What are your memories of the first premier league season?

[ged in the onion bag 855]

2 minutes ago, Disco Dales Jockstrap said:

Great post!

That season is ingrained into my very soul; it was the first season my parents decided that we would go to away games and it just happened to coincide with our best ever season. So many memories...

Robin's Chelsea lob...

Crystal Palace in August...David Philips flying side-on scissor kick to beat them 2-1...

Crook's free kick against Forest...

Beating Everton away with a load of Sunderland fans turning up to support us after their game was called off...

Flying to Middlesbrough (!) to watch the last game of the season. Bizarrely, I now work close to where Ayresome Park used to be.

Crazy days.

OTBC

The conga at Blackburn!   

[thebigfeller 200]

13 minutes ago, ged in the onion bag said:

The conga at Blackburn!   

😂😂😂

And the reaction when Newman scored - like everyone believed a 4-3 win was now an inevitability! 

[thebigfeller 200]

16 minutes ago, Disco Dales Jockstrap said:

Crystal Palace in August...David Philips flying side-on scissor kick to beat them 2-1...

An astonishing goal. The technique it required was extraordinary.

Phillips is one of my footballing heroes. He seemed to improve every single side he went to. It's ludicrous that we managed to lose him in Summer '93.

[Midlands Yellow 3,985]

A top 3 finish prior to finishing 3rd and 4th a few seasons before. 2 FA cup semi and a milk cup final win in less than a decade before. Now we should just be grateful for getting promoted to the promised land but then dropping like a brick every time after. 

Think big and we might just start achieving more than winning the Fizzy pop league and making excuses why we can never master the big one these days. 

[Disco Dales Jockstrap 1,891]

10 minutes ago, thebigfeller said:

An astonishing goal. The technique it required was extraordinary.

Phillips is one of my footballing heroes. He seemed to improve every single side he went to. It's ludicrous that we managed to lose him in Summer '93.

David was a seven out of ten player -  by that I mean you'd never get less than that out of him even on his very, very worst day.

He was always one of my favourites as well; an excellent player that we should have never let go. I also remember a belter he scored against Chelsea that year in the same game as Robin's lob.

OTBC

[benchwarmer 625]

3 hours ago, alex_ncfc said:

What was the feeling like amongst fans when Walker walked out and we put Deehan in charge? Did no one else want the job?

I think that was when the fans began to question Robert Chase.  The whole "Chase Out" saga deserves a thread of its own.

Edited November 2, 2021 by benchwarmer

[PurpleCanary 5,562]

Playing cricket on that first Saturday. Being out quickly so back to the pavilion. Put the radio on. Twenty minutes left and we are 2-0 down at Highbury. Go out to umpire. A wicket falls. One of the players shouts back to the pavilion to find out the footie scores. Gets told Arsenal lost 4-2. They’re pulling your leg, I say. But they weren’t...

[glory.win or die. 270]

Did anyone here get the 'Norfolk n Good' book about this Season? I loved that book. Not quite the same level as fever pitch but being about Norwich it felt more personal.

Well worth a read for anyone nostalgic

[thebigfeller 200]

6 minutes ago, glory.win or die. said:

Did anyone here get the 'Norfolk n Good' book about this Season? I loved that book. Not quite the same level as fever pitch but being about Norwich it felt more personal.

Well worth a read for anyone nostalgic

I agree that it's not the same level as Fever Pitch.

It's much, much better than that.

[glory.win or die. 270]

The villa home game is one of the best atmospheres I can remember.

The game was pretty rubbish in terms of quality as far as i recall , yet epic, and really felt like a title decider.

[Duncan Edwards 2,236]

The ‘89 side was better. We could have won the double that season with a fair wind. Walker was in charge for this but he rode the Stringer/Williams (if my memory isn’t shot) wave. I’ll always love this team but Walker wouldn’t be in my top 3 or 4 managers.

I’d have Brown, Stringer, Lambert and - yep - Farke all above him. It was a marvellous achievement but he got a piggy back in. Lambert and Farke did wonders with what they had and built it themselves. Brown won a major trophy and Stringer built the best side we’ve ever had.

Then Chase dismantled the ****ing lot. The biggest travesty of all time. Took us from the top table to dining with the paupers in the workhouse. I’d have him removed from the hall of fame. Chase Out. 

[Taiwan Canary 144]

An amazing season, highs, lows and everything in between. For a really good supporter's view of the season I recommend this book: https://www.amazon.com/Norfolk-Good-Supporters-Norwich-Best-ever/dp/0952207400

Just seen it was mentioned above, great minds.....

