t volunteer to communicate with any of them on Wednesday evening. However one of them, Mickey, couldn’t resist, erm, taking the mickey via the gift of Google Mail. There were a few cheap cracks such as had Josip Drmic borrowed his boots from […]
Time to get experimental?
It’s a Catch-22 cliche that young footballers are not ready to play in the Premier League until they’ve played in the Premier League. The experience of playing at the top level is what exposes those so-far-accomplished young bucks to a whole new level of aspiration. It pushes their dreams into the realms of attainability, and […]
An Emirates humbling for the Canaries as Gunners freewheel to an easy win
Remember when they told us one of the drivers behind Project Restart was to boost our morale? Well, how’s your morale this morning? Since that first ball was kicked against Southampton, it’s not just been the stadiums that have been soulless. City’s lack of quality has been laid bare for the watching nation to see […]
ARSENAL PREVIEW…
It’s to an old mate of mine I turned for this one – Mike Smith, a fellow son of the late Waveney District Council. Once a Lowestoftian, this Gooner has long since departed the sunny climes and headed instead to that London to answer the call of Stan Kroenke and co. *** Before we get […]
Alex Tettey: More than a water carrier – he stops it from leaking too
As the years go by, Tettey’s performances become all the more pleasing and our reliance on him grows. But to say he merely carries the water is a disservice to the role that he plays. When considering Alex Tettey’s Norwich City career, for many it ends up in the same bracket as Russell Martin’s and […]
Money, Money, Money – Which City manager has splashed the most cash?
Following City’s brave exit from the FA Cup this week at the hands (or left boot) of Harry Maguire – it occurred to me with some bitterness that it was a player who’d cost £80million who made the difference. Failing miserably to avoid wallowing in self-pity after yet another glorious failure, I decided to check […]
Two hours of football that summed up the Canaries’ season perfectly…
If you wanted our season summed up in two hours, Saturday delivered. Big time. We played our hearts out, took Man U to the brink of a penalty shoot-out but got kicked in the guts three minutes from the end. And had Timm Klose sent off for a professional that I wouldn’t actually argue with […]
Pride restored but a familiar outcome, as the Beeb breathes a massive sigh of relief
In terms of performance level, that was light years ahead of the first two post-lockdown offerings. Against Southampton and Everton there was little to excite and even less to be proud of, but not so last night. Okay, so it may have ended in that glorious, heart-breaking failure in which our club seems to specialise, […]
Callas, Elliot or Webb – take your pick. Time is about to be called on City’s 2019/20
Well the fat lady is singing on full throttle. It could be Maria Callas, Mama Cass Elliot or even better the British original, Janet Webb on the Morecambe and Wise show. It doesn’t matter who assumes this particular mantle – we are well and truly done for. There was more huffing and puffing than against […]
Stripped of the X-factor a bouncing Carra brings, City’s dearth of quality is exposed
The three-month hiatus, during which time football became a virtual irrelevance, played a cruel trick with the collective mind. It convinced us the “little miracle” of which Daniel Farke spoke at length was do-able. And no football – with far more important things going on in the world – meant the agonising and the navel-gazing […]
Along Come Norwich – Zine #3 – Flecky… Daniel Gray… Goreham & loads more
Our friends at Along Come Norwich have just launched fanzine number three. Having just read it, I can tell this one’s a corker (the first ‘chapter’ aside). If you fancy it, there’s a link at the bottom of this Q&A with the zine’s brains, Mr Jon Punt… So… up to number three, Jon! This must […]
Where do we go in the short-term? Is there a temporary fix that can make us better?
The reports from Colney pre-Southampton were that the players were confident and that Farke was unusually bullish about his side’s chances of hitting the ground running after the enforced season hiatus. For 20 minutes, this looked well-founded. The Canaries looked sharp, and they were dominating possession. Obviously, there was some rust and we gave away […]
Time for a major re-set. The very future of the game we love is at stake right now
I’ve been lucky enough to be allowed to write about the game I love for 10 years now but I don’t think I’ve ever felt as disillusioned with it as I currently do. Before the pandemic the combination of live football to write about and a tight word limit meant that I never had the […]
More chance of The Bedsores winning Eurovision than City avoiding the drop
We all know what happened on Friday evening but equally probably realise it was a case of what didn’t happen. After 15 minutes the slightly disjointed yellow and green tide ebbed away and the red and white south coastal one flowed in with great intent. Those in their deckchairs in home gardens with knotted hankies […]
No fans… no fire… little pride… any hope?
If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all… If only that applied to those of us charged with writing about our beloved Canaries. This one is going to hurt, just as did watching those 94 gruelling, morale-sapping minutes last night. Just as it did to wake to the realisation it wasn’t just […]
SAINTS PREVIEW…
So… here we go again… finally … whether we like it or not. With Southampton the visitors, it was to my old Metro mucker, Chris Rann that I turned for his thoughts on what may, or may not happen… First things first… should we be playing? In your view, is the PL’s unseemly scramble to […]
Happy Birthday! – Predicting NCFC success?
I noticed when pootling about the internet the other day that several Norwich City players share the same birth month. Mmm. That set me wondering… Could the date of your birth define your chances of becoming a professional footballer? The answer is… No. Of course not. Don’t be ridiculous. But, before we get carried away […]
Tempus Fugit – But there are worse things than sharing a birthday with Norwich City
As I sit and pen this on the eve of my 40th birthday, a multitude of emotions are swirling around my inner conscience. Do I feel that old? Am I now in mid-life? Is the inevitable getting closer. It really is a whirlwind. The reality, if you remove numbers, is that I’ll be no different […]
No waves in Dereham, but what level can Todd Cantwell surf to?
