The Club 
An unofficial Norwich City website
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An unofficial Norwich City website |
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Canaries' History: Norwich
City Football Club was formed at a meeting held at the Criterion Café in White
Lion Street Norwich, on Tuesday 17th June 1902. They played their first
competitive game in an FA Cup preliminary round, away at Lowestoft
Town on Saturday 20th September 1902, losing 5-0. The first signs of Association Football as we know it being played in Norfolk came in 1881, and the Norfolk County Football Association was formed. They immediately organised a cup competition and in March 1882 Norfolk & Norwich beat Kings Lynn 3-1 at Lakenham in front of over 1000 spectators to win that first ever trophy Football's popularity continued to grow as the FA Cup and Football League competition took the national stage. More locally, Thorpe, Carrow Works, Swifans, Norwich Teachers and CEYMS vied for supremacy with ‘Church’ as CEYMS became known, winning the Norfolk Senior Cup four times between 1897 and 1902. Robert Webster and Joseph Cowper Nutchey were Captain and Vice Captain respectively of CEYMS in 1902 and it was they who invited interested parties to join them in a new and exciting footballing adventure, the formation of Norwich City Football Club. Webster was appointed the Club’s first Chairman and Nutchey, Treasurer. Arthur Turner, then of Swifans, became Joint Secretary with John Howes, and Robert Collinson was City’s first Captain. The Club approached the County FA to use Newmarket Road, the venue for County Cup Finals, as their home ground and were soon granted permission. The Newmarket Road ground can still be seen to this day, next to Notcutts Garden Centre on the corner of Newmarket Road and Daniels Road, and is still used by local schools for hockey and rugby matches. Just 6 weeks after that inaugural meeting, Norwich City were admitted to the Norfolk and Suffolk League where they faced Beccles Claxton, Kirkley, Lowestoft Town, Lynn Town, Norwich CEYMS, Ipswich Town and Yarmouth Town. The Club’s inaugural fixture was a friendly against Harwich & Parkeston at Newmarket Road on Saturday 6th September 1902, which ended 1-1, Jimmy Shields gaining the honour of scoring Norwich City’s first ever goal, an equaliser to Harwich’s earlier effort. City, at that time wearing blue and white halved shirts with white shorts and calling themselves the Citizens, finished that first ever season in third position, behind Lowestoft Town and Ipswich Town, in the Norfolk & Suffolk League. Season 1904-05 was to be City’s last in the Norfolk & Suffolk League and they ended their stay in style, winning the title. Off the pitch however, City were the subject of an FA Commission, who found them to be a professional organisation and therefore excluded them from the FA Amateur Cup. Messrs Webster, Nutchey and Turner were suspended for, amongst other things, paying for gym facilities, advertising for players, supplying kit and boots for the players and incurring excessive travelling expenses. On March 3rd 1905 at a grand public meeting held at the Agricultural Hall, a motion was endorsed which advocated Norwich City becoming a professional club. Southern League status was sought and awarded, whilst Norwich played host to high profile end of season friendlies against Derby County and Woolwich Arsenal. The very popular Norfolk & Norwich pastime of breeding canaries was becoming associated with Norwich City Football Club, but as yet City were still nicknamed the Citizens. Norwich City remained as members of the Southern League until the end of season 1919-20, finishing no higher than the 7th position they achieved in their first season at that level, in 1905-06. Although there was little to report on the League scene either side of the Great War, there were other major developments shaping the Club’s next stage of development. In the summer of 1907, with Norwich City becoming known more and more commonly as the ‘Canaries’, the decision was taken to play in yellow shirts with green collar and cuffs. On January 11th 1908, a record crowd of 10,366, filled the Newmarket Road ground to see City defeat FA Cup holders Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 in the first round of that season’s competition, with goals from James Bauchop and Tommy Allsopp. With crowds continuing to rise and City’s landlords, the Town Close Estate Charity, placing unworkable terms in a proposed new lease, a new ground was required. The Canaries took flight and landed at the Nest. The Nest was situated at ‘Ruymp’s Hole’, a disused chalk-pit in Rosary Road. There was much work to be done, with the stands from Newmarket Road being moved en masse across the city by horse and cart. The ground was christened with a friendly against Fulham on September 1st 1908 in front of a 3,000 strong crowd, City won 2-1. So, by this time, City had a new nickname, a new ground and new colours. Unsurprisingly football was suspended from 1915-1919 because of the Great War, but for Norwich City the period was still turbulent despite the lack of on the pitch action. The Club’s debts were increasing and on December 10th 1917 it went into voluntary liquidation. The Nest was locked and the Club’s affairs put on ice. On November 6th 1918 the Club was formally wound up, but on February 15th 1919, Norwich City Football Club were re-formed. £5000 of capital was required and £1800 was forthcoming at that re-formation meeting. On May 18th 1935, chairman Billy Hurrell told his fellow directors there was a serious danger the Nest might be declared unsuitable. With that in mind, the board looked elsewhere and within a fortnight agreed to the offer of another site. Several were considered but in the end they plumped for one close to Thorpe Station: Carrow Road was about to take shape! The project started on June 11th and was built in time for the start of the new season. It was regarded as the biggest construction job in the City since Norwich Castle and within 82 days the Canaries were able to make the move from Newmarket Road to The Nest, it's truly amazing!
Norwich became champions of the Football League Division Two in 1971-72 and also in 1985-86. Norwich have also won the League Cup in 1962 and 1985. Norwich also reached the third round of the UEFA Cup in 1993-94, beating Bayern Munich in the second round but they lost to Inter Milan in the next round. Last season, Norwich just missed out on promotion, losing on penalties to Birmingham City in the Division One Play-off Final at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. Record transfer fee received: £5,000,000 from Blackburn Rovers for Chris Sutton, July 1994 / £5,000,000 from Coventry City for Craig Bellamy, August 2000. Record transfer fee paid: £1,000,000 to Leeds United for Jon Newsome, June 1994.Club Honours: Division
One Play-Offs Runners up: 2001-2002 The Ground: Ground capacity: 21,468 Barclay Stand: 6,125 City Stand: 4,243 Norwich and Peterborough Stand: 5,799 South Stand: 3,001 Visitors: 2,185 Pitch dimensions: 114 yards by 74 yards. Record attendance: 43,984 versus Leicester City, FA cup 6th round, March 30 1963 Record receipts: £261,918 versus Internazionale, UEFA Cup 3rd round 1st leg, November 24 1993.
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