Edited November 3, 2021 by Taiwan Canary

[Segura 84]

Thank you @thebigfellerfor bringing back such wonderful memories - it was my first season as a ST ticket holder and fair to say it's been all downhill since!

Looking back it's clear that our first X1 was as good as anything in the league at the time and we had several players approaching prime ages who probably all peaked at the same time. Beyond the first X1 however, we were quite limited and I guess that's where we came unstuck.

What a ride though.

For younger posters sick of the negative current media attention, I look back to the period 93-94 as a time when the club was taken very seriously especially after beating Bayern. I recall a friend buying a copy of the News of the World because it featured a giant colour poster of Chris Sutton and Ruel Fox - we were, for a small time at least, truly in the big time. 

[komakino 272]

13 hours ago, ged in the onion bag said:

Barry Davies, without doubt the best!   Always thought it bizarre they preferred Motson.   

Totally agreed. Davies only said what needed to be said. Motson said too much. 

[komakino 272]

9 hours ago, Duncan Edwards said:

The ‘89 side was better. We could have won the double that season with a fair wind. Walker was in charge for this but he rode the Stringer/Williams (if my memory isn’t shot) wave. I’ll always love this team but Walker wouldn’t be in my top 3 or 4 managers.

I’d have Brown, Stringer, Lambert and - yep - Farke all above him. It was a marvellous achievement but he got a piggy back in. Lambert and Farke did wonders with what they had and built it themselves. Brown won a major trophy and Stringer built the best side we’ve ever had.

Then Chase dismantled the ****ing lot. The biggest travesty of all time. Took us from the top table to dining with the paupers in the workhouse. I’d have him removed from the hall of fame. Chase Out. 

I'd agree that Stringer's side was better - it was a very good side. However, how can you rate Farke - a manager who has been completely useless in the Top Tier - above a manager who got us to 3rd? Farke has been a failure. 

[ged in the onion bag 855]

16 minutes ago, komakino said:

I'd agree that Stringer's side was better - it was a very good side. However, how can you rate Farke - a manager who has been completely useless in the Top Tier - above a manager who got us to 3rd? Farke has been a failure. 

Understand your point Walker and Stringer undoubtedly our best and most successful managers but to state Farke has been a failure, not having that.     He's produced some magnificent players, teams and entertainment and taken this club from having a struggling team with no money to two championships, a bank balance that allows us to spend £50 odd million in one transfer window and a significantly better crop of players, plus a philosophy that should serve us well for years to come.   

A failure!     He clearly has limitations but he's been a massive success for us.    Done an exceptional job and to be fair to him, he hasn't had the tools to compete in the EPL in either season has he.    If he does lose his job, then he deserves the 4-year payoff, that's for sure, even if it equates to a bonus.  

Edited November 3, 2021 by ged in the onion bag

[komakino 272]

4 minutes ago, ged in the onion bag said:

Understand your point Walker and Stringer undoubtedly our best and most successful managers but to state Farke has been a failure, not having that.     He's produced some magnificent players, teams and entertainment and taken this club from having a struggling team with no money to two championships, a bank balance that allows us to spend £50 odd million in one transfer window and a significantly better crop of players, plus a philosophy that should serve us well for years to come.   

A failure!     He clearly has limitations but he's been a massive success for us.    Done an exceptional job and to be fair to him, he hasn't had the tools to compete in the EPL in either season has he.    If he does lose his job, then he deserves the 4-year payoff, that's for sure, even if it equates to a bonus.  

Stringer and Walker had small budgets to work with and over achieved. They deserve huge praise. Maybe they should got us relegated once or twice to get us up again? 🙂 You can never reward failure. 

Farke was a success at the second tier, but cannot be placed above any manager that has kept us in the top tier - something he can't do. Chase for all his faults, wanted to keep us in the top tier, although he ultimately failed in the end. 

[City 2nd 191]

18 hours ago, thebigfeller said:

An absolutely incredible time. A season which will never be topped. Ever. 

Starting the season as relegation favourites. Going 2-0 down at title favourites Arsenal. Then scoring FOUR GOALS in the second half, two of them by Mark Robins, one of my favourite Norwich players of all time. For two or three months at the start of the season, he was absolutely unplayable. His chip of Seaman was followed by this glorious first time lofted volley against Chelsea in the very next match: one of the Premier League's great forgotten goals. 

There was a magnificent performance against Forest in front of the Sky cameras which sent us top: both Dave Phillips and Ian Crook scoring fabulous goals. Grinding performances v Southampton and Sheffield Wednesday which kept us top, sandwiched between a comical game at Chelsea: where our team bus, having been stranded in traffic, only arrived 15 minutes before kickoff. Playing like we were still on the bus, we rapidly went two down, then came all the way back thanks to maybe the worst goalkeeping performance the PL has ever seen. By poor old Dave Beasant - whose manager all but sacked him in public that evening!

