Norwich City

Norwich City are back in the Premier League after three seasons 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 has returned Norwich City to the Premier League in only his second season 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

Three to Watch

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

Striker

Teemu Pukki

Pukki took the Championship by storm last season. The Finnish international finished the season as top scorer in the Championship with 29 goals and was named the Championship's Player of the Season - not bad for his first season in England after arriving on a free transfer! Pukki has previously played in Finland (KTP & HJK), Spain (Sevilla), Germany (Schalke), Scotland (Celtic) and Denmark (Brondby) but he has never been as prolific as last season. 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.

Winger

Onel Hernandez

Hernandez will become the first Cuban to play Premier League football when he makes his Premier League debut for Norwich this season. Cuba will become the 114th nationality to play Premier League football when Hernandez plays this season and if he scores a goal Cuba will be the 98th nation to find the back of the net in the Premier League. The winger was a key figure in the team last season with 8 goals and 9 assists and fans will hope he can be as influential in the Premier League. Hernandez is on the verge of realising a dream by playing Premier League football and his other is to play for the Cuban national time which is not permitted for professional players at the moment. 

Quote

If I could play in the national team and in the Premier League it would be incredible. Cuba has a lot of history, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. To be a Cuban and play in the Premier League for Norwich would be such a privilege. Onel Hernandez.

New Signing

Patrick Roberts

Roberts has arrived at Carrow Road from one of the biggest clubs in world football: Manchester City. Roberts, who is on a season-long loan at Norwich, can play on the wing or as a striker and made his Premier League debut for Fulham (2014) less than a month after his 17th birthday. A transfer to Manchester City soon followed and City have sent him out on loan to get experience for the past five seasons. He was a big success at Celtic winning the Scottish Championship three times but less of a success at Girona in La Liga where he failed to score.  

Fact

Each Premier League team is allowed to have a maximum of two 'loan' players in their squads.

Last Season

Champions

Norwich City won the Championship last season (2018/19), which secured automatic promotion back to the Premier League after a three-year absence. Norwich were very attack-minded and scored 93 goals more than any other team in the division.

Prediction

2019/20: 19th

Norwich City should score goals next season. The manager sends out his players to play attacking football and with players like Teemu Pukki, Onel Hernandez, Emi Buendia and Patrick Roberts on the pitch they should have enough goals in the team. However, they may struggle in defence. Last season Norwich conceded 57 goals which was more than some of the teams finishing in mid-table. They have brought in a new goalkeeper (Ralf Fahrmann from Schalke) but that may not be enough. 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.