Forest let Canaries out of their cage after being 3-0 up

After two cup games, getting a replay at QPR in the F.A. Cup 5th Round and then sealing a place at Wembley against Liverpool in the League Cup final by killing off Leeds 7-3 on aggregate, it was back to the league for Forest, with a tricky away game at mid-table Norwich City. Their lead at the top had been cut back to four points, albeit with a game in hand, so we needed to be on our guard here.

I missed the home game earlier in the season because of my sister's wedding so I was keen not to miss this one, especially as Carrow Road was a ground I'd never been to before. Before our nostalgic trip back to the match though, I want to spend a bit of time exploring Norwich City's early history as I neglected to do that for the first match.

Down memory lane to Carrow Road - my 41st Ground

Norwich City were formed in 1902 by a group of friends that included two players from a team called Norwich CEYMS (Church of England Young Men's Society.) At first they played in the Norfolk & Suffolk league but soon joined the Southern League. Norwich's first ground was on Newmarket Road and their first colours were blue and white halves.

On the Ball, City

Norwich City's club song is called "On the Ball, City." I have to admit I'd never heard it of before writing this, despite being puzzled when a mate, and Norwich City fan, sometimes posts "on the ball" when referring to his club on social media. Apparently it's the oldest football song in the world and was inherited from Norwich CEYMS (who perhaps also inherited it from other clubs in the area before them like Norwich Teachers, Caley's FC or Swifians.)

I can't quite imagine many Trent Enders singing anything like it, though...

In the days to call, which we've left behind,

Our boyhood’s glorious game,

And our youthful vigour has declined

With its mirth and its lonesome end;

You will think of the time, the happy time,

Its memories fond recall

When in the bloom of your youthful prime

We’ve kept upon the ball

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.

Let all tonight then drink with me

To the football game we love,

And wish it may successful be

As other games of old,

And in one grand united toast

Join player, game and song

And fondly pledge your pride and toast

Success to the City club.

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

Reading the lyrics sounds a bit toffy schoolboyish, I have to say. One can almost imagine Steven Fry in his blazer and cap singing along with it, except he wasn't a Norwich fan until the 1980s apparently.

Anyway the lyrics are better heard sung than read...

Norwich in the Southern League

This is the first photo of a Norwich City side I could find on the interweb.

Norwich in their first colours at their first, Newmarket Road, ground.

Their first season in the Southern League, in 1905, was also their best, finishing a rather underwhelming 7th place. They just didn't look like Norwich anyway. Who were this team playing in blue and white halves?

Norwich City's best season - their first - in the Southern League 1905-06

So where did the canaries come from? - "The strangers" (say it in a Norfolk accent and you get the point better!), apparently.

A small population of Dutch and Flemish speaking immigrants from across the channel settled in Norwich and brought their canaries with them. The locals called them "the strangers" but they must have liked them really, as it set off a local tradition in the city for breeding the birds and legend has it that many people made a living from selling them in London.

Anyway, the club chairman in 1907 was also a breeder of canaries and he decided to change the club's nickname (which was "the citizens" before) and their colours to the now familiar canary yellow. Apparently, he always used to refer to them as "his canaries" before that time anyway.

Canaries hatch in 1907

Despite Norwich's poor form, the crowds were increasing and so the club had to seek a new ground, which turned out to be an old disused chalk pit next to Rosary Road. Now they were called the canaries, the ground was named, very appropriately I think, "The Nest". They played their first season there in 1908-09, but it was one of their worst...

Norwich's first season at "the Nest" in 1908-09 wasn't a good one

It sounds like a really characterful ground. It had a large concrete wall at one corner on top of which spectators would get a great (but scary) view of the game, like sitting on top of a cliff. One of Norwich's best players in those days, an outside right called Jimmy Stokes, once collided into the wall and broke his leg.

Flying over the nest

In 1922 part of the spion kop fencing broke and about 50-60 people fell to the pitch-side. Amazingly no-one was hurt. The story of the ground gets a full write up here and a model of the ground has been lovingly made to celebrate it.

Model of the Nest

Before the league's major expansion in 1920 most of the clubs that joined that season to form Division Three South and North played in either the Southern League of the Northern League. Norwich City of course, played in the former, even though they were the most northerly of the bunch - which is actually very appropriate because the name "Norwich" actually comes from norse (old English etc) 'Nor - 'wic' which means 'north town or village'.

Norwich never did very well though, hovering towards the bottom of the league most seasons.

Norwich never did very well in the Southern League

So, in 1921 Norwich finally joined the Football League, along with 42 other clubs. Their first season in the league followed their pattern in the Southern League... below average.

Norwich City's first season in the league

Things stabilised and then improved and the canaries finally had a bit of success when they won the Third Division South to get promotion to the second division for the first time in 1934. As they put it, the canaries were soaring to a higher circle.