A really enjoyable top of the table clash at Coventry (yes, really!) ended in a draw. Then a rather less enjoyable top of the table clash at Blackburn ended in a 7-1 humiliation. Cue all the national pundits laughing at and writing us off; Danny Baker on 606, bitter forever because of us having beaten Millwall 6-1 a few years earlier, openly ridiculing us; and Alan Hansen on MOTD reminding us that Liverpool had had a lot of injuries lately. This would remain a running theme all season. Almost nobody in the national media ever appreciated us until what happened in Munich the following season.

But the resilience we had was extraordinary. Bryan Gunn lost his baby daughter - yet heroically played regardless as we beat QPR, another very good side back then, 2-1... and not long afterwards was one of several season-defining games. Arsenal away was one, Oldham away was another. Robins got a hat trick: the final goal of which was in injury time, and the most majestically placed finish. He passed it through this impossibly tiny angle, and hit the only spot which could've resulted in a goal. The Norwich fans, who'd travelled to the game by a plane chartered by the club (!), went bonkers.  

Before Oldham, Arsenal had gone top and looked like they were getting their act together. After Oldham, the Gunners faded away and we pulled further and further clear: the highlight being one of the greatest Norwich City performances in history. Away to Villa, who the pundits overrated while underrating us, we could've been five up at half time, so dominant had we been. Mike Walker used a sweeper that day; the pity was he didn't do it more often on our travels. Yet as Norwich will always be Norwich, a 2-0 lead one minute before half time became 2-2 a minute after it thanks to blunders by Gunn and Ian Culverhouse... yet we went straight back up the other end and won it: Ruel Fox jinking and turning, before a daisycutter from Daryl Sutch, who was exceeding himself beyond imagination.

We moved eight points clear. EIGHT POINTS CLEAR. At which point, the enormity of what they were doing suddenly seemed to hit the players. We went to Old Trafford in a game which, had we won, we'd probably have won the whole thing. We played decently but kinda passively; the game, and the massive opportunity it represented, sort of passed us by. And crucially, Crook was injured early on. We were nothing like the same without him. Schmeichel saved from Robins (the exact turning point right there), Sutch made a mess of a clearance, Mark Hughes punished us, and everything changed at that moment. We were basically playing catch-up after that.

We lost form and rhythm; we went over five games without scoring at all; and in front of the BBC cameras v Tottenham in the FA Cup, the chickens came home to roost in an appalling performance. We had no confidence up front at all; defensively, we were a shambles, and we lost 2-0 going on 8-0. In the commentary box, Barry Davies could hardly believe what had happened to us. Mid-table mediocrity beckoned.

At which point, again, the players responded. Again they faced their critics down. A goal down in no time v Crystal Palace, they proceeded to play beautifully in an exhilarating contest, one of the best of the season. Then winning at Everton that weekend (with Sunderland fans joining us and roaring us on after their game at Tranmere had been postponed very late on) via an absolute wondersave from Gunn put us back on top. Incredible!

But the reason we ultimately didn't win the title was we just didn't have the squad numbers. Key players were injured around this time - Robins, Crook, Ian Butterworth, Jeremy Goss, Gary Megson - and we ended up bringing in the likes of Dave Smith, Colin Woodthorpe and Rob Ullathorne before they were ready. It's a tribute to them and the spirit of the side that they all slotted in and we ground out draws v Blackburn and Arsenal: very creditable results, but it meant we were falling astern in the title race. A 3-1 defeat at QPR in early March left us 7 points adrift and surely, out of it.

Cue, to my mind, amid a whole host of them to choose from, the single greatest thing that side did. Somehow, they picked themselves up yet again. Somehow, they won three in a row, keeping three clean sheets too... and with United and Villa both stuttering, we went top again! Before crashing back down to Earth at Wimbledon, where our passing approach invariably ran into a brick wall. We were tired too; the injuries had played their part in that. Yet what happened? My favourite game in Norwich City history happened: a sensational match v Villa, end to end throughout. Either side could've won, Garry Parker missed an open goal, and John Polston, 24 hours after his wife had given birth, sparked delirium 8 minutes from the end. 

It says something rather awful that Sky were at Man Utd-Arsenal that night, despite the Gunners being stranded in mid-table. The whole country deserved to see Norwich v Villa and missed out hugely. But it meant that we now had 12 days to think about being only six games from the title. After the Villa game, so many of our own fans, who'd assumed we'd probably come up just short, suddenly believed... but we forgot how good United were, and how brilliant Alex Ferguson was. They took us to the cleaners via one of the greatest counter-attacking displays in PL history: it was the template for so many of their sides in the years ahead. Giggs and Kanchelskis were on fire, we couldn't cope - and that was that, confirmed by a 5-1 shellacking at White Hart Lane four days later, with the players clearly traumatised by what United had done. Shattering their dreams; reminding us, belatedly, of our place in the world.

