Martin Penney

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

I think we’re at the point at which Steve McQueen has robbed the Wermacht soldier of his motorbike, worked out that there’s a little bit of petrol in the tank and thus given himself a chance of jumping the wire. No guarantees, no promises but genuine hope. That result will have gone down like a […]

He’s a likeable, obviously well-educated and erudite youngish Premier League manager in his forties. His fans idolise him even when things go wrong for the team and their supporters. As they often do, seemingly ever-increasingly in the second half of this season. And did I feel sorry for him at the weekend? Yes I did, […]

Well, if you can’t be proud of that what can you be proud of? Considering the value of Virgil van Dijk alone would outstrip that of our entire squad quite literally twice over, we gave it a right good go and so nearly held out the Champions League winners who have only dropped two points […]

Well, that was the week that was. Philip Schofield came out as gay [I wasn’t exactly shocked by the “news”], Keith Richards reckons he’s given up smoking 60 Marlboro reds a day and North Norfolk District Council has refused to fly the Union Jack at its HQ for “Prince” Andrew’s birthday. But amongst this outbreak […]

You can’t beat the concept of light and shade. Whether it’s a piece of music, a film or indeed an MFW article it is an essential part of the creative’s repertoire – and for good reason. Think Pink Floyd, Hammer Horror or even some of my garbage on MFW if you will. And if ever […]

I’ve worked all over the place – and I know I’m not alone in that amongst the MFW community. This dubious privilege has taught me a few valuable lessons in life, of course. The best authentic Chinese food is to be found in London’s Limehouse. This was the original Chinese settlement in England long before […]

Norwich City have reached the fifth round of the FA Cup – for the first time since 2012 – and they did it with a great combination of flair and resilience it must be said. It’s easy to say Burnley didn’t really want it, particularly as their manager Sean Dyche publicly said before the game […]

I felt a certain amount of trepidation before this one as soon as it was confirmed that Mike Dean would be in charge of VAR. I was as disappointed with that as my Spurs mate Nicky would have been to see the name Serge Aurier on the teamsheet. Factor in our woeful record in the […]

Phew! When Paul Tierney blew that final whistle on Saturday the relief was audible, tangible and celebrated by absolutely every Canary in the ground. To me this was encapsulated by Tim Krul and Todd Cantwell enjoying the most heartfelt man-hug since Oliver Reed grappled with Alan Bates in Ken Russell’s Women in Love. At least […]

Well, that was always going to be a little bit too predictable wasn’t it? I deliberately didn’t put a personal score guess into the MFW Man Utd preview for just that reason. We’ve been described almost everywhere in the media as “poor” on Saturday and with pretty good reason from what I’ve seen and heard. […]