Another MFW debut incoming… this time from Billy Dunthorne – one half of The Revere End podcast and one quarter of the Norwich based indie band The Revere. Billy takes a close look at one of City’s heroes of 2019/20… As Todd Cantwell is of a similar age to me, I feel compelled to tell […]
TALES FROM THE CITY: Grant Holt
Throughout football’s shutdown, Mt Football Writer has been publishing weekly chapters from the trilogy of Tales From The City books. Here is our final extract. With Project Restart just days away, it is particularly apt that we can retell the ‘Tale’ of Norwich City’s greatest ever reboot. From their lowest point for half a century, […]
Josip & Mario to the rescue… a Jose alliance… crossed fingers… & warm cockles
This time last week I wrote that the Phoney War was about to end and the kind of real one was ready to begin on Friday, June 19 at 1800 hours precisely. That hasn’t changed of course, plus I’ve had the bonus of regular MFW commenter John telling me the Southampton game is live on […]
Perspective! A City player has the virus. A win on Friday would be great, but…
Last night’s breaking news – that a City player had tested positive for Covid-19 – was the denouement of what had been the most miserable and troubling week imaginable. First things first, and it goes without saying (even though I am saying it) that everyone’s best wishes are with the player and his family. The […]
FROM THE ARCHIVES: So, how much influence do fans really have on a game?
As I mentioned last week, find a Kev column and you’ll find a message that resonates … always. In this little gem from 2014, on the eve of a trip to Craven Cottage (goes without saying that we lost), he touches on the impact a football crowd has on the outcome of a game – […]
Don’t curb your enthusiasm – football is back!
I thought I would really miss football. In the week before it was all called off, I went to three City games. They encapsulated our season: a 1-0 win at home against a high-flying Leicester side, a captivating penalty win at the new Tottenham Hotspur stadium in the FA Cup 5th round, and then a […]
TALES FROM THE CITY: Terry Allcock
As the days dawdle along towards an FA Cup quarter-final which will be like no other — one without fans — our latest extract from the Tales From The City trilogy recounts (along with many other remarkable yarns) the story of when the entire country was enthralled by City’s greatest FA Cup run of all […]
Singin’ in the Rain – Norwich City’s League Cup History
Joy is a rare commodity these days, especially for fans of professional football clubs. But sometimes, even when things aren’t going so well, there’s an area of the game, a region of opportunity where a club can notch an accomplishment or two and the fans can enjoy the sweet taste of success. Such an area […]
The Phoney War? But not long now before the EPL 2020-style becomes a thing
The first six months of the 1939-1945 conflict was known as the phoney war. War had been declared but very little actually happened during that period. It gave Britain a chance to accelerate modernisation of its war machine to cope with the inevitable matters to come. Quickly of course it became all too real for […]
Financial tightropes… self-serving plans… & those who simply can’t wait for June 19
In last Sunday’s column, I tried – unsuccessfully I should add – to dream up a set of results that would, upon the resumption of Premier League battle, see City haul themselves clear of the bottom three. Even armed with every good luck charm in the book it was nigh on impossible to dream up […]
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Lies.. damned lies… statistics… & million-pound footballers
Here’s a beauty from our Ed from 2012, where he looks at football’s (then) new-found love of stats; in particular the one pertaining to the buying selling of players. Worth noting is the different direction this club is now taking in that regard, and how Ed’s summary of ‘a club that is on the up, […]
FROM THE ARCHIVES: I’ve lost my heart to a room with a view … in the Holiday Inn!
As I’ve mentioned before, going back through Kev’s MFW archive to find a retro piece that works in semi-lockdown has been a joy. Not least because regardless of which NCFC era or regime he’s writing about, there’s always (literally always) something that resonates. Not going to lie though, this one, from November 2011, narked me. […]
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly – Norwich City & the FA Cup
Right, normally I try to write with kindness but today I’m gonna holster the compassion and just put the boot straight in… (reminds you of football in the 80s doesn’t it?) Recent years have just not been good enough. That’s Norwich’s recent FA Cup history I’m talking about. Just look at this chart I’ve made […]
The players are raring to go – but it’s essential that we all stay away
On Tuesday night, Norwich City’s Executive Committee – Ben Kensell, Zoe Ward and Stuart Webber – gave us 90 minutes of online reporting and Q&A. Fan groups logged in from across the globe (and Peterborough). As well as learning that Zoe had cut Stuart’s hair – it’s OK, they’re partners – we were given a […]
TALES FROM THE CITY: Dave Stringer
Dave Stringer is ‘one of our own’. He has lived all his life in Norfolk — and gave all but four years of his entire playing, coaching and management career to Norwich City. He played 499 games for the club, was voted player of the season as the club won promotion to the top tier […]
A message from the NCFC Community Sports Foundation…
The Club have announced that season ticket holders and members will be able to claim a pro-rata rebate for the remainder of 2019-20 season as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. The window for that process opens today. Supporters have the option to donate their rebate to the Norwich City Community Sports Foundation at a time when […]
For some diehards, the Carrow Road experience may be a thing of the past
Well, as we all know the wheels are firmly back on the Premier League gravy train and it’s ready to roll on June 17 with Sheffield United against Aston Villa and Manchester City versus Arsenal. The catch-up games of course. Apparently City are planned to resurface on June 19 against Southampton at Carrow Road. Not […]
Looks like it’s happening whether we like it or not. So, what chance a little miracle?
So, in theory, depending on what the TV schedule throws up, this time in three weeks I could be musing over City’s game with Southampton. Just imagine if it’s a win I’m writing about. Just imagine. Okay, so there’ll be no descriptions of Carrow Road reverberating when City inevitably take an early lead – this […]
Will it be the same? No. Does it have to happen? Yes. And imagine an FA Cup win…
When Norwich City’s second goal went in at Leeds in February last year — the Pukki tap-in which caused a delayed reaction among our fans tucked in a corner at the other end of the pitch — I turned to seek out the face of a friend in the row behind me. We shared a […]
The Carrow Road Experience (1985)
The year is 1985. Elizabeth II is on the throne, Margaret Thatcher is prime minister, and Tears for Fears are storming the charts with Everybody Wants to Rule the World. Richard Briers is wittering his way through Ever Decreasing Circles on BBC1, Morons From Outer Space is showing at the ABC, and somewhere in Croxteth, proud mum Jeanette Rooney has […]
TALES FROM THE CITY: Adam Drury
Adam Drury wore the Canaries’ yellow for 11 years (and eight managers), and saw it all: the rise, decline and rise again of the great club in the Fine City. If, as cliché insists, football can be a rollercoaster, then he was at the club for the entire ride. His self-critical account of that adventure […]
Other than Chisholm (og), can you name City players who’ve scored in cup finals?
