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I've been supporting Norwich City for 55years !!

It will all become clear in the accounts. It was a common understanding that we would be financially constrained at the end of this season not if promoted and as @Essex Canary constantly but correctly notes we have a large wage bill. None of this is a mystery, none of it a surprise and the club is managing through this. The current proposal forms part of that, as does the moving of large wage players off the payroll. If funding is seen as a necessity than it would appear that MA is the only game in town. That means the choice is the self funding model or accepting the MA engagement, not between MA and some unicorn offer. That only leaves three possible outcomes. 1) Shareholders reject the offer, we get promoted, happy days; 2) Shareholders reject the offer, we don't get promoted, I think we know what that looks like; 3) Shareholders accept the offer & we transition slowly into an American owned club with access to additional funding steams.

As usual Ricardo is spot on. My first game was more or less exactly 76 years ago. 13th Sept 1947 - lost 5-1 against - you've guessed it Ipswich Town !!! Recent pic with a winger who was about twice as fast as we see on a pitch these days.

Well yeah. Without bringing in the EPL TV money we can't afford to run the club, that's why we're selling players and taking out loans. We've never been "self-funded", we've been "TV money funded". If we aren't in the Premier League receiving TV money, or in the Championship for a single season receiving parachute money, we don't have enough to run the club. That's the reality of "self-funded" under the current ownership.

Thanks for the ringing endorsement… Would I recommend someone to list, say, 1,000 shares in one lot? No, but there’s always a way to trade these. The only precondition is that you don’t annoy those with the know how…

So, let's get what we know out of the way. Guy who's known to his friends for being a bit of an idiot gets a job in the army. While in the army he then get's acess to the various databases and infomation they hold on british troops and military which it's said he then started giving to contacts he made from or in Iran. You know, a hostile enemy state that's an islamic supremacist hellhole of a country and one that is known to be a hiding place of countless terrorists and a country that even has it's very own "supreme leader".. In 2021 he was arrested on suspicion of breaching the Official Secrets Act but for some bizzare reason seemingly managed to get out of those charges and was allowed to return to the British militery. At some point later he then goes and make some kind of fake bomb which its been said was seemingly a deodrent can with an alarm clock covered in wires and plants it in open view in a Ministry of Defence site. Obviosuly this not well thought out plan of his gets him found and arrested (Seems he was testing British police and militery responce times for his Iranian contacts?) and he is charged with "trying to elicit personal information about soldiers likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism" So, we have someone who has arguably been a traitor to the country he was born in and was attempting to sell off goverment and military secrets and possibility commit an act of mass terror that may have killed innocent people and.. He get's thrown into what is according to some is a rather cushy catagory B prison where he gets given a job in the kitchen baking pretty cakes. And then one day while working in the kitchen and dressed as a cliche looking chef nobody seems to bother doing any of the normal and routine checks of comings and goings and he.. Straps himself to the bottom of a van in the prison and that then gets driven away and out of the prison and he's not been seen since? And it's said it took almost half an hour for the prison to even notice he was missing? While this new reboot of the four lions movie does seem rather interesting if very silly and unbelievable does anybody else think that something else that we don't know about is going on? The whole story stinks worse than a cheap fish market Why do I get the feeling he could be sitting in the Iranian embassy eating popcorn and laughing at the news right now?