Many Norwich fans wish they could have the home game to United back. I wish we could have the away one back. Because they were pretty fitful at that point, really struggling for fluency and goals, while we were flying. If we could somehow have won that December afternoon, history might be so very different. But as it was, Cantona made all the difference for them - while crucially, we failed to sign anyone until Efan Ekoku on transfer deadline day. Including Patrik Andersson, the perfect solution defensively: but Blackburn snatched him from our grasp because of course, they paid far higher wages. 

In the last minute at home to Blackburn, Andersson hit a fizzing shot which Gunn did really well to turn round the post. We didn't know it at the time, but that was a moment of quite colossal importance. Had it gone in, we wouldn't have qualified for Europe: which wasn't even guaranteed for anyone finishing below 2nd.

Instead, via a glorious Palace-style win v Leeds (Chris Sutton getting a hat trick and announcing himself as a striker, not the central defender he'd been previously), a dreadfully depressing defeat at Ipswich, a scrambled win v Liverpool (our last home win v them to this day) which owed entirely to David James losing the plot and getting himself sent off, and the most mental 3-3 draw at already relegated Middlesbrough, in which we repeatedly tried to beat ourselves, Walker's selection was suicidally over-attacking, but Ekoku and young Andy Johnson saved us, we fell over the line in third... and all became Arsenal fans for the next 12 days. They'd already won the League Cup. Now they were going for an (at the time) unprecedented domestic Cup double. If they won, we'd qualify for the UEFA Cup. If Sheffield Wednesday, beaten already in one final, got their revenge, all our incredible efforts would've been for nothing.

The first game finished 1-1. The replay went to extra time. We were one minute from our entire fate being decided out of our hands in a penalty shoot-out... at which point, ex-Norwich defender Andy Linighan headed the ball through ex-Norwich keeper Chris Woods' hands... and we'd done it! We were in Europe! After, remember, being denied it in 1985, 1987 and 1989 thanks to the hooliganism and violence of others.

On balance, that we ultimately made such heavy weather of finishing 3rd probably proves that we were never quite good enough to win the league. As does the absolutely extraordinary stat that we ended up in the top three with a negative goal difference. Imagine that! 1-7 at Blackburn, 1-5 at Tottenham, 1-4 at Liverpool, 0-3 at Southampton, 0-3 at Wimbledon were why - yet we took a stunning amount of points from losing positions (including from two down at Arsenal and Chelsea), and had a superbly strong home record, only losing twice.

And in the end, we got exactly what we deserved. Those players were all so down to Earth, so likeable, so hugely relatable - and at a time of hoofing it and the long ball, we did things totally differently. Observers overseas would highlight this the following season and laud Walker for his approach: this was a truly enlightened football club winning hearts all over Europe. The tragedy was it all ended so fast - and by the end of 1993/4, Munich and Milan already both seemed like dreams. 

1992/3 was the greatest time to be alive for any Norwich City supporter. I'll never forget it. The entire season is burnished into my brain forever. And we did it with a bunch of humble, down to Earth blokes who had the time of their lives - and for the next 23 years, were the last provincial club ever to contend for the title. 

Celebrate them. Never forget them. They are all legends. As is their leader: Mike Walker himself, who the players adored, was tactically brilliant, and spent the entire season taking the **** out of our God-awful football media. The greatest manager in our history. I bloody wuv him, I do. ❤️

Remember it well. Brilliant post and recollection. I can’t believe many on here state Farke is the best manager we’ve had! He isn’t!

[nutty nigel 7,536]

The 1989 side probably shades it for me but they were both brilliant and our best two seasons by a long way.

For me had the 1989 side had Chris Sutton they'd have won the league. Likewise if the 1993 side had Andy Linighan they'd have won the league.

However, the 1993 side was in the 'Sky era' which gave it far more exposure and many people from all over the country became Norwich fans through that. The 1989 side rarely gets a mention on here yet they were only a few years apart.

 

Edited November 3, 2021 by nutty nigel

[Jim Smith 2,319]

Some great games and moments although staggering to think we still only got in the UEFA Cup due to Arsenals Cup double when you look at the 7 or 8 teams that qualify these days.