As the expiry date for this year’s FA Cup final slips by, maybe it’s of interest to mention those Canaries who have scored in major cup finals during their career. Do you remember any of these? FA Cup – Peter Osgood 1970 – Alan Taylor 1975 – Kevin Reeves 1981 – Andy Linighan 1993 – […]
GUEST BLOG: Hughton 2013/14 vs Farke 2019/20…
The latest blogger to grasp the guest blog baton is Jack Green, the voice of the excellent Singing From The Nest. He poses the question, who would win if Chris Hughton’s Class of 2013/14 played Daniel Farke’s Class of 2019/20? His conclusion is perhaps not what you’d expect… Chris Hughton. Two words that make most […]
FROM THE ARCHIVES: That day in May 2015…
I don’t tend to use ‘From The Archives’ for my own columns – they’re wholly undeserving – but given that it’s five years to the day that we all descended upon Wembley for that never-to-be-forgotten afternoon against Boro, I thought this may be worth another airing. Written early the following morning, so please forgive the […]
In a non-football world, we take all the #NCFC snippets we can, plus a 1996 ‘mare
Well it’s been another funny old week in this current world of non-football. Our players are back at Colney in an environment of socially distanced, non-contact training in strictly limited groups and maybe the intensity levels will be stepped up next week. Maybe. Of course, it’s now straight home for them to get a shower […]
The EPL ploughs on with their planned restart – and the boys are back at Colney
Despite being not much further forward in knowing exactly where, when, and even how, the players returned to Colney this week. While it was good to see them doing Colney stuff, albeit in a socially distanced and responsible way, the fact there remain so many unknowns makes it tricky to get too excited. It felt […]
The Cedric Interview – Part Three: Seeing the Light
In the final part of our interview with Cedric Anselin, we look at how the former Bordeaux and Norwich City player has fought depression, what he does now to help others with mental health issues, and how we can survive without football during lockdown. “I always say we are born with a mouth to talk, […]
FROM THE ARCHIVES: ‘City ’til I die’ mantra is so powerful because it’s based on a truth
We are so lucky to have had Kevin Baldwin on the MFW roster. A trawl through his MFW back catalogue, in search of a ‘From the Archive’ piece, was a timely reminder of what a brilliant writer he is, and that’s before we even get to Norfolk ‘n’ Good (still available on Amazon and in […]
The Cedric Interview – Part Two: Darkness in a world of colour
In part two of our three-part exclusive interview with Cedric Anselin, we discuss mental health in football, the blackness that overcame him despite a colourful world he lived in, and how 1999 wasn’t the time to reveal your inner demons as a professional footballer. The concept that ‘men find it hard to talk about mental […]
GUEST BLOG: Was there life before Sky ‘invented’ football? You bet…
Another member of the #NCFC Twitterati who picked up the guest blog baton was our Worthing Yellow, Mick Saunders, who describes beautifully the journey from Kent to Carrow Road via 80 Football League grounds. Take it away, Mick… I became aware of football as a “thing” during the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, helped in […]
The Cedric Interview – Part One: Far from a nobody…
In the first of a three-part exclusive interview for MyFootballWriter.com and headersandvolleys.co.uk, former France U-21 international, Bordeaux and Norwich City star Cedric Anselin tells Paul about his early career at Bordeaux, a chance encounter with the ‘Divine Ponytail’ and his relationship with Nigel Worthington. “I’m a nobody. I’m a nobody now.” It is clear from […]
A league motivated by greed, no doubt, but not the sole fault of one Mr Murdoch
Tin hat time for me: here is my defence of Rupert Murdoch. No, that’s not really what this is. But I’d like to respond to and amplify Gary Gowers’ piece about the start of the Premier League — because I had a ringside seat at the fight that transformed the game in this country. Several […]
TALES FROM THE CITY: ‘Disco’ Dale Gordon
Dale Gordon is one of our own. He first trained with the club at eight, made his debut at 17 and was in City teams who finished fifth and fourth in the top division. The story of the kid from Caister who became a Norwich Hall of Famer is reproduced here from the third volume […]
No Cromer crabs… no Dippy… Webber annoying Leeds… and the new Herr Flick
Well, the uncertainty continues apace. We’ve been denied the delights of the Notting Hill Carnival, which might not please all Londoners, but the Metropolitan Police at least will be delighted by that particular decision. And also there will be no Eurovision Song Contest this year which is certain to displease one Graham Norton and all […]
Rewind to the late-80s/early-90s when life was simple and football free of Murdoch
As is the wont of someone in lockdown who writes, eats and breaths football, in the absence of any live action I’ve been gorging on the retro stuff the TV companies have been churning out in their attempt to sate our footballing appetite. Among the offerings have been ITV’s Saturday teatime ‘classics’, some Match of […]
GUEST BLOG – City FC’s first tentative steps… and some memorable Canary names
MFW’s very own Alex Bain is back, this time with a whistle-stop history lesson on how our club came into being and then gives us a few of his favourite City players… Norwich City F.C. was formed, as an amateur club, at a meeting at the Criterion Café in Norwich on 17 June 1902 . […]
NCFC Quiz: Function, Faith, and Football – Can you pick the odd two out?
Some people say it’s a mistake to start a football article with a Shakespeare quote peppered with paltry puns such as ‘A (Danny) Rose by any other Nayim would smell as sweet’. Those people are right (*cough*) So let’s get straight to the quiz. QUIZ 1: The following virtual team of eleven players have surnames […]
It MAY be attractive and safe to resume. That’s fine for some – but should it be?
