RTG’s totally and utterly (we hope) indispensable guide to this season’s away grounds.
THE OPPO –Norwich City aka The Canaries
DATE – Saturday 25th October
KO TIME – 3.00pm
THE GROUND – Carrow Road, Norwich, Norfolk– click here and here for maps of the area – the arrow in the middle points to where the ground is.
Carrow Road Stadium is on the south-eastern outskirts of Norwich, close to the river Yare and within easy walking distance of Norwich railway station.
At the moment, away fans are seated in temporary accomodation in front of the old south stand, which is currently being re-developed – hence only 250 seats being allocated to away supporters. And there’s no ‘overhead’ cover whatsoever – so if it rains, you’ll get wet.
Tickets are no longer available for this fixture.
GOING BY CAR?
Travelling from the north east, get yourself onto the A1/A1M southbound – then stay on it for flipping ages – until you’re approaching Newark-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire, actually. Just after the road goes over the River Trent, you’ll come to a roundabout which will have signs for (amongst other things) the A46 to Lincoln and the A17. You then stay on the A17 for just under 60 miles, until you get to Kings Lynn. Look for signs for the A47 to Norwich, and you then stay on that road for just over 40 miles. Take the A146 into the city. At the traffic lights turn right and follow the outer ring road: Left at the roundabout. Right at the next lights. Follow the inner ring road round to the right, over the river and the ground is on your right. If in doubt follow signs for the the railway station until you get to the river (where the rail station is off to the left and ground on your right).
There’s no proper car park at the ground itself but there’s one at nearby County Hall (from the ground turn left into King St, left again into Bracondale, right at the roundabout and the car park’s on your right). It holds about 2000 cars but best to try and get in there by lunchtime or you won’t get a space. Or try the Norwich Union car park on Kings Road near Sainsbury’s (down a steep hill called Berstrete), and they’ll only charge you a pound – and it’s only a five minute walk to the ground. Otherwise there are five NCP multi storeys in Norwich, park in one of those then walk or get a cab to Carrow Road.
There are a lot of ‘residents only’ parking close to the ground so avoid that unless you want your car clamped or ticketed. The side roads off Rosary Road are therefore now pretty much no-go areas, as are the spaces at the bottom of Rouen Road (now restricted waiting and on meters) – although there’s still unrestricted (and plentiful) parking in the residential streets off the Yarmouth Road (A1042), OR some local charities take over some company car parks on Thorpe Road on matchdays, and only charge a couple of quid.
The traffic in the area immediately around the ground gets fairly gridlocked after a game: either go and kill some time, look round the city or something, or be prepared to spend time sitting in a traffic jam for about half an hour at least.
GOING BY TRAIN?
It’s a long-haul one unfortunately – a shade over five hours and you’ll need to set your alarm for a fairly early start.
The 08.19 GNER service out of Newcastle will take you to Peterborough, then change for the 11.37 Central Trains service which will get you to Norwich for 1.25pm and you’ll still have time for a pre-match bevvy or two.
Or the 09.21 from Newcastle will get you to Peterborough, then you want the 12.12 Anglia Railways service to Ely, then the 1.07 from Ely to Norwich which will get you there just after 2pm.
Coming back, if you’re quick enough to catch the 5.48pm out of Norwich, that’ll take you to Ely; from there catch the 7.16pm to Peterborough then the 8.14pm GNER service from Peterborough which gets you into Newcastle just before 11pm.
If you miss those, the 6.56pm from Norwich takes you directly to Grantham then the 9.33pm GNER from Grantham will get you into Newcastle just before midnight – then you’ll need a Metro back to Sunderland as Arriva trains will have stopped for the night by then.
Leave Norwich station by the main entrance/exit, turn left and left again and just follow the road to the ground.
For train times for that day, check the National Rail website. Saver Return tickets will set you back about £80 but check with National Rail and/or GNER to see what deals are available at the time of booking.
STOPPING OVER?
– Pearl Continental Hotel, Thorpe Road, Norwich (close to Carrow Rd and Norwich Stn)
– Travelodge Norwich, A11/A47 interchange, tel 0870 191 1704
– Stracey House Hotel & Snooker Club, Stracey Rd (close to Carrow Rd and – Norwich stn), tel 01603 628093
– Station Hotel, Riverside Road, tel 01603 611064
– Cavalier Hotel, 244 Thorpe Road (walking distance from Carrow Road), tel 01603 434291.
SCRAN AND BOOZE
There are plenty of pubs in the stretch between the railway station and the ground, and most of them friendly. The Clarence Harbour, the traditional away fans’ pub is no longer in business but the ‘Compleat Angler’, which is by the river opposite the railway station, will serve away supporters. Other pubs which are happy to serve away supporters are The Ferry Boat pub, the English Rose and the Berstrete Gates pubs. Away fans should avoid the dodgily named ‘The Murderers’ pub on Timberhill, though.
There’s a pub at the ground itself called Scores which welcomes both home and away supporters, and you can eat there too, or there’s the usual array of burger and chip vans outside the ground.
If you’re desperate for a bite to eat there’s a KFC close to the rail station. Failing that it’s only a 15 minute walk into central Norwich where you’ll be absolutely spoilt for choice for finding food and drink.
LEND US A FIVER I’M OUT OF CASH
No problems here – nip along to the nearby Morrisons supermarket close to the ground, and there are ATMs for Abbey, Halifax and Lloyds TSB.