Particular games/highlights I recall are the away win at Oldham, the razzmatazz on the pitch before we beat Forest, the second half at Arsenal after I’d more or less written that game off at half time, big pop for beating Wimbledon at home to go 8(?) points clear, even bigger pop after we beat Villa (thanks also Gary Parker) when I really believed we’d do it, then the crushing disappointment of that first half v Man United when it all slipped away! 

[pete 319]

What about that footballing genius Darren Beckford didn't score many but contributed at Villa.

[thebigfeller 200]

23 minutes ago, pete said:

What about that footballing genius Darren Beckford didn't score many but contributed at Villa.

That awful goal drought we had in December and January which ultimately cost us the title? Beckford was in the side. 🤣

I'm pretty sure he never played for us again after the Spurs Cup game - when his, um, limitations were all too obvious in front of a national audience. 

Even at Old Trafford, the most critical game of the whole season in terms of momentum and so on, he messed up a couple of moves. One in particular right before United scored. 

[thebigfeller 200]

12 hours ago, Duncan Edwards said:

The ‘89 side was better. We could have won the double that season with a fair wind. Walker was in charge for this but he rode the Stringer/Williams (if my memory isn’t shot) wave. I’ll always love this team but Walker wouldn’t be in my top 3 or 4 managers.

This argument often gets made on here. It doesn't stand up to scrutiny. 

Keep in mind that we're comparing the two greatest sides in our history, so everything is relative. But because someone has to win that comparison, I'm going to come across as critical here. I don't really mean to: Stringer is Mr Norwich himself, after all.

But with that said: what 'fair wind' are you talking about? Did bad refereeing cost us? No. Did injuries cost us? No. Do you know how many league games the boys of 88-9 won at home? 8. Eight out of 19. What sort of title contenders have a record like that?

We ended up 14 points off the top ("could've won the double"? How? And on what planet would we have beaten Liverpool in the final if we'd got past Everton in the semis?) despite playing four games fewer than the '93 team, which was 12 points off the top. And unlike in '93, we somehow managed to finish fourth in a three-horse race, collapsing completely from late March onwards. 

And the other thing about Stringer v Walker is this. Walker had an edge to him, a drive, which I don't think Stringer quite had as a manager. This might, in part at least, explain why Walker won his share of big games (both games v Villa; Bayern) while Stringer's side lost eminently winnable semi-finals. And also why Walker's side just kept bouncing back again and again and again. We were still soft under Stringer; we weren't so much under Walker. 

The football in '92 had this greater spark, this pizzazz, this X-factor, whereas the football in '88 was that bit more conventional. But the one thing I've always wondered is how big an impact Hillsborough had on our players. We chucked the towel in totally afterwards - but it's hard to blame them for that. Because nothing put football into perspective more than that hideous day... and they wouldn't have been human if they hadn't thought, in shock and sorrow, "it could've been us. But for the randomness of the draw, it could've been our people, our city, our community". 

Edited November 3, 2021 by thebigfeller

[ged in the onion bag 855]

1 hour ago, komakino said:

Stringer and Walker had small budgets to work with and over achieved. They deserve huge praise. Maybe they should got us relegated once or twice to get us up again? 🙂 You can never reward failure. 

Farke was a success at the second tier, but cannot be placed above any manager that has kept us in the top tier - something he can't do. Chase for all his faults, wanted to keep us in the top tier, although he ultimately failed in the end. 

So Farke has had competitive budgets to work with has he.... how much did we spend again in his first EPL season... would suggest it was proportionally a lot less than any other manager has.   This year we spent a lot of money by our standards but it was investment in the future, not in an EPL team.   

He's failed in the EPL and its probably nearing the end of the road (although I expect most would wish for him to turn this around sharpish)... but he really hasn't been a failure as you described it.    He has produced £75m income from 3 signings, a team where the current players have some value (they didn't when he arrived), two championships, brilliant entertainment, a fortune in finance from two EPL seasons, more parachute payments, the club is far healthier thanks in great part to him.   Not our best manager, but we should be thankful for what hes done.   

Simple Q, given what's gone on this last 4 years, the position of the club now and then, how can you call him a 'failure'!      

[komakino 272]

8 minutes ago, ged in the onion bag said:

So Farke has had competitive budgets to work with has he.... how much did we spend again in his first EPL season... would suggest it was proportionally a lot less than any other manager has.   This year we spent a lot of money by our standards but it was investment in the future, not in an EPL team.   

He's failed in the EPL and its probably nearing the end of the road (although I expect most would wish for him to turn this around sharpish)... but he really hasn't been a failure as you described it.    He has produced £75m income from 3 signings, a team where the current players have some value (they didn't when he arrived), two championships, brilliant entertainment, a fortune in finance from two EPL seasons, more parachute payments, the club is far healthier thanks in great part to him.   Not our best manager, but we should be thankful for what hes done.   