Today’s piece is a divergence from my norm. It may not show, but I do usually try to write something vaguely coherent and joined-up. No pretence of that today. Rather, it’s a random set of thoughts around a common issue: the Restart, or not, of football. Each thought leads to a question-conclusion. Among much that’s […]
It’ll be football but not as we know it. And, yes, we do have to be led by the science
I am not a clinician, biologist, or epidemiologist. I am not employed by a government agency (foreign or domestic), a sports authority, or the travel industry. I ‘do’ websites. Yet, I was warning my parents not to travel to abroad, had boxes of food in the basement, and foresaw the cancelling of fixtures, all weeks […]
Even in semi-lockdown, still plenty to admire for the children of Webberlution
Stuart Webber delivered a performance of all the logic, rationale and nuance that has been lacking in debates surrounding Project Restart on Sky Sports yesterday morning. He believes the remaining games should be played out at home and away venues. He believes the Premier League’s – and the Championship’s – conclusion should be played out […]
To claim or donate… that is the question
Well they didn’t mess about did they? Norwich City Official put out on Monday that they’d nip any rebate issues in the bud and at 09:15 today I received the same message as many of our MFW readers and writers doubtlessly did too. “On Monday the club made the decision to begin the rebate process, […]
Thatcher and our Delia may be poles apart politically, but they’ll agree on one thing…
The lady’s not for turning Readers of a certain vintage will absorb that phrase and either shudder or raise a wistful smile. It depends on your politics. For those unaware of the phrase, it relates to Thatcher’s refusal in 1980 to make a u-turn on her economic policy, despite rising unemployment and the economic recession. […]
TALES FROM THE CITY: Iwan Roberts
Iwan Roberts not only needs no introduction, he doesn’t need his surname. Just saying ‘Iwan’ is enough. Here is his chapter in the first volume of the Tales From The City trilogy, reproduced here with the kind permission of Adam Leventhal for the publishers and editor Mick Dennis. It was first published in October 2015 […]
GUEST BLOG: Project Restart – but with a Liverpool hue
The flurry of MFW content decrying Project Restart has provoked plenty of discussion, mostly dissenting voices but the odd one in favour. One of those has been Liverpool fan Neal Widdows, who kindly offered to write us a piece explaining the argument for. Here goes… and please let’s play nice. Firstly, I’d like to thank […]
The carousel of the EPL… on which most of the hoi polloi really don’t seem to matter
And so the football carousel keeps spinning around.** Almost everybody riding it seems to possess a stronger sense of self-interest and hypocrisy than us football supporters who right now genuinely don’t know whether our ar$es are bored, punched or countersunk. (Ask a carpenter if you’re in any doubt as to what the three words after […]
GUEST BLOG: Five questions the EPL should answer before Project Restart can… start
The latest blogger to grasp the Project Guest Blog baton is Phil Huish, who has some searching questions to ask of the Premier League before their own pet project can safely begin… For context, I’m a City season ticket holder who lives in exile. Every match I attend includes six hours in the car and […]
If the Premier League really wants to take its ball home to stop City playing – let it
Before I begin, if you’re a Liverpool fan, look away now. I incensed so many of them last Sunday they’re not going to find this one any more soothing. Just go. Leeds fans too. And to that West Brom bloke who has questioned my parentage on numerous occasions over the last week … I really […]
TALES FROM THE CITY: Robert Fleck
Robert Fleck was leading scorer for four consecutive seasons for Norwich and player of the year in 1992. He had two spells at the club, making more than 250 appearances and scoring 84 times. His contribution to the second volume of the Tales From The City trilogy was perhaps the most surprising of all 33 […]
Where does football go next? There’s no understating the magnitude of this crisis
It’s only a game. Football paid off my mortgage. Football helped me regain my mental health more than once. Football has set my mood and provided the rhythm of my week since I was eight – which is 60 years ago this week. But it is only a game. So that is the context of […]
Project Restart? Eh? The Premier League execs should rebrand it Project Rethink
It’s hardly a surprise that Project Restart has divided opinion. Everything does that today. Literally everything. Fuelled by social media’s raison d’etre of giving every Tom, Dick and Gary a voice on every conceivable talking point, the modern trend is to take a side, dig your trench deep and refuse to budge. Invariably the trenches […]
In the world of the Premier League, some are MUCH more equal than others
Are you sitting comfortably? Yes? Let me try to change that. Or at least, to paint a familiar picture in some more vivid colours. In a discussion on another forum about pay cuts and furloughing staff, I gently ventured the view that some Premier Clubs were in a different position from others. I was promptly […]
GUEST BLOG: When football resumes, do we need to think about Buexit again?
Another blogger to take up the offer of an MFW guest spot was Paul Usher, co-founder of new football fans site, www.headersandvolleys.co.uk. Here he offers his take on the impact of NCFC lockdown, and launches a phrase that will soon be as familiar as Webber-lution. Enjoy… Let’s face it, this seemingly never-ending hiatus from football […]
Can you name the ten City players who’ve gone on to manage in the Premier League?
So, how many of these managerial appointments do you remember? Cue music… 1. Martin O’Neill O’Neill’s highest league position was 6th with Aston Villa which remarkably he achieved for three consecutive seasons from 2007/08 to 2009/10. His highest position with Leicester was 9th. 2. Malky McKay Cardiff City (2013/14) Having achieved promotion as champions the previous […]
Who is, statistically, the most successful Norwich City manager in the top flight?