IN THE NEWS
Unfortunately for us, Norwich are unbeaten at home so far this season. Still, records are there to be broken, Canaries to be knocked off perches etc…!
Darren Huckerby is with the Canaries on a three month loan from Man City and has scored in three consecutive matches since his move – and was recently named Nationwide player of the month for September.
Canaries’ gaffer Nigel Worthington won Nationwide Manager of the Month for September.
They also have Peter Crouch on loan from Villa, and Kevin Harper from Portsmouth.
LAST SEASON
Finished 8th out of 24 with 69 points.
THIS SEASON
Currently 7th of 24:
P14 W7 D4 L3 F20 A15 Pts 25 GD 5
Home form: W6 D0 L0, scored 13, conceded 5
HEAD TO HEAD
Norwich have the edge on us for the relatively few league meetings we’ve had – from 34 matches, they’ve won 15, we’ve won 9, and there’ve been 10 draws.
LAST 7 MEETINGS
06/03/99 Sunderland 1 Norwich 0 (Phillips 7)
29/09/98 Norwich 2 Sunderland 2 (Quinn 2, Marshall 47 og)
28/01/98 Norwich 2, Sunderland 1 (Clark 84)
30/08/97 Sunderland 0 Norwich 1
14/01/96 Sunderland 0 Norwich 1
19/08/95 Norwich 0 Sunderland 0
05/04/92 Sunderland 1 Norwich 0 (Byrne) – FA Cup Semi-Final
TRIVIA
– Best league win: 10 – 2: vs Coventry City 15/03/1930.
– Worst league defeat: 2 – 10: vs Swindon Town 05/09/1908.
– Record transfer fee paid: £1m to Leeds for Jon Newsome (June 94)
– Record transfer fee received: £5m from Blackburn for Chris Sutton (July 94)
Many football supporters would struggle to name any of their club’s directors, but Norwich have an extremely famous one – Delia Smith, the TV cook. Her husband Michael Wynn-Jones (another NCFC director) took her to her first match in 1969 and that started her passion for the club. In the 1990s they took up places on the board and since then she has taken over running of the club’s catering, including the introduction of an upmarket restaurant. She joined the board of Norwich in 1997 and such is her love for the club that at one point she cut short a family holiday in Provence so she could attend a Norwich v Sunderland match. Delia was also responsible for improving the pies at Carrow Road – a lifelong Norwich supporter told her the pies at Carrow Road were awful, that the Northern clubs all use a firm called Holland’s and that the best pies on offer were at Huddersfield Town – and now Carrow Road have Hollands’ pies too, so remember Delia when you’re stuffing your face at the Norwich match.
A bit like Sunderland, Norwich City FC has a school connection to the club’s formation – it was formed by two local teachers in 1902 who were fed up that there was no senior team playing competitive footy in Norwich.
They got their nickname ‘The Canaries’ from Norwich’s trade in breeding and exporting canaries.
At City’s first ground on Rosary Road (‘The Nest’), the old chalk workings unde rthe pitch were prone to subsidence, causing patches of turf to give way at awkward moments. David Beckham knows the feeling well.
In 1935, after an incident that saw fall from their lofty perch above the pitch, Norwich were told they had to move to a more suitable ground so they moved to Carrow Road – the site was previously used by the sports club of a local engineering firm and the Colman mustard company.
Norwich won the 2nd Division title in 1972 and made it to the League Cup Final in 1973 and 1975 – which they lost 1-0 both times.
They won the League Cup in 1962 when it was played over two legs, beating Rochdale 4-0 on aggregate.
The next time they reached a League Cup Final it was 1985 and their opponents were Sunderland, which they won 1-0. Clive Walker missed a penalty and an own goal from a deflection off Gordon Chisholm gave the Canaries the victory. Shaun Elliott was supposed to captain the team but was suspended – he signed for Norwich City some years later. David Hodgeson played for Sunderland that day and he too later joined the Canaries.
In 1992 we met Norwich again in a cup match – the FA Cup semi final which we won 1-0.
Famous ex-Canary managers/coaches – Martin O’Neill, Gary Megson, Bruce Rioch, Mick Wadsworth.
Famous ex-Canary players – Jussi Jaaskelainen, Craig Bellamy, Steve Bruce, Chris Sutton, Asa Hartford, Ruel Fox, Tim Sherwood, David Rocastle, Jan Molby, John Fashanu,Justin Fashanu, Dion Dublin, Tony Cottee, Ade Akinbiyi, Mick Channon, , Bobby Zamora, Joe Royle.
Players who’ve spent time with both Sunderland and Norwich: Shaun Elliott, Gary Rowell , Craig Russell, Keith Bertschin, Paul Heckingbottom, David Hodgson.
Rio Ferdinand (yes, THAT Rio Ferdinand) had a trial with Norwich as a youngster, before signing YTS forms with West Ham.
Three years ago, Norwich supporters had their hopes raised when Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s brother Carlos joined them on a trial. He scored on his debut for Norwich Ressies but was released less than two weeks later, with their then manager Bryan Hamilton said “he was no better than what we’ve already got” (where have we heard that before?)
Credits: Norwich City FC, Fans FC, Norwich Council, Link, Rough Guide to English Football, Soccerbase, streetmap.co.uk, Local Life, National Rail. Special thanks to Nick Potter for sense-checking and invaluable additions!