41 years on...a nd it's 6-0 again. LIFE IS GOOD!

[Frankly speaking 0]

Frankly speaking blog updated. Text follows.

41 years on..and it’s 6-0 again! LIFE IS GOOD!

It was a balmy Spring evening when my Dad took me to my first ever Canaries game. I remember that I had a headache as we made our way to the ground and we stopped to buy some aspirin. To my 12 year old mind the fact that the opposition was Birmingham City and the fixture was a bit of an end of season ‘nothing match’ was unimportant. I had rebelled against my Mancunian family’s support of Manchester United and nailed my colours firmly to the mast of Ron Saunders’s Norwich City.

We were early enough to stand outside the ground and watch the players arrive. The Norwich team were all smartly dressed in grey suits with NCFC on the breast pocket. My Dad liked that (he often used to say ‘teams that look smart play smart’). The ground was far from full but floodlit games always had a bit of magic (and still do) and I recall a pretty good atmosphere. I also remember that Kevin Keelan wore a bright red outfit in the City goal – unusual but, as I was to realise, in keeping with his flamboyant style.

I like to think that my love of the Canaries was already firmly established before that 7.30 kick-off. If it weren’t then it certainly was by ten past nine by which time I had witnessed the most exhilarating display of football I had ever seen. I had a new hero in Graham Paddon, loved Albert Bennett’s white boots and would always revere the goalscoring winger, Kenny Foggo. Life was good.

Since then, like most football fans, there have been ups and downs. I didn’t have long to wait before Saunders took us to Division One for the first time and there have been three Wembley trips, Europe, the play-offs and the Premier League to enjoy, though working a long way from Norwich for most of my life has meant a lot of driving.

Just a fortnight short of forty-one years later, and now a Norfolk resident, I had the pleasure last Saturday of sharing with my daughter the euphoria of City’s first 6-0 league win since that Spring evening of 1970. And, though it sounds a little sentimental to say it, forgive me for imagining that my Dad, who died last year, was smiling on us, too.

 

Inevitably I got to thinking whether or not it’s possible to make any connections between Saunders’s team and Paul Lambert’s current side. Generally I have to observe that I regard as pretty futile such cross-generation comparison (particularly beloved of cricket pundits – ‘just how good would Ponting have been if he’d had to play on uncovered pitches against Harold Larwood?’ etc.) and in all honesty that was my conclusion.

Football, even in the second tier, has changed massively since 1970. What we see on the pitch now is as far removed from then as the plastic seat I sat on last weekend is from the Carrow Road wooden bench my twelve year old posterior graced. That said, however good Paddon, Foggo, Bennett and the like were I don’t think it’s just my current excitement which makes me consider St. Paul’s team to be superior. Has there ever been a Norwich side which has passed the ball like this one? Even allowing for our former greats up front (Davies, Cross, McDougall, Reeves, Drinkell, Roberts) has any one player captured the fans quite as much as Grant Holt (51 goals in 85 games!)?

More than that, though, and perhaps most significantly, have we ever had a manager in whom the supporters have such complete faith? Whether it be team selection, substitutions or deciding whether or not to move in the transfer market there is simply no better way of putting it than ‘In Lambert we trust’! After what most of us would have regarded as the disappointment of not landing Craig Mackail-Smith (and, incidentally, wasn’t it good to see that the club was not prepared to be messed around?) how typical of our manager to deliver Dani Pacheco. What a debut! So we now have two of the most exciting young midfielders off Premier League benches and two current Welsh international loanees (Vokes and Edwards) on our bench. That’s what is meant by ‘cover in all areas’. Lambert’s management has been just as I believe he was as a player – uncompromising, skilful and industrious, yes, but also perceptive, intelligent, passionate and occasionally inspired.

Soon after my Carrow Road baptism Ron Saunders took us into the top flight. Forty-one years later and Paul Lambert might be just about to do the same! Life is good!

[Big Duncs Bloody Shirt 0]

Great blog ... I commend you sir. Sums up my feelings perfectly but far more eloquently than I ever could. Quite moving too .... *goose bump time*

I''ll get my coat ...

OTBC

[ricardo 8,033]

Nicely put, Frankly.Your words brought it all back to me just like it was yesterday. Its hard to believe its 41 years ago, the seasons seem to fly by as you get older.

[......and Smith must score. 1,588]

[quote user="ricardo"]Nicely put, Frankly.Your words brought it all back to me just like it was yesterday. Its hard to believe its 41 years ago, the seasons seem to fly by as you get older.[/quote]You can say that again Ricardo.......I thought I''d seen City win a League game 6-0 back in the day but I didn''t remember it being THAT far back.

[ricardo 8,033]

[quote user="......and Smith must score."][quote user="ricardo"]Nicely put, Frankly.Your words brought it all back to me just like it was yesterday. Its hard to believe its 41 years ago, the seasons seem to fly by as you get older.[/quote]You can say that again Ricardo.......I thought I''d seen City win a League game 6-0 back in the day but I didn''t remember it being THAT far back.

[/quote]I can remember a 7-2 in 1956 mate.Now that really dates me.

[Downderry Canary 0]

I can''t remember the date (early 1960s?) when we beat Stoke 6-0, Stan Mathews et al!

Jim Conway got a hat-trick; Gerry Mannion caused havoc on the right wing. Happy Days!

[Bill 1,788]

Sat 9th March 1963 - which was supposed to be the day we played Leicester in the FA Cup - we had stuffed Newcastle 5-0 in the earlier round.

Some odd games (below) that month as teams rushed to catch up on games postponed because of the big freeze up.

We finally played Leicester three weeks later where Carrow Road saw it''s biggest ever crowd - who saw us crash out 0-2. Leicester went onto the final losing 1-0 to Man Utd

March 1963

FA Cup Wed 06 Mar 1963 Blackpool 1 - 3 Norwich

English Division 2 Sat 09 Mar 1963 Norwich 6 - 0 Stoke

FA Cup Wed 13 Mar 1963 Norwich 5 - 0 Newcastle

FA Cup Sat 16 Mar 1963 Man City 1 - 2 Norwich

Div 2 Wed 20 Mar 1963 Sunderland 7 - 1 Norwich

Div 2 Sat 23 Mar 1963 Norwich 3 - 2 Leeds

FA Cup Sat 30 Mar 1963 Norwich 0 - 2 Leicester

Div 2 Sat 06 Apr 1963 Norwich 4 - 1 Chelsea

[Downderry Canary 0]

Hi City 1st - you put me to shame!

I remember the Leicester defeat - we never got going, Allcock missed a pen, they were a class apart.

Modern health and safety would have had a fit with 43k of us crammed into Carrow Rd. I was standing in the old South Stand - my 14 yo feet barely touching the ground!

[Norfolk Mustard 106]

What a great read - thank you Frankly Speaking!

[GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary 2,035]

I distincly remember the last time we scored 6 in a league match in 1985/6 against Milwall, as it heralded one of the Pinkun''s finest headlines.

Millwall''s goalkeeper that day was a John Granville, which prompted the front page of "Granville''s goal is ''Open all hours'' ", in homage to the ''popular'' Barker/Jason sitcom of the day!