Fourteen managers have managed Norwich City Football Club in the top flight since Ron Saunders first achieved it in 1972/73. But how do their records compare? In the following table all fourteen managers are ranked by the percentage of games won under their leadership in the top division in English football. All competitive league and […]
TALES FROM THE CITY: Kevin Bond
In the second volume of the Tales From The City trilogy, Kevin Bond gave a brutally frank assessment of how being the son of manager John Bond helped his career — but, despite the self-deprecating honesty, it reminded readers that Kevin became more than just his daddy’s boy. His Tale, written in 2016, has a […]
All the Germans… who’ve graced and added a certain something to our football club
? All the Germans. So many Germans… ? Well, since the dawn of Farkelife in the summer of 2017 we have had quite a few, haven’t we? There’s Daniel himself, who arrived from Borussia Dortmund II and on his coaching team are assistant head coach Edmund Riemer, first-team coach Christopher John and sports scientist – or head of performance if […]
Black holes of up to £35 million don’t fill themselves. But City will be far from alone…
When football eventually returns, it looks like City can expect a right royal kicking, metaphorically speaking at least. Maybe not so much when it first begins, given that it’s almost certain to be behind closed doors, but with the stadiums full of fans we look set to be the pariahs and be given the full […]
GUEST BLOG: The life of the average City fan – one who is neither ‘super’ or ‘elite’
The latest victim to take on the MFW guest blog challenge is Simon Mitton – a familiar voice for those in the #NCFC Twitter community, who describes perfectly what it is to be an “average fan”. Well worth a read… Let’s get one thing clear right off the bat. I’m not a ‘super-fan’. I’m not […]
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Finding folk to match & deliver the vision is more vital than cash
Our ‘One from the Archives’ series has already had one pearler from the boss, penned in the aftermath of that infamous 7-1 defeat to Colchester. Here’s another of Rick’s, one that was also penned in the aftermath of something infamous, namely Delia’s interview with Henry Winter in 2016. At the time, City were 16th in […]
Heroes aplenty, but who has been City’s most prolific striker of the last 50 years?
Since Ron Saunders first dragged the Canaries scratching and pecking into England’s top football division in 1972 several hundred players have represented the club – including many dozens of strikers. But which of these strikers was the best? Who managed to hit the back of the net most frequently? In short, who was the most […]
The Boys In Orange: The Canaries’ mixed fortunes with their men from the Lowlands
If you’re an Ipswich Town supporter, in order to look on the bright side of life you have to retreat into the Twentieth Century. They did something so stunningly right back in the day that we as Norwich City have yet to emulate and I don’t mean fluking an FA Cup win. They signed two […]
TALES FROM THE CITY: Michael Wynn Jones
He used to stand on the terraces. Then came the time he needed to stand by the club. After four decades as a fan, Michael Wynn Jones and his wife, Delia Smith, stepped in to save Norwich City. This third excerpt from the trilogy of Tales from the City was first published in 2015. It […]
How much are you missing matchday buddies? Oh for the day when we reunite
As the prospect of seeing real, live football seems to disappear ever further from our cognisance, I thought I might pose the MFW community a question: do you miss your casual matchday mates and if so, how much? You could [like me] sit in a Barclay rag, tag and bobtail of lifetime friends, relatively new […]
The glorious spring of 2015 relived. But how do Alex Neil’s heroes compare to 2020’s?
It wasn’t intended as a stark reminder of how our club has evolved over the last five years – but that’s precisely what it ended up being. For those that didn’t see it, or were unaware of its existence, yesterday afternoon the club ran on YouTube the full, glorious 95 minutes of City beating Ipswich […]
Crystal ball time. It’s now 2050. So what exactly does the Canary Nation look like?
It’s April 2050 and as the 2049/50 season draws to a close manager Daniel Farke comes under pressure as Norwich City sit only 2nd in the Amazon Prime Premier League, a division they’ve won for the last 11 seasons. Club chairman Sir Ian Culverhouse says Farke has the board’s full support, but ‘needs to pull […]
Not the greatest, not even the best, but let’s be having your ‘favourite’ Norwich City XI
They locked us down. A scenario I never thought I’d see, certainly in my lifetime. As I sit and pen this article I find myself gazing out over the Severn Estuary and count myself very fortunate to live where I do. We live in Portishead and have a 180-degree panoramic view of the river Severn, […]
Some of the great and good (and not so good) of the Canaries’ African imports
To continue my series of overseas Norwich City players from specific geographical areas I thought I’d set my sights on our African players by beginning with somebody I have never seen play. Sandy Kennon, from the then Rhodesia, who took over from 59-er hero Ken Nethercott between the sticks toward the end of that magnificent […]
TALES FROM THE CITY: Ken Brown
Ken Brown was manager for more games than anyone in Norwich City history — 367 competitive matches — and his spell in charge followed seven years and 340 games as assistant manager to Jon Bond. Yet, despite serving and surviving for so long in a fiercely competitive industry, he was known for his almost constant […]
GUEST BLOG: Heroes all, but what has happened to Neil Adams’ Class of 2013?
Alex Bain is back, this time with a look back to the FA Youth Cup heroes of 2013… They were supposed to be our golden generation but of our FA Youth Cup winning team of 2013, only Carlton Morris remains. Unfortunately, following a serious injury picked up on loan at Shrewsbury, his career stalled and […]
‘From the midnight sun, where the hot springs flow’ – aka City’s famous Vikings
After a brace of ear-splitting, blood-curdling shrieks from Robert Plant the first track on Led Zeppelin III in 1970, The Immigrant Song, kicked the album off. It was all about Vikings on the rob and although I think the lyrics are a bit first-year sixth form they went like this: We come from the land […]
Small, invaluable gestures… football eating itself… and a weird welcome to Danel Sinani
Regular readers of this column probably know more about my dad than they do me. I’ll spare you the details, but in a nutshell, he’s a massive City fan, he’s my hero and this was to have been his last season as a season ticket holder. He also lives alone (unless you count Ben the […]
Forbidden ground? Only a few have been brave enough to cross that great divide
