Your tributes and memories of John Bond

[PurpleCanary 5,557]

According to the club the tribute will be tonight.

[Robert Parsons 0]

A great manager and a great character. Imagine if there had been message boards like this back in his day as he seemed to gradually bring in half his Bournemouth team and his son but what players they were and what style they played with.

He brought us SuperMac, Charlie Boyer, Tony Powell, Mel Machin etc etc. These were entertainers and great footballers. He brought in players who reflected his personality, everything was "magic" and actually it was.

What a joyous character and he could certainly spot a player. One of Norwich''s great managers and I mourn his passing deeply as should all Norwich supporters of all ages. A time like this should bring fans together to show what a great club we are. I hope that there will be significant reflections of the scale of this loss at Saturday''s game, a full house and due respect shown.

RP

[Lord Horn 0]

[quote user="nutty nigel"]

For my generation of fans Bondy took us to a level we had never dreamed possible. The signing of Martin Peters must surely be the greatest signing ever. But it wasn''t just Peters. Bondy brought so many players that were a thrill to watch that it''s impossible to list them all. However the signing of Jimmy Neighbour was typical John Bond. He epitomised the style of football we played and the type of player to wear the shirt in Bondy''s day. RIP, you will never be forgotten...

 

 

[/quote]

Couldn''t agree more. RIP John

[PKC 0]

RIP John Bond, my mainmemory is watching some of the most exciting football with some of the best footballers (Martin Peters, Ted MacDougall, Phil Boyer etc) in my time of watching Norwich. He was also someone who gave Norwich a much higher profile with the media.

I''ll never forget while he was manager regually beating Manchester United, beating Villa 5-3 and Everton 4-2 in succesive home games and best of all being at anfield when we beat Liverpool 3-1 happy days.

[SwindonCanary 455]

A great man and a great manager RIP John Bond.

[albyella 0]

Great man, lived his life the way he liked his football - with style. Some of my best memories of NCFC.....RIP.

[pete_norw 0]

A very sad day, RIP John

[Rivvo 257]

Like may others he was my ''first'' Norwich Manager, I gerw up watching the expansive style and skilful players he liked to use so much, RIP JB.

[CambridgeCanary 0]

Everyone who supports Norwich should be grateful to Joihn Bond.  The tradition we take for granted now of being a respected team with a passing tradition and being able to compete and survive with the best began with him.   His effect on the Club was as transforming and exciting as Lambert''s but with the added factor that under Bond we were charting new territory whilst under Lambert we returned there.

 

The City we love grew before John Bond but he set the standard and the direction that we followed from then through to today.   Without Bond there might still have been a Mike Walker and a Munich but I doubt it. Certainly, it would have required someone else to do what Bond did and turn this Club into a top flight team.

 

He had his flaws but for me he will always be the greatest because, to use a well worn cliche he was the first giant on whose shoulders the subsequent giants have stood

[lappinitup 629]

We definitely weren''t "Little Ole Norwich" when John Bond was around. Charismatic, flamboyant and stylish, his teams reflected the man. Truly "magic". RIP John Bond.

[ca 1]

Very sad news, he was a larger than life character who will always be part of the great Norwich City memories we all have.

RIP John Bond

[Old Shuck 183]

Style and panache-the football and the man.

 

Can only repeat what has already been said. He dragged our club into the modern age-kick started the youth policy which had been non-existant and, when the club were denied consent to enter a team into the then SE Counties League for geographical reasons, said that we''d play all of our games away from home-which is exactly what happened.

 

Flair players, flares a''plenty in his fashionable players bought in from all over the place (couldn''t have been the training facilities then!) and a side that was accepted as a top flight football team. Put us on the map. Certainly a candidate for a statue if we ever have one, cigar in hand and big smile on his face. RIP Bondy and thanks a million...

[stoke canary 0]

RIP Mr Norwich City

[Rudolph Hucker 0]

John Bond was our manager throughout my teenage years when I was a Barclay Boy.

 

We followed his lead as supporters and feared playing no side, especially at Carrow Road.

 

Bond was charismatic but accessible to supporters. He was our link into what I always believe to be the golden thread of English football and that is the one out of Ron Greenwood.  His modern embodyment IMO is Harry Redknapp for whom Kevin Bond was a coach.

 

Players wanted to play for Bond and so came to what was a backwater city in the days when a trip to London meant going through numerous Norfolk towns now bypassed and places like Baldock. He even brought in a World Cup winner who went on to hold an incredible testimonial night of true English football legends. He raised our profile nationally, we became a name and gained an attitude that we are a name in football which rings in our consciousness to this day when we rile against football pundits who fail to match our image of ourselves in their comments.

