Norwich City F.C. was formed following a meeting at the Criterion Cafe in Norwich on 17 June 1902 by a group of friends led by two former Norwich CEYMS players, Robert Webster and Joseph Cowper, and played their first competitive match against Harwich & Parkeston, at Newmarket Road on 6 September 1902. Following a FA Commission, the club was ousted from the amateur game in 1905, deemed a professional organisation. Later that year Norwich were elected to play in the Southern League and with increasing crowds, they were forced to leave Newmarket Road in 1908, moving to The Nest, a disused chalk pit. The club's original nickname was the Citizens, although this was superseded by 1907 by the more familiar Canaries. During the First World War, with football suspended and facing spiralling debts, City went into voluntary liquidation on 10 December 1917. The club was officially reformed on 15 February 1919. In May 1920, The Football League formed a third Division and Norwich joined the Third Division for the following season. Their first league fixture, against Plymouth, on 28 August 1920, ended in a 1–1 draw. The club went on to endure a mediocre decade, finishing no higher than eighth but no lower than 18th. The following decade proved more successful for the club with a club-record victory, 10–2, over Coventry and promotion as champions to the Second Division in the 1933–34 season under the management of Tom Parker. With crowds continuing to rise, and with the Football Association raising concerns over the suitability of The Nest, the club considered renovation of the ground, but ultimately decided on a move to Carrow Road. The inaugural match, held on 31 August 1935, against West Ham United, ended in a 4–3 victory to the home team and set a new record attendance of 29,779. The biggest highlight of the following four seasons was the visit of King George VI to Carrow Road on 29 October 1938. However, the club was relegated to the Third Division at the end of the season. The league was suspended the following season as a result of the outbreak of the Second World War and did not resume until the 1946–47 season. City finished this and the following season in 21st place, the poor results forcing the club to apply for re-election to the league. The club narrowly missed out on promotion under the guidance of manager Norman Low in the early 1950s, but following the return of Tom Parker as manager, Norwich finished bottom of the football league in the 1956–57 season.
The 1958–59 season saw Norwich lose in the semi-final of the FA Cup as a Third Division side, defeating two First Division sides on the way: Tottenham Hotspur and Matt Busby's Manchester United. In the 1959–60 season, Norwich were promoted to the Second Division after finishing second to Southampton, and achieved a fourth place finish in the 1960–61 season. In 1962 Ron Ashman guided Norwich to their first trophy, defeating Rochdale 4-0 on aggregate in a two-legged final to win the League Cup.
Sixth place in the league was the closest the club came to promotion to the First Division during the 1960s, but after winning the division in the 1971–72 season under manager Ron Saunders, Norwich City reached the highest level of English football for the first time. They made their first appearance at Wembley Stadium in 1973, losing the League Cup final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur.Relegation to the Second Division in 1974 resulted in the resignation of Saunders and the appointment of John Bond. A highly successful first season saw promotion back to the First Division and another visit to Wembley, again in the League Cup final, this time losing 1-0 to Aston Villa. Bond resigned during the 1980–81 season and the club were relegated, but bounced back the following season after finishing third.
The 1984–85 season was of mixed fortunes for the club; under Ken Brown's guidance, they reached the final of the Milk Cup at Wembley Stadium, having defeated Ipswich Town in the semi-final. In the final, they beat Sunderland 1–0, but in the league both Norwich and Sunderland were relegated to the second tier of English football. Norwich were also denied their first foray into Europe with the ban on English clubs after the Heysel Stadium disaster. City bounced back to the top flight immediately by winning the Second Division championship in the 1985–86 season. High league placings in the First Division in 1986–87 and 1988–89 would have been enough for UEFA Cup qualification, but the ban on English clubs remained. They also had good cup runs during his period, reaching the FA Cup semi-finals in 1989 and again in 1992.
In 1992–93, the inaugural season of the English Premier League, Norwich City led the league for most of the season,[24] before faltering in the final weeks to finish third behind the champions, Manchester United, and Aston Villa.[25] The following season Norwich played in the UEFA Cup for the first time, losing in the third round to Internazionale, but defeating Bayern Munich. Winning 2–1, Norwich are the only English team to beat Bayern Munich in the Olympic Stadium. Mike Walker quit as Norwich City manager in January 1994, to take charge of Everton and was replaced by 36-year-old first team coach John Deehan who led the club to 12th place in the 1993–94 season in the Premier League. The club were relegated to the First Division the following season. Shortly before relegation, Deehan resigned as manager and his assistant Gary Megson took over until the end of the season. Martin O'Neill, who had taken Wycombe Wanderers from the Conference to the Second Division with successive promotions, was appointed as Norwich City manager in the summer of 1995. He lasted just six months in the job before resigning after a dispute with chairman Robert Chase over money to strengthen the squad. Soon after, Chase stepped down after protests from supporters, who complained that he kept selling the club's best players and was to blame for their relegation. Chase's majority stakeholding was bought by Geoffrey Watling.
English television cook Delia Smith and husband Michael Wynn-Jones took over the majority of Norwich City's shares from Watling in 1996, and Mike Walker was re-appointed as the club's manager. He was unable to repeat the success achieved during his first spell and was sacked two seasons later with Norwich mid-table in the First Division. Nigel Worthington took over as Norwich City manager in December 2000 following an unsuccessful two years for the club under Bruce Rioch and then Bryan Hamilton. He had been on the coaching staff under Hamilton who resigned with the club 20th in the First Division and in real danger of relegation to the third tier of English football for the first time since the 1960s. Worthington avoided the threat of relegation and, the following season, led City to a playoff final at the Millennium Stadium, which Norwich lost against Birmingham City on penalties.
City players celebrate winning the First Division Championship, 2004The 2003–04 campaign saw the club win the First Division title, finishing eight points clear of second-placed West Bromwich Albion and returned to the top flight for the first time since 1995. For much of the 2004–05 season however, the club struggled and, despite beating Manchester United 2–0 and Newcastle United 2–1 towards the end of the season, a last day 6–0 defeat away to Fulham condemned them to relegation. A mediocre season followed in The Championship as the club finished in ninth despite hopes of bouncing straight back up to the top flight, and as results in the 2006–07 season went against City, the pressure mounted on manager Nigel Worthington, culminating with his sacking on 1 October 2006, directly after a 4–1 defeat at the hands of Championship rivals Burnley. On 16 October 2006, Norwich held a press conference to reveal that former City player Peter Grant had left West Ham United to become the new manager,[44] and in February 2007, Grant replaced assistant Doug Livermore with his fellow Scot, Jim Duffy. Grant's side struggled for most of the season and worse was to follow. Norwich made a terrible start to the 2007-08 season, with only two wins by mid October; following a 1-0 defeat at fellow-strugglers QPR, Peter Grant left the club by "mutual consent" on 9 October 2007. On 30 October 2007, former Newcastle United manager Glenn Roeder was confirmed as Grant's replacement. Roeder, hired with the goal to keep Norwich in the Championship, managed to do so with a 3–0 win over QPR, Norwich's penultimate game of the season.
In the early afternoon of 14 January 2009 it was announced that Roeder had been relieved of his first team duties after 60 games in charge, and just 20 victories. A week later, Bryan Gunn was announced as manager until the end of the season, but he was unable to prevent the club from being relegated on 3 May, 2009, after a 4–2 defeat away at already relegated, Charlton Athletic. |