There has never been a physical wall along the Norfolk/Suffolk border; no barrier to trade, people, and friendships. But in sporting terms there surely is. That thin line on the map that traces east to west forms the demarcation point between the two East Anglain footballing giants; Norwich City and Ipswich Town. League victors, cup-winners, […]
Who remembers their very first game? The buzz of the crowd & ‘the thrill of the grass’
‘The thrill of the grass’. Now if anyone can guess the literary reference; book and author – sans google – I’ll be mightily impressed. In these dystopian days of social distancing and self-isolation, terms I had never heard until a few weeks ago, I’ve been trying to think of a few articles to pen that could help […]
Match Abandoned (Air Raid): The tale of the last time Carrow Road fell quiet
A disappointing crowd of just 10,729 made their way to Portman Road for Norwich City’s Third Division (South) match against Ipswich Town on September 2nd, 1939, a typically rumbustious and end-to-end local derby that ended with honours even in a 1-1 draw. The Norwich scorer on the day, Billy Furness was, at the time, perhaps […]
TALES FROM THE CITY: Bryan Gunn
By kind agreement with the publishers, Tales From Ltd, MyFootballWriter today begins the serialisation of the three Tales From The City books, which were put together by our own Mick Dennis. Each chapter in the books is a personal account of one person’s association with Norwich City. They are “Tales” from ex-players, former managers, directors […]
GUEST BLOG: A famous Carrow Road afternoon of the 60s recorded for posterity
It’s guest blog time again and, prompted by our recent run of MFW nostalgia (there’s precious little else to talk about), Dave Butcher – better known to most as DaveB 2 in the comments – takes us back to 1967 for a game that’s been recorded for posterity on the EA Archive. Take it away, […]
Hang in there. One day this will be all over and our 27000-seater living room awaits us
A daft question really, but how are we doing? Good enough I hope, in these most trying of times. I’ve been posting pieces of daily content from the MFW team in an attempt to offer even the tiniest of distractions, but in the real world, the most awful of disasters is steadily – in London […]
Every good team needs a good centre-back pairing, and at City we’ve had our fair share
There is a cliché in football, that you cannot win anything without a decent goalkeeper. All very true of course, but the same principle applies to the centre backs of successful teams. Think back to Moore and Charlton in 1966, Hansen and Lawrenson in the great Liverpool team of the ’80s and arguably the most […]
Well played all at NCFC! An example of this county’s community spirit at its finest
One of the best things to come out of Carrow Road since the permanent signing of Darren Huckerby emerged very recently as in the decision by our players, manager, directors and other senior staff to club together to help Norfolk people during the coronavirus threat, quickly raising £200,000 in the process. Straight over to Club […]
Heroes on the pitch and also in our hearts. Yes, the Canaries have produced many
Malcolm Robertson’s recent reminiscences here about his favourite City players over the years set many of us thinking. Fortunately, there are plenty to go around, special players in one way or another who we’ve watched in the Canary colours (albeit in a variety of shirts). Some are genuinely outstanding talents. Others have a special place […]
FROM THE ARCHIVES: The one after those two blokes threw their tickets at poor Gunny
Our ‘From the Archives’ series wouldn’t be complete without one from the boss, and so, with his usual insight and foresight, here’s a piece that Rick wrote in August 2009. It was scribed the day after the Colchester game. You know the one… the one that titled the Canary world on its axis. As Rick […]
Punching people… Ernie Wise… Hot Cross Bone… Odd crushes… & more bad boys
Before we even start let me explain. These are not necessarily the best players ever to pull on the green and yellow shirt. If so the brilliant but clean-living Martin Peters and Ron Davies would be in here. But they’re not. These are the players that I will always remember and not necessarily for the […]
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Not heard of Vasper, Gallego, Dennington & Ronson? Read on…
Peter Vasper. It’s a great name isn’t it? It sounds like one belonging to a 1970s TV detective; a man who likes to operate not only outside the law but also, with his unfeasible perm, heavily flared trousers and penchant for the naffest of the naff music of the time with the likes of Paper […]
While the Norwich City story may be on hold, its resumption will offer joy and hope
Winston Churchill once said ‘a fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject’. In many respects, he could easily have been referring to supporting Norwich City Football Club. Amid the agony and the ecstasy, the trials and tribulations, and the thrills and spills, the truth remains – we are privileged […]
Some Norwich City heroes from ITV Anglia’s finest; those players who’ve struck a chord
This is what happens when you’ve too much time on your hands. Endlessly trawling through Twitter in the hope of finding some light amidst this awful darkness. I found it in the shared experience of those naming footballers who’ve meant a lot to them. Anyone from Puskas to Pukki. But what really inspired me to […]
Madonna, Beyoncé, and Delia – all twerkers extraordinaire, but their other connection?
Apologies, forgive the loose connection to football analysis, but as it’s such a nice headline, I beg your indulgence… Cutting to the chase (or more appropriately ‘to the Smith’); what do Madonna, Beyoncé, and Delia all have in common? – Are all three a whizz in the kitchen? Well, no – even if one of […]
From Segura through to Buendia, the NCFC Hispanic contingent have been a mixed bag
Well, it’s matchday and I’m getting ready to go to the Carra to watch us take on the quieter side of Merseyside, aka Everton. Enter Mrs P stage left who slaps me round the kisser with a Yarmouth bloater and reminds me that I’m not doing that at all. Being rudely shocked into reality I […]
What’s in a season? And what was your favourite ever Norwich City campaign?
Do you remember that scene in the Matrix, where Neo becomes ‘self-aware’…? For my football awakening, that was the summer of 1993. Sure, I liked football, used to have a kick around, emulated Gazza, Platt and Lineker during Italia ‘90, but I didn’t have a team. So my Norwich FC journey began in that summer […]
Oh to be sitting in the Carra right now. Or at home awaiting the dulcet tones of Chris G
“When will I see you again?” So sang the Three Degrees. Little did Shelia Ferguson know it would become the theme (or at least my theme) of the spring of 2020. I’m missing friends and family. I’m also missing the River End like you wouldn’t believe. In particular, those I call my Carrow Road neighbours […]
Mills was ‘one of our own’, but club nor player recalls that time with fondness. Why?