Simple Q, given what's gone on this last 4 years, the position of the club now and then, how can you call him a 'failure'!      

I don't recall Stringer or Walker getting much in the way of budgets either!

He's been a failure at the Top Tier, whereas Stringer and Walker were not. He has been successful in the second tier however. He was successful, but in part due to his own failure. Plus he's a yes man, which never sits well with me. 

The club is still in a less rosy state than some think. Because of Farke's failure in the EPL - again - we will go down and may not be able to get back up. Parachute money runs out + tin pot owners = trouble. 

In the history of Norwich City managers, he is certainly a second tier manager because that's all he's achieved. He hasn't got what it takes, even once you factor in the oppressive regime above him. 

[RugbyCanary 94]

20 hours ago, thebigfeller said:

An absolutely incredible time. A season which will never be topped. Ever. 

Starting the season as relegation favourites. Going 2-0 down at title favourites Arsenal. Then scoring FOUR GOALS in the second half, two of them by Mark Robins, one of my favourite Norwich players of all time. For two or three months at the start of the season, he was absolutely unplayable. His chip of Seaman was followed by this glorious first time lofted volley against Chelsea in the very next match: one of the Premier League's great forgotten goals. 

There was a magnificent performance against Forest in front of the Sky cameras which sent us top: both Dave Phillips and Ian Crook scoring fabulous goals. Grinding performances v Southampton and Sheffield Wednesday which kept us top, sandwiched between a comical game at Chelsea: where our team bus, having been stranded in traffic, only arrived 15 minutes before kickoff. Playing like we were still on the bus, we rapidly went two down, then came all the way back thanks to maybe the worst goalkeeping performance the PL has ever seen. By poor old Dave Beasant - whose manager all but sacked him in public that evening!

A really enjoyable top of the table clash at Coventry (yes, really!) ended in a draw. Then a rather less enjoyable top of the table clash at Blackburn ended in a 7-1 humiliation. Cue all the national pundits laughing at and writing us off; Danny Baker on 606, bitter forever because of us having beaten Millwall 6-1 a few years earlier, openly ridiculing us; and Alan Hansen on MOTD reminding us that Liverpool had had a lot of injuries lately. This would remain a running theme all season. Almost nobody in the national media ever appreciated us until what happened in Munich the following season.

But the resilience we had was extraordinary. Bryan Gunn lost his baby daughter - yet heroically played regardless as we beat QPR, another very good side back then, 2-1... and not long afterwards was one of several season-defining games. Arsenal away was one, Oldham away was another. Robins got a hat trick: the final goal of which was in injury time, and the most majestically placed finish. He passed it through this impossibly tiny angle, and hit the only spot which could've resulted in a goal. The Norwich fans, who'd travelled to the game by a plane chartered by the club (!), went bonkers.  

Before Oldham, Arsenal had gone top and looked like they were getting their act together. After Oldham, the Gunners faded away and we pulled further and further clear: the highlight being one of the greatest Norwich City performances in history. Away to Villa, who the pundits overrated while underrating us, we could've been five up at half time, so dominant had we been. Mike Walker used a sweeper that day; the pity was he didn't do it more often on our travels. Yet as Norwich will always be Norwich, a 2-0 lead one minute before half time became 2-2 a minute after it thanks to blunders by Gunn and Ian Culverhouse... yet we went straight back up the other end and won it: Ruel Fox jinking and turning, before a daisycutter from Daryl Sutch, who was exceeding himself beyond imagination.

We moved eight points clear. EIGHT POINTS CLEAR. At which point, the enormity of what they were doing suddenly seemed to hit the players. We went to Old Trafford in a game which, had we won, we'd probably have won the whole thing. We played decently but kinda passively; the game, and the massive opportunity it represented, sort of passed us by. And crucially, Crook was injured early on. We were nothing like the same without him. Schmeichel saved from Robins (the exact turning point right there), Sutch made a mess of a clearance, Mark Hughes punished us, and everything changed at that moment. We were basically playing catch-up after that.

We lost form and rhythm; we went over five games without scoring at all; and in front of the BBC cameras v Tottenham in the FA Cup, the chickens came home to roost in an appalling performance. We had no confidence up front at all; defensively, we were a shambles, and we lost 2-0 going on 8-0. In the commentary box, Barry Davies could hardly believe what had happened to us. Mid-table mediocrity beckoned.

At which point, again, the players responded. Again they faced their critics down. A goal down in no time v Crystal Palace, they proceeded to play beautifully in an exhilarating contest, one of the best of the season. Then winning at Everton that weekend (with Sunderland fans joining us and roaring us on after their game at Tranmere had been postponed very late on) via an absolute wondersave from Gunn put us back on top. Incredible!