 

I''m guessing, but I suspect Delia Smith fell in love with Norwich City at this time too.

 

So, from a former little snot in Air Wair boots, Simon shirt and Levi''s with a scarf round my neck and my wrist coming home hoarse from singing and inhaling second hand cigarette smoke I say thank you, John Bond. You made me proud. Rest in peace. 

[RvWs 4 year contract 0]

I wasn''t around when he was at the helm but from the sounds of it John Bond was a truly great manager and man.It''s quite annoying that in all of the media reports the news organisations have listed him as "former Manchester City manager John Bond".RIP John. My condolences to his family.

[Canary 1]

John will be a great lost, a great man/manager, who managed Norwich with great veracity.

RIP John, you were a great manager and man

 

[Dubai Mark 0]

TIL1010 sums it up for me, certainly also for me one of the saddest days since I supported our great club. John Bond for me took Norwich City to a different level as a club, they really were "Magic Gerry" days.........RIP   

[dpit 1]

My favourite City manager of all time. An Old School type - a bit eccentric with passionate views about how the game should be played. Instantly recognisable on the radio with an endearing vocal inflection that always made him sound a little bit ''pished''.

Alongside Jon Pertwee my man of the seventies. The departures of of him and Keven Reeves rank as two of my lowest points as a City supporter.

I always thought he looked a bit like Ted Moult.

Thanks for the tremendous memories John and my sympathies to his family.

[Wings of a Sparrow 1,414]

Supporting Norwich was never as much fun as it was under John Bond, you could always expect the unexpected and his interviews were a joy to behold.

RIP big man.

[Waveney Canary 0]

Great man and great manager and great memories. Will be sadly missed

[smooth 114]

Again to young to have seen first hand the great man at the helm, but his name will always be mentioned in top handful that really made the impact in our amazing 110 year history.

Sad news today and I wish when players arrive at the club to get an understanding of the club that they sat through the centenary DVD, or get an understanding of this club. Yes it is a job, but to see the evolution and those key people is what you want players to see and understand.

A sad sad day

[Diesel Doris 129]

One of the most colourful,charismatic and flambuoyant characters in the game. I bumped into him (literally) outside Littlewoods in Norwich. A sad day for the club and football in general. RIP John Bond

[Luv The Board. 0]

I always enjoyed watching his teams ,home and away, RIP John Bond Norwich legend.

[Tony Moore 0]

A great man who in no small way helped build the foundations of what we have today.

One of my lasting memories was watching his side play away to Ips**t, in the cup I think. At half time we were 4-0 down!! I remember that one of John bond''s expressions was "magic", everything was "magic". Anyhow with the teams going off at half time the PA played "Magic" by a group called Pilot. Decidedly mean but rather amusing.

RIP John

[Jules 0]

One of my earliest memories is meeting John Bond and Kevin Keelan at the City training ground in the early 70s. I used to write to John Bond after that and somewhere or other I think I may have one of his letters. A unique character and a big loss. RIP.

[alex_ncfc 662]

http://youtu.be/Wo_fV3h2DDI

Is about Man City, but oh well, Norwich City legend

[basil brush 0]

I felt sorry for Bond as Norwich were never big enough for his ambitions, though he stayed for 7 years. Took over at Man City when Malcolm Allison had completely run out of ideas and always felt he didn''t get the credit he deserved there.

My overriding memory of JB is when Fashanu scored his wonder goal v Liverpool in the 79/80 season. Most managers would of been delighted, but Bond stood there rucking him for being out of position!!!

RIP

[Rock The Boat 1,330]

The influence of John Bond still ripples through the club today. We played football with flair and charisma which was the personality of the man himself.

John gave us our first Wembley appearance and put Norwich City on the footballing map.

Memories of City and the great attacking teams of that era will remain with us for ever.

[Highland Canary 76]

JB had a big character and he was a great manager. We played exciting, attacking football and he certainly laid the foundations for how we played football over the next decade. He will be sadly missed .

[Pongtorn 0]

The game that Norwich lost to Liverpool 3-5 and Justin Fashanu''s shot was the first game that made me becoming a Norwich fan (along with a Liverpool fan back then in 1980).  At about 10 years old, I wrote a letter to Mr. Bond (but cannot remember what I said in the letter, vaguely I recommend Mr. Bond to buy a Liverpool player!! ).  His secretary replied my letter with a signed team photo.  I put that team photo and letter in picture frames but I lost them 20 years ago after my house was renovated.  Anyway, the moment that I knew I received a letter back from the Club is still in my memory until now.  By the way, that was my first time ever to write to others in English (few years after that I wrote to my pen friends in France!!) Good to bring back memory about pen friends in the world without e-mail and internet!!