There are many who pass through the Fine City in the name of professional football and fall in the love with the place. Some stay for life. I’m thinking Darren Huckerby, Iwan Roberts and Darren Eadie, just off the top of my head, but there are others. Equally, there are some who pass through for […]
FROM THE ARCHIVES: The one that followed (yet) another ‘Molineux debacle’
Anyone who listens to Radio Norfolk knows what a lovely chap Chris Goreham is. What you may not know, or recall, is that said lovely chap was once of this parish, before his writing skills, on top of his broadcasting skills, were snapped up by the good folk of Archant. Back in the day – […]
‘Ghost games’ needed to conclude the season? Mick D describes the eeriness
Eddie Baily, West Ham’s chief scout, kept up a constant chorus of insistent instructions from the touchline. Everyone in the stadium heard every word. Unfortunately, every second word was an expletive. But, as the attendance was less than 300, Baily’s bawling didn’t offend too many. It was Wednesday, October 1st, 1980. West Ham’s European Cup […]
A Carrow Road love story – 74 years in the making and about to draw to a close
Dick Gowers’ first-ever trip to Carrow Road was on August 31, 1946, when City played host to Cardiff on the opening day of the Division Three (South) 1946/47 season. They won 2-1. As well as being Dad’s first sight and sound of the old place – then not-so-old – it was the club’s first competitive […]
Was Worthy worth it? The crowd thinks so…
I do like a graph. Must be something in my chromosomes (the ‘X’ and ‘Y’ bits probably) And, for reasons that will become clear, I like this one very much. It shows a comparison between the average home attendances for Norwich City and Ipswich Town since 1992. As you can see, City’s attendances have been […]
City’s Men of Harlech – some Canary greats who graced the red shirt of Wales
In the early 1990s at the time of manager Dave Stringer’s squad transitioning into the tenure of Mike Walker, NCFC boasted a rare gift. We had a trio of Welsh internationals, all first-team regulars at the same time and truly amongst the very heartbeat of that famous squad. All wore the “egg ‘n’ cress” with […]
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Norwich City – More than a club. A connection with our roots
Remember back in the day when MyFootballWriter regularly had writing from proper football hacks, like the Micks and the Ricks? Even then, the ‘…icks’ was part-used (by Wrath of the Barclay, mainly) as rhyming slang for a group of MFW writers. Nowadays that collective noun is mainly the preserve of Facebook when describing the MFW […]
Great Scot! – The top ten Norwich City legends from north of the border
The clue is in the title. And so, kicking us off in civic style, straight in at number ten, in a Fluff Freeman style, it’s the Mayor… 10. Kenny McLean (Midfielder 2018-?) – Apps 50, Goals 4 A sprightly, energetic midfielder, full of life, who loves scoring the odd goal here and there. A great […]
‘You don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone’… including the footie
‘You don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone’ sang Joni Mitchell. Well following recent events, lots of us are starting to find out. Of course, in a global crisis like the Coronavirus pandemic, sport is of minor importance compared with what’s at stake for some people. Believe me, I know. I live with my […]
No Carrow Road for a while and all for the right reasons… but where from here?
Anybody of my vintage [1957] will know all about measles, mumps, German measles [rubella] chicken pox and the rest. Younger readers might not of course and I’m glad for them if they don’t ever experience any of these horribles. Chicken pox came back to bite me on the butt one Christmas Eve around 2005 in […]
Null and void? … 22-team Premier League? … Paper, scissors, stone to see who survives?
The creaks are rising and football means nothing. Nada. But there will come a time again when it does. It may not feel like it right now… but it will. And when it eventually resumes, or well before then in fact, there are some massive decisions to be made by those in the corridors of […]
Strange days are upon us… no football but, doubly disappointing, no Trust foodbank
This is a story of being overtaken by life. Last Monday I started writing about football, as I’m unlikely to be doing so for the foreseeable future I might as well publish it anyway: Black and white, night and day, matter and anti-matter. Pick the antonym of your choice but they could all be applied […]
ONE FROM THE ARCHIVES: The one where City were stitched up by some hungover Toffees
Now, you may have been expecting a preview of City vs. Saints, but given its postponement and the uncertainty over the remainder of the Premier League season (for obvious reasons), an online debate is currently raging around the fairest way to conclude this campaign. Obviously, we all know the only fair way is to cancel […]
VIDEO: ‘Behind Enemy Lines’ – Southampton (H)… with The Ugly Inside
Freddie of The Ugly Inside joins Ben for this episode of Behind Enemy Lines ahead of the Premier League clash between the Canaries & the Saints. The lads asses the direction of both clubs since their last meeting back in December; a game that saw Norwich fall to Southampton’s press, as the team in red […]
ONE FROM THE ARCHIVES: The one where City played against nine Saints in the Cup!
‘One from the Archives’ is a new feature on MFW, designed specifically to titillate those with a love NCFC nostalgia, and is definitely not a cynical attempt to fill our pages on a day when they would have been free of fresh content (or would have contained content that would perhaps be a little too […]
VIDEO – Ralf Fahrmann exits stage left after a Krul-ly truncated stay in the Fine City
Our Ben Ambrose offers his thoughts on Ralf Fahrmann leaving City. The German shot-stopper arrived with bags of experience in the summer of 2019, with hopes of regular first-team football, but ended up only making three appearances for Norwich. Ben’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/ben_ambrose23Jordan’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/ben_ambrose23 Please also follow our social media pages! ? Twitter – https://twitter.com/TotalFootballNRInstagram […]
The route to PL safety for the Canaries? Or the road to nowhere? You decide…
Historically my guest blogs and posts on MFW have had a pessimistic slant (I’d say realistic), but for once I come delivering good-ish news… I think! Using a hugely (un)scientific model of predicting results I have calculated, with(out) 100% certainty, the final Premier League table of the season. How is that possible? Well, with the […]
Defeat at the hands of the Wilder-beasts and the bell tolls on City’s brief PL stopover
Tony Dunne was a fine Irish international and full back for Manchester United. Clive Dunn was the unforgettable Lance-Corporal Jones in Dad’s Army – as in “don’t panic Mr Mainwaring – they don’t like it up ’em” – and also had a horrendous venture into the Top Ten with the song Grandad. But today I’m […]
City again come out the wrong side of those fine margins. Another three points slip away
Chris Wilder: “It was a gritty performance, we just felt we were a bit better than them in both boxes.” As loathed as I am to admit it, he’s nailed it yet again. In every sense. Sheffield United are better than us in both boxes, generally, and were better than us in both boxes yesterday. […]
BLADES PREVIEW: Rocking Bramall Lane… big defensive walls… & being cock-a-hoop
When Blades and Canaries collide my go-to guy is Pete Turner. In his own words, “the Brixton arm of the Brighton, Brixton and Belgravia Blades” – aka the BBB Blades. So, ahead of the latest in a very long line of must-wins for City, I returned to the calm of chez Turner for what we describe as […]
The rarity of a winning penalty shoot-out for City and their first Quarters since 1992!