But the reason we ultimately didn't win the title was we just didn't have the squad numbers. Key players were injured around this time - Robins, Crook, Ian Butterworth, Jeremy Goss, Gary Megson - and we ended up bringing in the likes of Dave Smith, Colin Woodthorpe and Rob Ullathorne before they were ready. It's a tribute to them and the spirit of the side that they all slotted in and we ground out draws v Blackburn and Arsenal: very creditable results, but it meant we were falling astern in the title race. A 3-1 defeat at QPR in early March left us 7 points adrift and surely, out of it.

Cue, to my mind, amid a whole host of them to choose from, the single greatest thing that side did. Somehow, they picked themselves up yet again. Somehow, they won three in a row, keeping three clean sheets too... and with United and Villa both stuttering, we went top again! Before crashing back down to Earth at Wimbledon, where our passing approach invariably ran into a brick wall. We were tired too; the injuries had played their part in that. Yet what happened? My favourite game in Norwich City history happened: a sensational match v Villa, end to end throughout. Either side could've won, Garry Parker missed an open goal, and John Polston, 24 hours after his wife had given birth, sparked delirium 8 minutes from the end. 

It says something rather awful that Sky were at Man Utd-Arsenal that night, despite the Gunners being stranded in mid-table. The whole country deserved to see Norwich v Villa and missed out hugely. But it meant that we now had 12 days to think about being only six games from the title. After the Villa game, so many of our own fans, who'd assumed we'd probably come up just short, suddenly believed... but we forgot how good United were, and how brilliant Alex Ferguson was. They took us to the cleaners via one of the greatest counter-attacking displays in PL history: it was the template for so many of their sides in the years ahead. Giggs and Kanchelskis were on fire, we couldn't cope - and that was that, confirmed by a 5-1 shellacking at White Hart Lane four days later, with the players clearly traumatised by what United had done. Shattering their dreams; reminding us, belatedly, of our place in the world.

Many Norwich fans wish they could have the home game to United back. I wish we could have the away one back. Because they were pretty fitful at that point, really struggling for fluency and goals, while we were flying. If we could somehow have won that December afternoon, history might be so very different. But as it was, Cantona made all the difference for them - while crucially, we failed to sign anyone until Efan Ekoku on transfer deadline day. Including Patrik Andersson, the perfect solution defensively: but Blackburn snatched him from our grasp because of course, they paid far higher wages. 

In the last minute at home to Blackburn, Andersson hit a fizzing shot which Gunn did really well to turn round the post. We didn't know it at the time, but that was a moment of quite colossal importance. Had it gone in, we wouldn't have qualified for Europe: which wasn't even guaranteed for anyone finishing below 2nd.

Instead, via a glorious Palace-style win v Leeds (Chris Sutton getting a hat trick and announcing himself as a striker, not the central defender he'd been previously), a dreadfully depressing defeat at Ipswich, a scrambled win v Liverpool (our last home win v them to this day) which owed entirely to David James losing the plot and getting himself sent off, and the most mental 3-3 draw at already relegated Middlesbrough, in which we repeatedly tried to beat ourselves, Walker's selection was suicidally over-attacking, but Ekoku and young Andy Johnson saved us, we fell over the line in third... and all became Arsenal fans for the next 12 days. They'd already won the League Cup. Now they were going for an (at the time) unprecedented domestic Cup double. If they won, we'd qualify for the UEFA Cup. If Sheffield Wednesday, beaten already in one final, got their revenge, all our incredible efforts would've been for nothing.

The first game finished 1-1. The replay went to extra time. We were one minute from our entire fate being decided out of our hands in a penalty shoot-out... at which point, ex-Norwich defender Andy Linighan headed the ball through ex-Norwich keeper Chris Woods' hands... and we'd done it! We were in Europe! After, remember, being denied it in 1985, 1987 and 1989 thanks to the hooliganism and violence of others.

On balance, that we ultimately made such heavy weather of finishing 3rd probably proves that we were never quite good enough to win the league. As does the absolutely extraordinary stat that we ended up in the top three with a negative goal difference. Imagine that! 1-7 at Blackburn, 1-5 at Tottenham, 1-4 at Liverpool, 0-3 at Southampton, 0-3 at Wimbledon were why - yet we took a stunning amount of points from losing positions (including from two down at Arsenal and Chelsea), and had a superbly strong home record, only losing twice.