Received this today, It is long but may be of interest for some… Friday 8 September 2023 Yesterday morning, the Government published the long-awaited Policy Paer, A sustainable future - reforming club football governance: consultation response. The Paper represents the Government's final view on the future of football before the expected Bill on Football Governance is announced in the King's Speech on 7 November We will be relesasing our full analysis next week, but in the meantime we issued this quick response yesterday, which was picked up bty The Athleitc and was running on the Press Association news wires last night. The further commitment to an Independent Regulator is to be welcomed, but there are still a few areas that are essential to make sure this once in a lifetime opportunity is not wasted... Football finance... A fairer financial flow The Policy paper states clearly that "The current distribution of revenue is not sufficient, contributing to problems of financial unsustainability and having a destabilising effect on the football pyramid". A great starting point, but it goes on to suggest that the regulator "should not intervene in this space", at Fair Game we believe that the regulator should set the patameters of football's financial flow, wiithout doing so it will miss the opportunities to take control of the route caused of the financial issues that have plagued the game for generations. In addition, to stop the regulator's remit at Tier Five also represents a missed opportunity. We believe regulation should go down to the National League North and South at a bare minimum. Where are the fans in this? It is important to remember that the whole process began with Tracey Crouch's Fan-Led Review, which we broadly welcomed back in November 2021. However, there were a couple of notable roll-backs since then that have emerged in the Policy Paper and will need addressing - both were key demands of the Football Supporters Association. The so-called Wimbledon Clause was an essential: the need to ensure that fans have the final say before a club can move from the geographical location of where they take their name. In the latest paper that appears to have been significantly weakened. Putting financial considerations first was exactly the reason behind Wimbledon's league place being given to a town in Buckinghamshire. Then there is the issue of the "Golden Share" the guarantee that decisions on club identify, club colours, the nickname and the history could only be changed with the approval of recognised fans' group. The Policy Paper suggests that the final arbitrrator should be the FA and not the regulator. Fair Game believes that to fully protect football's "crown jewels" the Golden Share should be within the remit of IREF. To narrow a remit While focus is good, this also represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fix football's ills. And for that reason the remit of the regulator needs to include a number of issues that are likely to become more and more important in the months and years ahead. Notably, the exclusion of equality and environmental standards is an oversight that should be remedied when the legislation begins its journey through parliament. And the decision to leave the decision on whether or not nation state's should control football clubs to the Foreign Office seems to be side-stepping the issue. So what next? It is on a Policy Paper, so there is still time to improve it before it becomes legislation and we will be looking to work with our friends and colleagues in parliament and beyond to address these concerns and ensure a fairer future for football. Deadline Day Roundup: Transfer Levy makes waves with ex-referee Keith Hackett and the press When it was all said and done, Premier League clubs spent nearly £2.4 billion in the summer transfer window. Fair Game spent the day calling for a 10% transfer levy, which could have a transformative effect for clubs in the lower leagues. A levy would act as a kind of "stamp duty" on transfers between Premier League clubs and between Premier League clubs and overseas clubs, redistributing that money further down the league pyramid. The idea got considerable support throughout the day, most notably from legendary former Football League and Premier League referee Keith Hackett, who said: The levy also got some fantastic coverage in this brilliant article from Matt Barlow of The Daily Mail. Matt succinctly articulated the massive disparity between the haves and the have-nots in football right now, saying: "At altitude, they are normalising the £100million transfer fee and wages of £450,000 a week. Down in the foothills, they agonise over a refit for the bar, new women's loos or an upgrade at centre forward." And on top of that, Fair Game even made an appearance in The Telegraph's live deadline day ticker Fair Game visits Brentford Our new non-executive director John Mayes and I were absolutely delighted to be invited to the Gtech Community Stadium to watch Brentford's clash with Bournemouth last week. It was a brilliant day and truly inspirting. The atmosphere and commitment of the directors towards developing a true community football club was palapable at every turn. And we will be looking to see how we can learn from them. I had a brilliant chat with the chair Cliff Crown, who I hope to meet again soon. Then there was club director Preeti Sheety and former director Monique Choudhuri - both leading lights in tackling discrimination in the game. And we look forward to continuing our enagement with both of them in the weeks ahead as Fair Game looks to learn and develop our politices and research. On a personal level I had a great chat with the club's finance head David Joyes, while John Mayes caught up with one of his old friends and another current Brentford director Nity Raj. But finally huge thanks must go to Stuart Hatcher, the fan director on the Board who invited us along. And OK I will admit it was nice to be sitting directly behind the legendary Marcus Gayle. Lots of events coming up soon! Over the last few weeks we've been telling you about the many events we've got coming up over the next couple of months, but with so many we thought we'd give you a neat summary: On 21 September... We'll be hosting a fringe event at the Co-op Party's virtual conference, on Zoom, at 6:30pm - details here. On 24 September... We'll be hosting a fringe event at the Liberal Democrat Conference in the Sherborne Suite of the Marriott Highcliffe Hotel in Bournemouth at 1pm. On 26 September... I'll be speaking at Transparency in Sport's event "Game Changers: Rethinking Corruption and Ethics in Sport", 6:30pm at 6 New St Square, London - details here. On 30 October... We'll be hosting a panel discussion at Birkbeck University at 6:30pm, more details to come... And if that wasn't enough, we've got one more event to tell you about! On 31 October, Westminster Insight are hosting their "Future of Football" conference, and Fair Game will be delivering a session! A panel of myself, Manchester Metropolitan University's Dr. Mark Turner, and Governance Lead at I Trust Sport Ed Hawkins will be talking about football finance and governance with an opportunity for questions and discussion! During the day, Clive Betts the chair of the APPG willbe speaking, along with Women in Football, Kick It Out, Adam Crockett from the DCMS and many others. It promises to be a really interesting day, with our event starting at 10:20am. A little bit of politics... Congratulations to friend of Fair Game Lucy Powell MP, who has been appointed Shadow Leader of the House and Commons and will therefore sadly be leaving her role as Shadow Secretary of State for DCMS. We've really enjoyed working with Lucy, and it sounds like the feeling is mutual! Best of luck! In other news, we're continuing our rounds of the political parties, as I'll be meeting Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsey on 16tOctober. Yet another opportunity to spread the Fair Game message throughout the world of Westminster! Volunteers needed for Fair Game Scotland It's exciting times north of the border as we get Fair Game Scotland off the ground! But we could really do with some extra support as we expand our outreach. So if you're familiar with Scottish football, have a little time to spare, and would be willing to make a few phone calls on behalf of Fair Game, get in touch! And finally… Good luck to all our Fair Game clubs this weekend, make sure you’re following us on Twitter to stay up-to-date, and why not consider donating if you can? Yours faithfully, Niall Couper CEO Fair Game Privacy policy Fair Game is the trading name of Fair Game (Football) CIC. Registered in England and Wales, Company Number 13396290. Registered address 79 Empress Drive, Chiselhurst, BR7 5BQ