Well, well, well, the Canary puts the boot into the Cockerel – and on Chanticleer’s splendid new turf too. And via the most unlikely of mediums: a City win in a penalty shoot-out. Now, this might have happened before but if it has I genuinely cannot remember it. I recall our relatively recent loss to […]
Timmy, Timmy Krul… the hero, as the Canaries gloriously make it to the last eight
As the saying goes, heroes come in all shapes and forms. They don’t have to wear capes. We know that for a fact. We now know they come in the form of nerveless, teenage Irishmen who love the FA Cup and in lanky Germans who have not had much of a look in but who […]
VIDEO – FA Cup: Tottenham v Norwich – Preferred XI and Match Preview
Join Ben for his pre-match thoughts before he heads to that London to join 8,999 others, all hoping the magic of the FA Cup lives up to its billing…
SPURS FA CUP PREVIEW: Smiley Jose… no Kane or Son… Danny Murphy… & penalties?
Ahead of this week’s last 16 FA Cup tie at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, I’ve been chatting again with talkSPORT’s Paul Hawksbee – the Spurs-supporting half of Hawksbee & Jacobs – who described us, after the league game in north London, as the best bottom-of-the-league team he’d ever seen. So, can we justify this dubious […]
ONE FROM THE ARCHIVES: The last time the mighty Liverpool rocked up at the Carra
I’d hate for anyone to think ‘One from the Archives’ is a new feature, designed specifically to fill the MFW pages on a day that would otherwise be void of fresh content (as if…), but I can see that those of a cynical disposition may interpret it that way. I’d rather look at it as […]
TOTTENHAM PREVIEW… with one half of talkSPORT’s legendary Hawksbee & Jacobs
One of the perks of writing for a living is that occasionally you get the opportunity to meet your heroes. With that in mind, I was properly chuffed when, having interviewed Andy Jacobs for a couple of Chelsea previews, Paul Hawksbee – him of talkSPORT, Harry Hill’s TV Burp and Baddiel and Skinner’s Fantasy Football […]
A grim day for the City faithful as they lose a legend and Wolves snaffle the three points
A soul-crushing defeat from a game we should have won felt bad enough The walk back to the car felt longer and gloomier than normal. But then to turn on the car radio and learn of the passing of a club legend… It was difficult to process at the time… and still is. Thankfully Mick […]
There’s life in the old dog yet! ‘Inconsistent’ City slug it out at the King Power
My next door neighbour in Mundesley, Matt, is pretty much like-minded to myself in that he watches Match of the Day either on Saturday night or Sunday morning and then takes his dog out to do the a.m. canine things. Yesterday morning on Mundesley Rec, Oscar the beagle and Geezer the Patterdale terrier discussed their […]
WE MEET AGAIN: Zola’s magic… Beasant’s howlers… and a Carrow Road pea-souper
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 […]
The future is bright, the future is yellow, regardless of this season’s final outcome
A quick game before we get started: two of these statements are false, while the other is undeniably true. Can you pick out the correct one? The only way to stay in the Premier League is by spending hundreds of millions of pounds, no matter who the money is spent on. Aston Villa were clearly […]
GUEST BLOG – Q: Where would City fit into a ‘franchised’ Prem? A: They wouldn’t
A new week and a new guest blogger. Today is the turn of regular MFW commenter Peter Divey (Cobwatch) who looks at the unedifying prospect of the Premier League heading down the US franchise route and, as a result, becoming a closed shop… Rumours have swirled for years that if the correct combination of teams […]
They sniggered when Webber hailed the ‘best coach in the division’. Now who’s laughing?
In the aftermath of that final day drubbing at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday, this club was rife with frustration and panic. With its prize asset on crutches, social media went vocal on its fears around whether the new regime could bear fruit and a team who looked sluggish and had once again been beaten […]
No more ‘under the radar’, teams have long sussed City, but are they good enough to stop them?
For City, this season has been a constant tug-of-war with adversity. Numerous hurdles have been placed in their path, odds stacked against them at every junction and yet their positive, philosophical approach is still being attributed, by some, to luck. In truth, they’re not considered by most outside of Norfolk as real or worthy contenders, […]
Andy’s Q1 report (Part Four) – Goodbye to the Tractor Boys? Or maybe to Alex’s boys?
In the final tranche of his quarterly report, Andy looks at the sides who currently reside in the Championship’s nether regions. Who, if anyone, can escape? *** Rotherham United 3 wins, 2 draws, 7 defeats. Brentford 5 – 1 R’ham R’ham 1 – 0 Ipswich Leeds 2 – 0 R’ham R’ham 2 – 3 Hull […]
Perfect hat-trick for City up west, as academy investment starts to bear fruit
Well, surely we all enjoyed that. The perfect hat-trick in terms of points as in nine from nine. With no Hanley, no McLean, no Hernandez and Louis Thompson apparently barely fit for duty. But still there were some moaners on the loose on social media and elsewhere. Utterly ridiculous. More fool Wally McLaren for not […]
Football is now a global brand, supporters are now customers – but who are the real winners?
Modern football has become invested by wealth and power; it’s difficult to deny that. The higher you climb up the football pyramid, the more the game is influenced by the aforementioned factors. It’s worth remembering that after the horrendous incident at Hillsborough and football hooliganism in the 1980s, that English football was belittled by politicians […]
A frustrating points tally but don’t write this City side off quite yet… give it time to gel
In sport, statistics will never tell you the whole story. In a simple and somewhat idealistic world, a mere glance at a football score, an assessment of a batsman’s average or an analysis of a rugby player’s try-tally would provide us with a comprehensive indication of what really happened. However, as many of those City […]
So damn close… will there ever be a better chance of national glory?
Around 60 minutes into the World Cup semi-final I knew we were going to blow it. The missed chances of the first half were haunting us and Croatia had tweaked their formation. Alli, Lingard and Henderson no longer had the ball but spent their time filling space and trying to make it difficult for their […]