Waiting for the canaries in the second division were Nottingham Forest who were at the time a stable mid-table side. So, on Boxing Day 1934 Forest played at Norwich for the first time, a match that must have been played at the Nest! The score that day? 3-3!

Norwich City v Nottingham Forest 26th December 1934

This was actually the second time Forest had played Norwich - they met for the first time in the F. A. Cup in 1915, at the City Ground. Forest lost that game 4-1.

If 11v11's data is to be trusted, the game in Norwich in 1934 was played the very day after the two teams had played in Nottingham - on Christmas Day. Who knows if that is true.

Norwich finished just 3 places below Forest that season but had a great cup run. They beat non-league Bath in the 3rd round and then first division Leeds United in the 4th after drawing at the Nest and winning 3-2 at Elland Road.

In the 5th Round they drew the ultimate cup winners that year, Sheffield Wednesday, at home. Wednesday were also riding high in the first division so this was a huge match for Norwich.

Scary scenes as 25,000 pack the Nest to see the canaries v Sheffield Wednesday

The match, played on February 16th 1935, was watched by Norwich City's biggest crowd at the time, 25,037 and it was literally bursting at the seams that day. Wednesday won 1-0.

First season Forest and Norwich played in the same division

It was because of crowd safety fears that the Football Association stepped in and Norwich were ordered to move to a new stadium or else presumably face expulsion from the league.

And so a new site for a ground was found less than a mile away and, in just 82 days, the stadium was built ready for the start of the 1935-36 season and an opening home match v West Ham United which the canaries won 4-3.

Carrow Road enclosed the ground on three sides, the fourth side by the river Wensum.

Carrow Road - Home of Norwich City since August 1935

So there you have it. A quick tour of the three homes of Norwich City. The two previous grounds have long gone and been built on but you can still walk past where they used to be. I am the sort of person who will do that next time I am in Norwich, are you?

Norwich's three grounds - you can do the walk in 46 minutes

It took Norwich City themselves 33 years to make it to Carrow Road. It took me 7 and a half years - my 41st ground visited.

Norwich City's League History

As we saw last time, with all due respect to Norwich City, over their history, Forest had been the better club for most of the time. In only 8 out Norwich's 51 league seasons (or Forest's 75) had they finished above us. Our average position, remember was 24th, theirs was 41st.

League Cup Win 1962

By the time of this fixture in February 1978, apart from winning the Division Three South in 1933-34 and the second division in 1971-72 the only major trophy Norwich had won was the League Cup in 1961-62, the second season it was run.

Norwich were a mid table second division side that season. They beat lowly Chesterfield 3-2 at Saltergate in the first round in September. In the next round they faced third division strugglers, Lincoln City at Carrow Road. The canaries again overcame them 3-2. Into the 3rd round and the sequence continued - a second division side again this time - Middlesbrough - the score, again, 3-2.

Then the fourth round and, bizarrely, No fewer than FIVE teams were given a bye to the quarter finals. (Who organised this!?) One of those teams included Norwich City. Only three fourth round ties were played in fact.

In the quarter finals Norwich had a very impressive 4-1 at Roker Park, knocking out second division promotion chasing Sunderland.

In the semi-finals Norwich had to face first division opposition for the only time, in the form of Blackpool - probably with Jimmy Armfield as captain. Norwich won the home leg 4-1 affording them the luxury of a 2-0 defeat at Bloomfield Road but still winning 4-3 on aggregate.

So, who would they get in the final? Amazingly it was Rochdale, having their best season in any domestic competition too. Rochdale were a 4th division side and would be the only team from that level to reach a domestic final for years (until Bradford City did the same thing a few years ago.)

Rochdale's cup run had been very impressive. They beat second division Southampton (after a replay), fourth division Doncaster Rovers, second division Charlton Athletic, fourth division York City and first division Blackburn Rovers to get to their only final.

But Norwich were too good for them, winning the away leg 3-0 at Spotland on April 26th making the home leg a 1-0 formality.

The trophy was lifted in front of the Carrow Road faithful - and there weren't that many of them, just 19,708 City fans watched Norwich win their only big domestic trophy to date.

Norwich had more potential support than this because the record crowd at Carrow Road came just the season after: 43,984 for a F. A. Cup 6th Round tie against Leicester City on March 30th 1963. I guess the League Cup, being so new, didn't really inspire much excitement and it was only against Rochdale, and they were 3-0 up, and, and .... What am I saying? No! Less than 20,000 to watch your team win a major trophy at home is poor by anyone's reckoning.

Record Crowd in Norwich for this match

Norwich finally made it to the top flight in 1972 having won the second division title. They were relegated again two season later but bounced straight back up in 3rd place behind (amazingly Manchester United and Aston Villa.)

