This is the third and final piece on my attempt to try to grade the highs and lows of Norwich City Football Club throughout history, and today I will concentrate on the period since relegation from the Premier League after the 2004-05 season.
The scale I have come up with is entirely personal, using both my own memories and experience, and my knowledge of club history. And virtually all readers will have their own views and observations to make on the last five years. In truth, if you look back on parts one and two of this article (published here on Sing Up The River End! on the last two Sundays), you will see that the club has merely followed the patterns of history. Whilst there have been periods of stability with not much happening, the club have made a great habit of following success with a short bout of failure, before bouncing rapidly back with another good season. Modern day supporters will feel they have been subjected to a fair amount of torture in the recent past, and I would not argue against that. All I would say is that such extremes of emotion go hand in glove with being a fan of the Canaries. Don't think you are unique. I demonstrated these heights and depths in part one (my forty years or more as a supporter) and part two (the seventy years before that) !
What I will try to do though, is grade the more recent events against those of yesteryear; place them where I think they lie in the overall scheme of things.
For those not familiar with the earlier articles, I gave a mark out of ten to some of the more significant moments in Norwich City history. Top with a score of 9 out of ten is the 1971-72 Second Division Championship winning season. At the bottom is the re-election and near financial ruin of 1957, which I graded at 2.
If I were to go through each of the last six seasons with a fine tooth comb, I could of course come up with individual days that would score ten down to zero ! But that is not the point of the exercise. I am more concerned with periods of history, and taking a look at where events have left the club overall.
One of the major problems as far as supporter contentment has been concerned, stems from the fact that after Premier League relegation, everyone expected an immediate promotion back. If Nigel Worthington got us up to the top flight in the first place, it was surely a formality that we would go straight back up again. After all, that is what we did on a number of occasions in the seventies and eighties. Of course life, nor football, is ever that straightforward. My own opinion is that Worthington did a great job getting us there in the first place, putting together an excellent and entertaining side that won Division One with something to spare. But a year later, after a relegation that was ultimately cruel and humiliating, the club had something of a beat up look about it. Finishing 9th in the Championship was disappointing. Looking back however, I bet most supporters would have settled for a couple more years of that, had they known what was about to follow.
The departure of Nigel Worthington was inevitable as the club struggled even more in the early parts of 2006-07. His successor Peter Grant lasted in the job four days short of a year, and during that period, Norwich's position in the Championship table worsened - lower half had turned to rock bottom by October 2007. The appointment of Glenn Roeder did have a positive effect. Not everyone recalls that not only was relegation avoided, but by the end of February after a run that saw only one defeat in sixteen games, the Canaries were up to 12th and only 7 points off a play-off place. Another massive Norwich City turnaround in fortune. Followed by...........yes of course, nine defeats in the last fourteen games, but nevertheless, safety and relief.
So if I take that period between 2005-06 and 2007-08 seasons, I guess I would mark it at
5.5. Disappointing, frustrating. But in the course of history, not the worst.
It was however a defining period, because the things that happened during it paved the way for what has been a crazy two and a half year period, and more emotional extremes................
2008-09 was a season in which the club was hardly ever out of the relegation danger zone. With the financial position also worsening, the side was filled with loanees. The heart and soul of Norwich City had been ripped away. By the time Bryan Gunn took over in mid January, the writing was on the wall, and despite an initial revival, relegation down to the third level was confirmed on the final day of the season. The worst day ever in our history ? Well, it is hard to argue against it. I am a 1959 model myself. I thought it poignant that for the first time in my supporting life, the Canaries were out of the top two levels of English football. New territory, second rate territory, even for me. The other thing about the whole situation was that there seemed no hope that anything better would come along soon. I for one was not going to fall into the trap of a few years earlier and assume we would be far too good for League One. However, was it worse than the situation of 1957. No. Nearly maybe, but not quite. I will score 2008-09 just marginally higher, at
2.5. On both occasions we were heading for bankruptcy but it must be remembered that in 1957 we were right at the bottom of the Football League. The club could have disappeared altogether. In 2009 we were in freefall yes, but had not gone as low as we could have done.
I need not go too much into the next eighteen months, which takes us up to today. Other than to say the reversal in fortune has yet again been swift and spectacular. In those darkest of days there was one thing that no supporter understood. We could not see beyond the management upheavals, the short term signings and the warnings that the club was going bust. Amongst all of that, the board of directors changed, and with it came a resolve and quality that has rarely been witnessed at Norwich City Football Club. And the appointment of Paul Lambert was the final, vital, part of the jigsaw. The winning of League One in 2009-10 was a huge achievement. And yes it was right to celebrate it with an open top bus parade. Because not only did the triumph restore our position in terms of league status, it also stopped the slide. In no uncertain style as well it must be said. The club showed real determination and backbone to get back up at the first attempt. It was a season that should be treasured, as I am sure it always will be for those who lived through every kick of it.
Was it a bigger achievement than the title of 1971-72. I have to say no. It was after all a division lower than the Ron Saunders led campaign. But in terms of historical importance it is very close to being the most significant achievement the club has ever had. For now, I will give it
8.25 - as I did the winning of the same division in 1933-34. However, that is my view as things stand today. If in time 2009-10 provides the springboard for even greater things, that score will rise !!
I am not sure how many viewers have stayed with this article through all three parts. It has been fun for me to write, with a little bit more personal opinion than is usual amongst all of the facts and figures that appear on Sing Up The River End!
If there is one thing I hope readers will take away from the series, it is this. As you go through your Canary supporting lives, there will always be good days and bad days. Good seasons and bad seasons. Good periods and bad periods. In the course of a lifetime, it may well even itself out. So don't despair in the darkest hours, because brighter times are never far away.
But when things are going well, bloody well enjoy them. Because with Norwich City, you never know what is awaiting around the next bend.
part one of this article can be found at http://canaryseventyninety.blogspot.com/2011/01/scaling-heights-and-depths-of-history.html
part two of this article can be found at http://canaryseventyninety.blogspot.com/2011/02/scaling-heights-and-depths-of-history.html
.
