Norwich City

Norwich City are back in the Premier League after just one season away. The Canaries were founder members of the Premier League back in 1992/93 and will be hoping to replicate what happened in that first-ever Premier League season. Norwich finished third which is still their best-ever finish in the top division of English football.

The Club

The Canaries

• Stadium: Carrow Road  
• Stadium Capacity: 27,244
• Location: Norwich
• Founded: 1902
• Nickname: The Canaries
• Manager: Daniel Farke
• Kit: Yellow and green shirt with green shorts and yellow socks

Norwich City was founded in 1902 and play their home games at Carrow Road in Norwich, which is in the east of England. The capacity of Carrow Road is 27244, although its highest ever attendance was 43984, for an FA Cup match against Leicester City, in 1963. The current manager is the German, Daniel Farke, who as got Norwich City promoted to the Premier League for the second time as manager of the club. Norwich have won two major trophies in their history, which was the League Cup in 1962 and 1985. Norwich qualified for European football for the only time in 1993-94 and famously became the first English team to beat Bayern Munich in Germany. 

The Nickname

Norwich City’s nickname is ‘The Canaries’. There has been a picture of a canary on the club badge since 1922 and the team play in yellow shirts, green shorts and yellow socks.  In the past, breeding and keeping canaries as pets was very popular in and around the Norwich area and many canaries were imported to the city and fans began calling the team the 'Canaries'. 

Famous Fans

Norwich City play their home games at Carrow Road, which has a capacity of 27,244 and have played there since 1935. Two of the most famous Norwich fans are Delia Smith and Stephen Fry. Delia Smith is a director and majority shareholder at Norwich City. She is a famous TV chef and author in the UK and has sold over 21 million cookery books. Stephen Fry, also a director at the club, is a famous comedian and actor. He has over 10 million followers on Twitter.

The Rivals

Norwich’s strongest rivalry is with Ipswich, which is another town in East Anglia, an area of East England. The 'East Anglian Derby' between Norwich City and Ipswich Town was first played in 1902. It has been played 115 times, with Norwich winning 47 times and Ipswich 45. Last season's promotion was made even sweeter for many Norwich fans as Ipswich were relegated to the third tier of English football.

The 'East Anglian Derby' is often called the 'Old Farm' derby in reference to the 'Old Firm' derby between Celtic and Rangers in Scotland, and that agriculture is an important industry in the region.

The Song

'On the Ball City' is said to be the oldest football song in the world (the 1890s) and is still sung by Norwich City fans today. The first lines of the song are:

Kick off, throw in, have a little scrimmage,

Keep it low, a splendid rush, bravo, win or die;

On the ball, City, never mind the danger,

Steady on, now's your chance,

Hurrah! We've scored a goal.

City!, City!, City!

Players

One to Watch

Daniel Farke hasn't made many changes to the squad that won the Championship last season. Here is one player to watch out for in the Premier League this season:

Striker

Teemu Pukki

Pukki scored 26 goals in the Championship last season. The Finnish international led his country to their first-ever major tournament at Euro 2020 and is now looking forward to a second season in the Premier League. Pukki arrived at Norwich on a free transfer and has previously played in Finland (KTP & HJK), Spain (Sevilla), Germany (Schalke), Scotland (Celtic) and Denmark (Brondby). The Canaries will be relying on Pukki to make the step up to Premier League this season. 

Fact

Teemu Pukki scored in six consecutive matches in January and February 2019.

Last Season

Champions

Norwich City won the Championship last season (2020/21), which secured automatic promotion back to the Premier League after a one-year absence. Norwich were very attack-minded with only Brentford scoring more goals than the Canaries.

Prediction

2021/22: 18th

Norwich City should score goals next season. The manager sends out his players to play attacking football and with players like Teemu Pukki, Billy Gilmour, Onel Hernandez and Todd Cantwell on the pitch they should have enough goals in the team. However, they may struggle in defence. When they were in the Premier Leageu two seasons ago they conceded 75 goals. One thing is for sure - there should be a lot of goals if you watch Norwich this season.

Do you want to know more about Norwich?

Norwich is in the East of England in a region called East Anglia. Before the Industrial Revolution, the only city that was bigger than Norwich in England was London. Norwich is a popular city for a weekend break. Apart from visiting Carrow Road for a Premier League match, Norwich has plenty of museums, a lovely cathedral and is also good for shopping. Norwich is a UNESCO City of Literature.