Norwich City bounce back to the First Division along with Manchester United

That was the season I saw Norwich City for the first time. They won 3-1 at the City Ground, on 12th October 1974, in front of an attendance of 13,613. Barry Butlin put Forest ahead in the first half but a Mel Machin hat trick gave Norwich the points which put them up to second place in the table.

Forest really don't have a very good record against the canaries.

First time I saw Norwich, in 1974

Team selections from Allan Brown and John Bond

Back in the top flight Norwich had their best season to date (from a 1978 perspective, remember).

Norwich City's best season before 1977. (in fact their best until 1987)

Here's a list of all the matches played between the two clubs up to and including the game at Carrow Road that day.

This was only the 20th meeting of the clubs including some high scoring affairs, averaging 3.55 goals per game

Forest have a poor record against Norwich

This season, Norwich had been doing pretty well in the league and looked set to finish in their highest ever position, hovering around 7th and 8th for much of the season so far. They'd been knocked out of the League Cup by Burnley and by Orient in the F.A. Cup at the earliest opportunity though and recent form had dipped coming into this match.

Forest drew the third biggest league crowd at Carrow Road of the season. The biggest was 29,480 - who had watched Norwich play West Ham on New Years day and 27,887 had watched the Tractor Derby on Boxing Day.

The Teams

As you will no doubt expect by now, Forest were unchanged - again! This was the ninth league match on the trot now that they'd fielded the same team.

Norwich's team, on the other hand, was jumbled up all over the place. Only five players played in the same position they had in the previous match. An injury to Kevin Keelan required John Bond to put young Roger Hansbury in goal for only his ninth game for the club. Kevin Reeves made way for Graham Paddon. Keith Robson made his debut for Norwich that day. Kevin Bond was replaced at the back by John Ryan too.

Norwich City

1 Roger Habnsbury, 2 John Ryan, 3 Colin Sullivan, 4 Mick McGuire, 5 David Jones, 6 Tony Powell, 7 Keith Robson, 8 Graham Paddon, 9 Roger Gibbins, 10 Colin Suggett, 11 Martin Peters.

Goals: John Ryan 1 (pen.), Keith Robson 1, Colin Suggett 1.

Nottingham Forest

1 Peter Shilton, 2 Viv Anderson, 3 Colin Barrett, 4 John McGovern, 5 David Needham, 6 Kenny Burns, 7 Martin O'Neill, 8 Archie Gemmill, 9 Peter Withe, 10 Tony Woodcock, 11 John Robertson.

Goals : Colin Barrett 1, Martin O'Neill 1, Peter Withe 1.

Attendance: 26,004

The Game

We were driven there by Ian White I think. I don't remember much about the trip or game to be honest but we stood (or sat) along the side near the end most of the goals were scored. The weather was better today and only two games were postponed.

We needed to get back to winning ways and Forest were a goal up in just 16 minutes. Peter Withe claimed the goal - he would, he hadn't scored in the league since October 15th, 16 games ago. But looking at the footage below I don't think it had crossed the line before Martin O'Neill poked it in.

Six minutes later Colin Barrett was the unlikely scorer of a volley from the edge of the box - his first of the season - after he'd just fluffed an attempt to volley a cross over seconds earlier.

Two minutes later, Martin O'Neill scored a brilliant third, dribbling the ball from his own half, on his own, all the way into the box and past the helpless goalie who must have been fearing an absolute thrashing at this point.

24 minutes gone: Norwich City 0 Nottingham Forest 3!

Three points in the bag then! As always getting too cocky in football tends to bite you and, for once it seems that Forest did get a bit complacent. And just before half time the ref gave a penalty to Norwich after Colin Barrett had been judged to handball it. John Ryan slotted in the penalty to pull one back at half time.

Brian Clough was away watching Liverpool - perhaps to figure out a way for Forest to beat them in the forthcoming Wembley final - so perhaps Peter Taylor's half time team talk lacked something the team were used to. Maybe credit needs to be given to John Bond for turning it around. Martin Peters, who had been playing as a sweeper in the first half was switched to his usual attacking midfield role and Norwich came right back at us in the second half with two goals in two minutes mid way through the half to pull the game out of the fire for them.

It looked like Norwich would win the game but Forest clung on for a point.

Other Games

Luckily for Forest, Manchester City and Everton, our two closest rivals, played that day so it both could not close the gap. If Everton had won the gap would have been closed to just three points but Manchester City won so they leapfrogged over Everton into second place but the gap remained at four points. This was their eighth win in nine league games and they topped the current form league after this.

Middlesbrough beat Derby 3-1 to move into the top half of the table. This was their fourth win on the trot taking them to 3rd place in the current form (last 3 home/away) table. But after this Boro hit a bad run and would slide back down again, having lost Graeme Souness to Liverpool, I guess, this was probably anticipated.

A goal for Trevor Francis closed the gap a little in the league top scorer's chart and Peter Withe made an impact for the first time in weeks, keeping him in the frame.