It's getting much easier to accept the trope that the Webber's are a couple who've got their claws into a pair of octogenarians and have proceeded to bleed the club dry. I don't know who the heck they are, but the Professional Football Scout Association has the average EFL Sporting Director salary at between £70,000 and £200,000. I suspect both Webber's would p*ss themselves at reading that.

Just over a week for me..... but getting a bit hacked off because we don't seem to have bought anybody and we haven't been taken over...... probably go back to Chelsea on Sunday, there always something going on there 😊

21 for me which is crazy. Football has changed so much in that time both in terms of finances and how the game is played. I was watching Norwich V Everton from our PL season under Worthington recently, the whole game is up on some Everton channel and it looks like a lower Championship game with the odd moment of quality, both of our recent relegation teams would absolutely slaughter both of those teams as football at the highest level has changed so much tactically, physically and in pace and intensity. But English football was so much more fun to watch and so unpredictable back then , it was of a lower quality but imo it was so much more fun to watch. Games are so physical and so tactical now that it's ruined a lot of the excitement. I'm not a fan who gets excited by bits of individual skill or clever neat passages of play, I like end to end excitement and chances on goal, players expressing themselves and showing passion and commitment, footballers are so placid and robotic nowadays in general and I can't help but think we've lost something in the pursuit of better tactics. First game was the win v Stockport at home before the play off season, sat in the old south Stand and was hooked from that moment. As a kid I actually went on a really long spell of only watching us win at CR , saw the 4-0 v Grimsby the first game of the next season as well, can't remember who my first loss was against but i remember being devastated.

I am really hoping you don’t mean Steve Walsh at CB. If you do, then you’re either on a wind up or never watched him “play” for us. Think Captain Canary would have been a better choice

We paid for Drury and McVeigh tho

The trouble with our resident bean counter is that he knows the cost of everything but the value of nothing. What a sad act.

wins 'Championship Player of the Month' award. I note Samuel Seaman puts him in the same box as Buendia ... different players with similar influence in the league: "The same organisation that formalised Buendia's status as the best Championship player of 2020-21 has now done the same with Gabriel Sara's August 2023." What a player, what a find who just gets better and better before our very eyes. The transition from Brazilian football/lifestyle seems to have been seamless. Come back Stuart Webber all is forgiven. I once forecast that Omo would eventually be our most valued sale in terms of millions of pounds into the City coffers and was wrong about that, but I don't think I'm wrong in saying the same about this gem. For sure, we won't be able to hang on to him for long, especially as a Championship club, but nevertheless he represents an enormous asset to the club. My "Stars in their Eyes" moment already foresees sums of £40-£50m for the player and may be even more if we can hold onto him for a couple of seasons, and he continues to progress at the same rate. This last scenario is, I believe, best for both the club and the player. Clogging it out in the Chumps for that extra season being a useful grounding for the player and the expected increase in value being clearly better for the club's finances. We could, of course, see whether this route would have been better for club and player with respect to Omo ... it's in the balance. In the back of my mind I also expect Nunez to become a first team stalwart despite his stop-go progress at City so far. He's clearly the right character and has the skills and work rate to match. Young Ryes seems to be something else as well and another from the same source (via Spain?) The South American connection is already proving it'self to be a move of innovative genius, and it is growing sufficiently enough so that we can eagerly anticipate more to come.

