Stewart Lewis

As regular readers will recall, I sometimes like to start articles with a trivia question related to something I’m going to discuss. Today’s is this: of the 22 clubs in the inaugural Premier League (1992-93), how many are still in the PL today? As a secondary: are any of them no longer in either of […]

As I write, City have played 22 league games out of 46.  A fair point for a half-time review. Others have given well-deserved praise to individual players, and to Daniel Farke and his coaching staff. I’ll take a slightly more statistical slant. But first, a question to ponder while you read. Who is the only […]

That headline may be greeted with open-mouthed incredulity – especially by the Capital Canaries players I managed in the West Fulham Sunday League. But I stand by it. You see, Daniel doesn’t always get it right. He’ll sometimes say, for instance, that he’s “pretty pleased” when he clearly means he’s very pleased.  It’s because he […]

A disclaimer to begin: this is neither an investigative article nor a gossip column. I’ve no scoop on the reasons behind Steve Stone leaving the club. My speculation would have the same validity as everyone else’s (ie. very little). However, Steve has been a key part of Norwich City’s journey and changes since 2015. His […]

How quaint the ways of paradox At common sense she gaily mocks Readers of a certain age and schooling will instantly recognize The Pirates of Penzance. Gilbert’s paradox, in that case, involved contracts and birthdays, but he might just as well have been talking about football. In particular the past few weeks of Norwich City FC. […]

You may think, as I did, that you know the Community Sports Foundation. And you may be, as I was, a bit wrong. I thought CSF was largely, if not exclusively, about giving young people a chance to play sports.  Nothing wrong with that, of course – but it turns out CSF is about much, […]

I could have written this article last week, or the week before. Your expression at this point may be similar to my wife’s. “What??? City play a derby, and it makes no difference to what you think?” Nope. The bottom line is this: I said before the season we should give it 20 games before making […]

“Were they at the same game?” It’s a question we might well ask of the EFL specialist paper (!) which reported City coming back “from 2-0 down” at Birmingham. But it’s also a question that springs to mind reading social media and online forums – and indeed, reaction to Gary’s match report here. In a […]

One of my clients once decided to carry out a worldwide survey of its staff. As consultant to the project, I was to join the third meeting of the Working Party. This sounded interesting, not least because the first two meetings had been in Rio de Janeiro and Singapore. So, what would be the location […]

Certain thoughts are better left unthunk          – Woody Allen I have a really bad idea. If I follow it through, I’m on a hiding to nothing. Yet it’s fair and right.  And having thunk it, I can’t unthunk it. It concerns my wife and Norwich City. She’s willingly proofread all of […]

I confess: I have a bias here. If there’s one player I’ve coveted for Norwich City longer than I did Dean Windass, it’s Jordan Rhodes. For most of the past decade, I’ve yearned to see him in a City shirt. In our Premier League days we could probably have afforded him, but his lack of […]

Family love is messy, clinging, and of an annoying and repetitive pattern – like bad wallpaper  P.J. O’Rourke Norwich City forums, even ours, fit the description painfully well. A visiting Martian coming to MFW (as he no doubt would) might be forgiven for missing that we’re drawn together by a powerful, shared passion – in […]

The music I love comes with surrounding stories – tales of excess, groupies, illicit relationships, drugs and early death. Yes, it’s classical music. But first, following in the footsteps of my fellow writers, a bit of nostalgia for the music of my formative years. Given the attractions of nostalgia, I may not get to Mozart […]

Well, here we go. The transfer window is open, from now til 9 August.  Stuart Webber, we know, has been making his plans for some time and laying whatever groundwork he can. Though we have a spectrum of views about the state of our club, I think we all share a sense that this window […]

Much as I’d like to cling on to a different view, the truth has become inescapable. I’m old. (You didn’t think I was going to turn against our club there, did you?  I’ll come back to that, but for now….) The players I now watch in the yellow-and-green could be the grandchildren of those I […]

OK, let’s get this first bit over with. The changes at Norwich City a year ago were far more radical than the club had ever made before; more radical than most clubs will ever make. In the wake of that, an up-and-down first season was inevitable. The good and bad of this season – and […]

In turbulent times it’s good to find something to smile about. I’ve come across a couple this week. In the “you couldn’t make it up” category, there was Neil Warnock’s lecture to the Wolves manager on behaving with class and dignity. Hmm… The other was a story that happened a while ago, involving Cross Farm […]

With the recent death of Stephen Hawking, it’s perhaps an appropriate moment to reflect on the nature of time – and its particular, sometimes downright peculiar, part in our football experience. These musings are prompted not just by Professor Hawking’s passing, but also by a rather haunting little book I’ve just read: Matt Haig’s How […]

I’m writing this column from just outside Tampa Bay. No, I didn’t win the half-time competition at Carrow Road.  It’s a mini family reunion, happily in the warmth of Florida. (In part, and somewhat scarily, it’s to celebrate my ‘little’ goddaughter’s 30th birthday.) I don’t know about the players, but I can certainly recommend a […]

In case you missed the news, it’s Shakespeare Week. An idea that would have amused the Bard no end, I suspect. In a way, it’s surprising the authorities are so keen for us to study Shakespeare.  His most famous plays involve witchcraft and bumping off the royal family (Macbeth), gang warfare and underage sex (Romeo […]