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 […]
Sour scenes at Old Trafford as cracks appear in the fans’ unity and togetherness
Division reigns on the terraces and, without risking mincing my words, it was all so grimly predictable. All the rhetoric of last season centred around those abstract notions of unity, togetherness and collective belief. All the talk was about how Daniel Farke’s players and the fans were united in this ostensible sense of oneness, an […]
Leitner’s Deepdale strop must be a one-off and not eat into the unity and selflessness
Adam Idah stole the headlines but it was the antics of another City player that caught my eye during Saturday’s impressive FA Cup triumph at Preston. Of course, Idah was majestic under the Deepdale lights, showcasing all his work-rate, movement, pace and trickery to reap havoc on Alex Neil’s defence and kick-start an – I […]
‘Farke was the one who got us here. In my mind, he has what it takes to keep us here’
‘It’s more difficult to stay on top, than to get there in the first place’ were the wise words of former USA Women’s player Mia Hamm, and her insight is proving more than pertinent upon inspection of Norwich City this season. Hamm scored a staggering 158 goals for her country between 1987 and 2004, lighting […]
Can that night in Sofia really be a turning point? Or another for UEFA to gloss over?
It was in the East Anglian Derby in 2015 when I first saw Tyrone Mings play. Mings, along with 17 other members of Mick McCarthy’s merry men, were those who descended on Carrow Road in February that year, for 90 memorable minutes playing the pantomime villains that Alex Neil’s promotion-winning heroes sent back to Suffolk […]
Carrow Road cannot lose that unique sense of joy, buoyancy and togetherness
I always knew the mercy of going into national sports journalism would mean I wouldn’t be able to follow Norwich City up and down the country each week. Such are the demands of my new – and first – job, a sacrifice of working weekends that has made me empathise all the more with fans […]
To those who’ve missed out on tickets: fear not, because it will get easier from now on
Thanks to Teemi Pukki’s brilliance, Moritz Leitner’s composure and Todd Cantwell’s coming of age, the intricacies of the club’s new membership scheme appear to have been largely forgotten. And rightly so. This has been a swashbuckling start to life in the Premier League by City, two games characterised not so much by realpolitik as they […]
The VAR debate: A modern day necessity? Or a killjoy to the once beautiful game?
After a hectic opening weekend of Premier League action including a valiant Norwich City display on Merseyside and a quintessentially old school Manchester United romping, there’s only one thought that dominates my mind this Sunday evening: football is worse off with VAR. As we know, it was at the London Stadium where the farcical nature […]
It pays to be progressive, innovative and bold – as City and the ECB have discovered
England’s Cricket World Cup wasn’t really won on that glorious, sun-baked evening at Lord’s on Sunday. It wasn’t won by that magnificent display of batting fortitude by Ben Stokes, that nerve-shredding super over delivered by Jofra Archer or that unerring pick-up and bullet throw from Jason Roy in front of the famous old Grand Stand. […]
Time to drop the ‘loyalty’ debate. There’s far more that unites us than divides us
Measuring loyalty as a football fan is about as ambiguous a concept as they come. Critically, what does it actually mean? Is it away games attended? Is it the longevity you’ve held a season ticket for? Is it money spent, or time invested in your club? More obscurely, is it knowledge and an ability to […]
Who will be first up on August 10? And who would we prefer? A Man City or a Burnley?
Much like a Cadbury’s Creme Egg, we all consume the annual release of the fixtures in different ways. Some fans are largely indifferent, justifiably apathetic towards what can be perceived as a futile and premature attempt to rouse anticipation for the upcoming season. Some fans keep a watchful eye, not overly concerned but keen to […]
From The Valley to a ‘booze-fuelled balcony’ – A foot soldier’s tale
It all started at The Valley back in July. Despite not normally being anything like a pre-season enthusiast, a friend’s 21st in Guildford that necessitated changing trains in London made the prospect of an away trip in the sun difficult to resist. We lost 1-0 that day. Lost 1-0 to a side that had finished […]
City’s shot stopper extraordinaire is leading the charge both on and off the pitch
Back in Norfolk for the first time since Derby Day, I took an unconventional route to Carrow Road on Friday afternoon. After a swift visit to see my granny in Gorleston, I boarded the 17:03 service from Haddiscoe – long story – and made that pre-match pilgrimage into the Fine City. The immediate chat from […]
Let’s not just go up, but let’s stay there, and create a lasting legacy for this club
With just eight games to go, the prospect of promotion is rapidly transforming a romantic, abstract dream into something far more tangible. Such is the distance this team of yellow and green heroes have travelled, overcoming nearly every obstacle the division has placed in their way and cementing a four-point lead at the Championship’s summit […]
Let’s not underestimate the Stieperdude – no-one has a more key role in Farkeball
For those City fans out there who happen to be a follower of Test match cricket, I’m sure the name Shivnarine Chanderpaul will require little introduction. Chanderpaul, that brilliant yet unconventional accumulator of runs for the West Indies – 11,867 at an average of 51.37, to be precise – who had that endearing knack of […]
Wheels coming off? Not a chance. This City side is not about to go away
If these current City players are going to achieve immortality and gain promotion to the Premier League, posterity may well look back very fondly on that Jordan Rhodes goal on Saturday afternoon. In the face of adversity and Albion’s sustained high press, Daniel Farke’s heroes rallied, once again demonstrating their unwavering defiance and sending the […]
Now is not the time to lose faith. Defeat to Derby a mere blip in City’s fine season
The date was May 25, 2017, and Norwich City had some news to announce. News that fans were all awaiting. News that had been the subject of endless debate and speculation over the preceding couple of months. And, while the nature of that news was inevitable, its content was instead more unexpected. As we’re all […]
With tough fixtures looming, it’s the following few weeks that will shape City’s Championship destiny
When the Championship season draws to a close and the mandatory post-campaign reflection begins, it looks likely that the nature of that debate will hinge upon Norwich City’s fortunes over the next two months. What Daniel Farke and his side have achieved so far has been nothing short of extraordinary. As is well-documented, Farke and […]
As Southgate’s young lions roar, why are City unable to produce an England international of their own?
As England’s players rejoiced while the tune of ‘Three Lions’ bellowed out of the Wembley PA system, fans of Sunderland, Sheffield United, Barnsley, Queen’s Park Rangers and Milton Keynes Dons would have been looking on with pride. Gareth Southgate‘s array of young talent had just risen from the depths of potential UEFA Nations League abyss, […]
With Carrow Road becoming a fortress, is there more to City’s home form than Farkeball alone?
Over the past few weeks, much has been written on these pages of City’s remarkable rise to the summit of the Championship and the advent of the now-pervasively referred to ‘Farkeball’. Eloquent articles from multiple MFW heavyweights have sought to diagnose the reasons for our magnificent form, delving into the inner intricacies of City’s passing […]