Our resident otter seems parading round our paddock now. Once shy, seems to like the spotlight. Will get a photo uploaded next time.

I don't think anyone's expecting "huge outlays" on players, I'm certainly not expecting us to start laying out tens of millions on strikers, defenders etc. I think what's been killing us in recent seasons as a flaw of the self-funded model is that when an urgent need does arise (such as an injury to a key player) or an opportunity arises (a player becomes available upon promotion that would add significant quality) we can take advantage of it, rather than constantly shopping in the bargain bins or leaving the squad short in key areas. Or not HAVE to sell players like Omo would with a bit more experience and nurturing could have been worth 35-40 million and instead we've let him go for the first half-decent offer. Letting Emi go upon promotion as well. I don't expect filthy oil state money, but just having a bit more cash so we're not constantly scraping around for every bit of loose change we can find just to stay afloat without needing external investment so Delia and MWJ stay in charge.

I have always disliked Norwich Utd intensely. It's always been a grubby club but it is exceedingly grubby at the moment.

No FBref or Project FiveThirtyEight stuff yet but Opta are still doing some interesting things here (As you've probably seen Hogesar, but for others that might not have): https://theanalyst.com/eu/2023/08/championship-stats-2023-24-opta/ We're currently 2nd for xG for in the league in open play and 3rd for xG against which suggests we've been difficult to create changes against and good at creating our own so far. Interestingly they also have us top for creating turnovers that lead to shots which suggests the press has been working well too to help create those chances. what was the quote "No playmaker in the world can be as good as counter pressing... except Gabby Sara"

Was McNally? And he didn’t do too badly either.. I’d rather have someone in charge who is a bit of an a55 than not. Their job isn’t to make balloon animals and cheer up miserable punters. It’s to make a team work.

Webber's detractors always point to the 2021 window which is fair. However Sara is 2022. And we've had 2023. His record since 2017 isn't too shabby is it? Much of the angst towards Webber is personal dislike. I guess he's not likeable but does that matter?

A player who has only played Brazilian league and Champs won't go for £40m. £30+ maybe. Thing is, selling him won't just be about the money, it will be as much about proving to every prospective signing in that part of the world that we provide an excellent stepping stone to a top European club.

Kenny?

Had an organ that many people have played with.

Must have been while John Paul Hughes was on loan.

Not Alan Brazil I hope.

Two observations to support your belief. First, the documentation includes a statement that they have prepared cash flow forecasts to support their claims that the Club will still be a going concern in 2026, even without promotion back to the Premier League. Second, with Attanasio so heavily invested in the Club, it seems more likely than not that he would support the Club for the foreseeable future, even if those projections don’t live up to their expectations.

Robins are getting friendly again.

Same thing. The loan was taken against parachute payments and I believe known player payment instalments for players we'd sold. So predictable income. Some people call this a "bridging loan" because what you are doing is getting a loan to speed up the money coming to you now and the source of the loan gets it back with some sort of guarantee because the income is assured if that makes sense?

He's a Pustule on the 'arris of this forum, leaking green septic gunk as it moves, Chickeno has him sussed too. I'm amazed at how many posters humour the Toad. He is poisonous and as such should be lanced, drained and then forgotten once the damage he has caused has healed.

Problem is Vince, is that if we don't trust MA we may not have a club left to support. I am not sure the current board are quite as slick as many seem to think they are and had MA not shown up when he did, who knows were we would be......

Wroxham v Brightlingsea Mulbarton v Soham Dereham v Newmarket Norwich Utd v Thetford The game at Wroxham is the highest standard of those games. The others are a division below but all a good watch. Mulbarton are near the top of the league and scoring a lot of goals. Soham are bottom so on paper it's not likely to be a particularly competitive game. But Mulbarton has by far the best chippy. I've seen Thetford this season at Mulbarton and they played some lovely football. Dereham v Newmarket - I have no knowledge of either team

You mean deficit loan funding after they have had their wages though the latter point could be fair.

We paid £40k for Martin Peters, one of our greatest players who played more than 200 games Probably less than the weekly wage of Gibson? That's as good as a free.

Nobody had a TV when I first went. If you missed football results at 5pm you had to wait until the pinkun arrived before you knew the score.

51. When we all idolised Jimmy Bone.

Hard to believe an over populated and under staffed, decrepit prison lost an inmate.

I assume Attanasio's cash was used to repay the loans as his repayment terms may well be more generous than the original ones (i.e. like any benevolent "owner" he is not seeking immediate repayment and will roll up or even forego interest on the loans, just like Smith and Jones did). So in theory all the parachute payments could be free to be spent on operating costs if they have stuck to their budgets, but somehow I think that is not the case.

