Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or City) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club currently play in the Championship, the second tier of English football, having been relegated from the Premier League in 2016. They were first promoted to the top flight in 1972. Norwich have won the League Cup twice, in 1962 and 1985. The club has never won the top flight, but finished third in 1993.
The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their home games at Carrow Road and have a long-standing and fierce rivalry with East Anglian rivals Ipswich Town, with whom they have contested the East Anglian derby 134 times since 1902.
The fans' song "On the Ball, City" is regarded as being the oldest football song in the world which is still in use. The club plays in characteristic yellow and green kits and are nicknamed The Canaries after the history of breeding the birds in the area.
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Links to Peel
Norwich City are the regional rivals of Ipswich Town, the local club favoured by Peel and wife Sheila. Despite this, Peel remained friends with celebrity cook and long-time Norwich co-owner Delia Smith.
NCFC were rarely a threat to Peel's beloved Liverpool team, apart from the 1993 season, when they led the league for much of the campaign, as noted by LFC striker Ian Rush during his contemporary interview with Peel for Chain Reaction.
On 10 October 1989, Peel claimed Norwich City's Carrow Road stadium was "one of the few grounds I can afford to get to" (for a Liverpool away game). In December 2001, however, after attending a "kind of do" there, he also described it as "a place we [Peel and wife Sheila) don't willingly go."[1]
As a player, the DJ appeared at Carrow Road on at least one occasion, for the Radio One team in a celebrity match in September 1980.[2]
Plays
- 10 October 1989: Norwich City F.C. (with Accent): Something To Shout About (LP - Flair 1989: The Other World Of British Football) Confection
Other Mentions
- 1970s
- 05 December 1979: JP: "For those of you who missed the football scores tonight, it's Norwich 1, Liverpool 3. That means Johnson 2, Dalglish 1."
- William: "Kenny Dalglish is magic!"
- JP: "Ah, you're right William."
- 1980s
- 29 September 1980: Peel had taken part in a celebrity football match at Carrow Road in Norwich the previous afternoon (Sunday 28th). He was pleased with his performance, citing in particular a cross that led to a goal for the Radio One team. Peter Powell is said to have scored a memorable goal.
- 22 September 1982: JP recalls the 'Heroes & Villains' Radio One anniversary concert in Hammersmith the previous night, noting the lack of audience response when he said, 'Of course here in London nobody knows anything about football at all' ... You wouldn't have got that sort of reaction in Norwich.'
- 30 November 1982: Liverpool have beaten Norwich 2-0 in the Milk Cup.
- 02 December 1982: On the coming Saturday, Liverpool are playing Norwich away ("one of the few grounds I can afford to get to") while the John Peel Roadshow is in Leeds.
- 1990s
- 20 October 1990: Peel mentions going to see a football match between Liverpool and Norwich after not being at a league match for a long time.
- 05 April 1992 (BFBS): FA Cup results are Sunderland beating Norwich City 1-0 and Liverpool (who went on to win the Cup) drawing 1-1- with Portsmouth.
- 27 November 1993: Graham Lambert from the Inspiral Carpets reviews Oldham v Norwich (2-1).
- 20 October 1998: Wife Sheila and son William have been to see Ipswich Town lose at home 1-0 against local rivals Norwich City.
- 2000s
- 04 December 2001: Recalls a late night walk with Sheila along a canal (river) towpath in Norwich after attending "a kind of do" at Carrow Road football ground ("a place we don't willingly go to") the previous Saturday ("too much detail you don't need to hear"). Says this was the first time he’d ever seen a couple “having it off in the street” outside a bar. Thinks the paving stones may have been uncomfortable for the woman involved. Around the corner was a man sitting against a wall surrounded by broken glass."
- 14 May 2002: Peel expresses hopes of a two-pronged East Anglian promotion push the following season by Ipswich and Norwich.
- 04 March 2003: Peel features extracts from the BBC's live match commentaries from a couple of important games that were played on Sunday. The first was the 2-0 victory by Ipswich Town over local rivals Norwich City. (JP: "It was a great result for Ipswich and there was much jubilation in our bijou maisonette I have to say, that afternoon.") The second match was Liverpool's 2-0 victory in the Worthington Cup over arch rivals Manchester United.
- 12 March 2003: JP: "There must be a certain amount of bitterness in Norwich tonight as they lost 3-2 to Portsmouth. Perhaps the presence of Hyper Kinako in their midst will bring a little cheer into their lives. I certainly hope so."
- 01 September 2004: The city of Norwich proves to be a touchy subject during the programme. JP: "We have an issue with Norwich at the moment in our house. I won't bore you with details, but we do. But I'm sure we'll overcome it." The cause is more than likely related to football (Norwich had been promoted to the Premier League back in May).
See Also
- Norwich
- Chain Reaction: John Peel Interviews Ian Rush (Transcript): LFC striker Rush notes the strong league performance of Norwich City in the 1993 season.