And in the end, we got exactly what we deserved. Those players were all so down to Earth, so likeable, so hugely relatable - and at a time of hoofing it and the long ball, we did things totally differently. Observers overseas would highlight this the following season and laud Walker for his approach: this was a truly enlightened football club winning hearts all over Europe. The tragedy was it all ended so fast - and by the end of 1993/4, Munich and Milan already both seemed like dreams. 

1992/3 was the greatest time to be alive for any Norwich City supporter. I'll never forget it. The entire season is burnished into my brain forever. And we did it with a bunch of humble, down to Earth blokes who had the time of their lives - and for the next 23 years, were the last provincial club ever to contend for the title. 

Celebrate them. Never forget them. They are all legends. As is their leader: Mike Walker himself, who the players adored, was tactically brilliant, and spent the entire season taking the **** out of our God-awful football media. The greatest manager in our history. I bloody wuv him, I do. ❤️

Thank you for writing this........took me back. I was a naive 12/13 yr old just getting into football, my mates had their teams ('pool, man u etc) .....mine? Haha! Still love them. I remember that season plus who can forget Bayern away. Brilliant memories thanks!! 

[nutty nigel 7,536]

1 hour ago, thebigfeller said:

This argument often gets made on here. It doesn't stand up to scrutiny. 

Keep in mind that we're comparing the two greatest sides in our history, so everything is relative. But because someone has to win that comparison, I'm going to come across as critical here. I don't really mean to: Stringer is Mr Norwich himself, after all.

But with that said: what 'fair wind' are you talking about? Did bad refereeing cost us? No. Did injuries cost us? No. Do you know how many league games the boys of 88-9 won at home? 8. Eight out of 19. What sort of title contenders have a record like that?

We ended up 14 points off the top ("could've won the double"? How? And on what planet would we have beaten Liverpool in the final if we'd got past Everton in the semis?) despite playing four games fewer than the '93 team, which was 12 points off the top. And unlike in '93, we somehow managed to finish fourth in a three-horse race, collapsing completely from late March onwards. 

And the other thing about Stringer v Walker is this. Walker had an edge to him, a drive, which I don't think Stringer quite had as a manager. This might, in part at least, explain why Walker won his share of big games (both games v Villa; Bayern) while Stringer's side lost eminently winnable semi-finals. And also why Walker's side just kept bouncing back again and again and again. We were still soft under Stringer; we weren't so much under Walker. 

The football in '92 had this greater spark, this pizzazz, this X-factor, whereas the football in '88 was that bit more conventional. But the one thing I've always wondered is how big an impact Hillsborough had on our players. We chucked the towel in totally afterwards - but it's hard to blame them for that. Because nothing put football into perspective more than that hideous day... and they wouldn't have been human if they hadn't thought, in shock and sorrow, "it could've been us. But for the randomness of the draw, it could've been our people, our city, our community". 

Depends what scrutiny it's given Shaun. What is undeniable is that after Easter 1989 we were three points behind arsenal with a game in hand and in the semifinals of the fa cup.

Your observations about post Hillsborough are spot on. 

 

[komakino 272]

The biggest difference between 92/93 - and the few preceding years - and now  is our fan base. Then we wanted more and more - with a degree of dissatisfaction. If we finished top ten, we wanted to be top 6. If we were top 6, we wanted to go further and so on. 

Delia's conditioning and parochial view of football means pro rata the fan base is much less ambitious, happy to be in the 2nd tier - or even exist - and anti EPL. 

That is the saddest thing of all. The fight has gone and mediocrity is now acceptable in all forms. 

Edited November 3, 2021 by komakino

[dylanisabaddog 4,921]

My best memory of that season is the first game at Arsenal. 2-0 down at half time and their fans taunting us by singing "Going Down". And then us returning the compliment at the end when we were kept in the ground as they walked out. I have never liked Arsenal. 

My other big memory is winning at Forest at a night game towards the end of the season to go top of the league.  I started to dream on the way home. 

I still believe that the only reason we didn't win it was that the players didn't believe we could. 

 

[KernowCanary 214]

I was only 7 when the season finished, but I knew full well what was going on; a football team who were relegation favourites defying the odds in ways never seen since. Okay, Leicester were relegation faves when they won the league, but we were the original Premier League relegation fave to defy the odds and become one of the best teams in the country or the best. We fell into the former, but it was beautiful.

A feat never heard of before from “Little old Norwich”, to simply achieve all those fantastic things. Just like many teams in the modern era of the Prem, we never got appreciated properly when we got a big win, it was all criticising the other team for not playing well enough.

We didn’t care though, we were living the dream, only for it to get even better by becoming the last English team to beat Bayern Munich in Germany.

What fantastic days I wish I was the age I am now back then, as I would have appreciated it more, all while paying 250,000 quid for a player was seen as a big deal.