Here's to the next 55 @SwindonCanary

59

Yeah, 100% There were games towards the end of Smiths' reign that didn't look bad on xG figures alone, but that was because we'd gone 1-0 down early and then had 10-15 shots which were all low xG chances but built up to make it look half decent.

I do not understand all this and i trust Delia and MWJ will have the very best people they can get working on their side , i am sure Delia and MWJ have clauses etc that will safeguard the club and not let MA have his own way but as someone who does not understand it so well , feels like someone has gone round to your elderly aunts and released some equity in her lovely Brancaster house worth 1.5 million , they have given her 300 k to spend on the family and make so and so happy and get a new kitchen , what old auntie does not realise is she has sold her house for 300k interest etc will eat up the rest and when she dies there will be nothing left not saying MA is that kind or out to do anything wrong , he will be professional and Delia and MWJ will have experts working and advising them but that is how it feels

Webber is the same as anyone at the top of the club. Anything that goes well is down to them - and anything that goes wrong is down to them too. It's a mixed bag, some good, some bad - him/Delia/MJW/Farke when he was manager/Dean Smith/Wagner.......all prone to good and bad work. When it's bad for too long.....like with Dean Smith....then their time is up, but it's all about balance - and Webber has shown he can get good players in still. Ups and downs of football I guess. I wonder how many of the Webber detractors will acknowledge he has brought in some good players, or will they think "oh, it couldn't possibly be down to Webber".........

Let's hope the translator has a degree in psychology and has convinced him that anyone outside of the county are evil and not to be trusted, no matter how much money they offer.

I don’t know, I haven’t wrote out his mission objective

Superb player, well done Mr Webber

Burnley aren't the be all and f*cking end all although I'd much rather you support them and seemingly so would you. All this criticism of Zoe seems to be based purely on speculation rather than the overall position of the club during her time here and the improvements in a wide range of areas. Anyway, Burnley decided to go down our route ala Farke and look like coming down immediately like us. Your fantastic, brilliant Burnley scrapped their own visions to try and become Norwich mk2.

I haven't a clue as don't really follow the financial side of the club as proudly as others do. It's just business innit? And just so I'm clear, the dislike towards Zoe is based on what? Is it that you think she's self serving and without regard to putting the club in financial problems, perhaps? As we're looking at this from a shareholding perspective the figures are skewed massively to reduce the true value of this club to allow MA to come in and invest and for Delia/MWJ to not walk away with a fortune either - and during that period it's wise for other shareholders to waiver the will the sell at this low price, surely? This then allows money that's put aside for the project to go into the club in some other way I presume? Players, facilities etc. I'm not sure if you're extending this out to suggest that it means the club is on it's knees currently and pointing the finger on that basis, or I'm missing a massive reason why Zoe is the enemy here.

Voting any other way than in favour of these proposals will ultimately harm the club. What’s to be achieved by that ?

I’m too thick to understand all the nuances here. As far as I can see, surely the one thing that we all want is for the club to have the best chance to progress and push. The current incumbents have been battered from pillar to post for apparently not welcoming or accepting new investment. When they’ve sought external investment via the bond, that’s been hammered too. They haven’t accepted any old offer (has there been one since the Cullum interest?) and have now seen an opportunity to welcome investment. They’ve also, sensibly it seems to me, to have put in a now established bedding in period. This will allow the fresh investment/investors to see and learn what football club ownership means both in terms of financial implication and relative time commitment. I own a few shares and I’m not really @rsed what that means to me, it’s far more important that with the current owners getting late in life that they’ve found someone that they apparently trust to take it forward. That’s surely better than what happened with the Turners where their root and branch inspection ended up with Glenn Roeder and them withdrawing quickly when they saw the kind of money required to push the club forward. So, what I’m asking, I guess, is what is the issue? Were you all expecting a return on your investment? Were you buying shares to help the club? Or is it now all down to personal gain? It seems like the people set to, potentially, make the most personal gain have foregone it as they see it in the best interests of the club moving forward. For me, that’s enough. I’d rather see us, together, being capable of an attempt at sustained efforts at success than I would a return that might fund a holiday? Delia and Michael have had a right good go at it, have developed revenue streams, overseen improvements to infrastructure and player development that stand us in far better stead than before. As I said, I’m thicker than school custard but why would we go against this? If someone could explain in “thick Norfolk” for me, I’d appreciate it.