Norwich City

[sen8taur]

UK Best Bet Betting and Poker Forum

NORWICH CITY FOOTBALL CLUB

Founded: 1902 | Nickname: The Canaries | Ground: Carrow Road | Capacity: 27,033

Overview


Founder members Norwich City are back in the Premier League after a six-year absence.

The Canaries are flying high once more after securing back-to-back promotions, clinching their return to the top flight with a 1-0 win at Portsmouth on 2nd May.

Cardiff City's surprise 3-0 home defeat by Middlesbrough hours earlier paved the way for Paul Lambert's side to clinch their place in the big-time thanks to a Simeon Jackson goal.

The campaign began in disappointing fashion with a 3-2 home defeat by Watford but that early set-back proved the precursor to promotion.

Norwich took 10 points from their next four fixtures to give themselves a foothold in the division, just outside the play-off positions.

They tucked in unobtrusively just behind the thick of the promotion race with four successive draws leaving them in eighth place before a 4-1 local derby win at home to Ipswich Town catapulted them to fifth, a position they retained going into 2011.

The Canaries hung in and the resilience instilled by Lambert was epitomised by their knack of scoring late goals to secure precious points.

In total they managed 14 goals on 90 minutes or later to not only pick up crucial results but also momentum and belief.

That saw them finish February in fourth place and March in second but a 3-0 defeat at Swansea City and a 2-2 draw at Watford saw them drop back to third, a point behind Cardiff.

However they rallied strongly winning four in a row to overhaul their Welsh rivals, a run which included a memorable 5-1 win at neighbours Ipswich.

When the Bluebirds slipped up at home to Middlesbrough, it opened the door for the Canaries to fly through to the Barclays Premier League.

It was a great achievement for Lambert who had his team playing attractive football with Grant Holt firing 20 goals and Simeon Jackson 13 en route to promotion.

Wes Hoolahan chipped in 10 from the centre of the park where former Southampton midfielder Andrew Surman recovered from a long injury lay-off to add vitality to the late surge.

In goal John Ruddy proved hard to beat with good protection from Russell Martin who was outstanding in defence alongside Elliott Ward.

But their strength was their unity and conviction as they came on strong in the final section of the season to power to promotion in style. 

Club Heritage


The East Anglian club were founder members of the Premier League in 1992, opening with a stunning 4-2 win at Arsenal after being two down at half-time.

Indeed they led the FA Carling Premiership for much of the campaign before faltering to finish third behind Manchester United and Aston Villa.

That saw them play in the UEFA Cup for the first time. Although they lost in the third round to Inter Milan, they achieved the distinction of becoming the first English club to beat Bayern Munich in the Olympic Stadium, winning 2-1.

Manager Mike Walker quit in January 1994 to take charge of Everton and was replaced by coach John Deehan who guided the team to a solid 12th place.

However they were relegated in 1995 and remained in the second tier until 2003/04 when they won the Championship by eight points from West Bromwich Albion, a consolation for losing the play-off final a year earlier.

They lasted just the one season, making an instant return to the second tier.

The Canaries were relegated from the Premier League on the final day of the 2004/05 campaign with an ignominious 6-0 defeat at Fulham.

That began a steady decline which saw them finish ninth, 16th and 17th before dropping into League 1 in 2009.

Their opening fixture in the third tier was a disastrous 7-1 home defeat by local rivals Colchester United who were then managed by Lambert.

Norwich promptly sacked manager Bryan Gunn and replaced him with the man who had just masterminded their wretched start to the campaign.

It proved a masterstroke as Lambert made an immediate impact, guiding Norwich from the bottom of League 1 to automatic promotion as champions.

Most would have expected the East Anglian club to settle for a season of consolidation but they maintained the momentum to go straight through.

Now, after a painful six-year absence, they are back at the top - and hoping to stay for longer.

Premier League History


2010/11 - Win promotion to the Barclays Premier League by finishing second in the Championship.

_{Courtesy of:  premierleague.com}

[sen8taur]

UK Best Bet Betting and Poker Forum

Norwich City fixtures 2011/12
All of Norwich City's provisional fixtures for the new Barclays Premier League season.

 

Norwich City face an intriguing start to the new Barclays Premier League campaign with a trip to Wigan Athletic.

Their first home match is against Stoke City before travelling to Chelsea.

The Canaries wind up the campaign with a home fixture against Aston Villa.

Matches on 5th May will not clash with the FA Cup Final and may accordingly move to a different kick off time on the Saturday or to the Sunday. A further announcement will be made closer to the date.

All fixtures are provisional at this stage and subject to change.

Norwich City



August
13 Wigan (A)
20 Stoke (H)
27 Chelsea (A)

September
11 West Brom (H)
17 Bolton (A)
26 Sunderland (H)

October
1 Man Utd (A)
15 Swansea (H)
22 Liverpool (A)
29 Blackburn (H)

November
5 Aston Villa (A)
19 Arsenal (H)
26 QPR (H)

December
3 Man City (A)
10 Newcastle (H)
17 Everton (A)
20 Wolverhampton (A)
26 Tottenham (H)
31 Fulham (H)

January
2 QPR (A)
14 West Brom (A)
21 Chelsea (H)
31 Sunderland (A)

February
4 Bolton (H)
11 Swansea (A)
25 Man Utd (H)

March
3 Stoke (A)
10 Wigan (H)
17 Newcastle (A)
24 Wolverhampton (H)
31 Fulham (A)

April
7 Everton (H)
9 Tottenham (A)
14 Man City (H)
21 Blackburn (A)
28 Liverpool (H)

May
5 Arsenal (A)
13 Aston Villa (H)

Reproduced under license from Football DataCo Limited. All rights reserved. Licence number NEWMEDIA/PREMLGE/110083a.

_{Courtesy of:  premierleague.com}

[sen8taur]

UK Best Bet Betting and Poker Forum

Ayala out for Canaries
Norwich City defender Daniel Ayala has been ruled out for two months with a knee injury.

 


The 20-year-old Spaniard, who joined the Barclays Premier League newcomers earlier this month from Liverpool, suffered the injury during the Canaries' 4-0 midweek Carling Cup humbling at home to MK Dons.

The club confirmed the news on their official Twitter feed, posting ahead of Saturday's match at Chelsea: "Injury blow - Daniel Ayala out for a couple of months with knee injury, Wes Hoolahan being monitored."

Ayala became manager Paul Lambert's eighth summer addition 10 days ago when he arrived from Liverpool for an undisclosed fee on a four-year contract, bolstering a squad which secured successive promotions from League One to the Barclays Premier League.

could benefit

He had joined the Reds from Sevilla in 2007, but found his first-team opportunities limited at Anfield, and last season spent loan spells in the Championship at both Hull City and Derby County.

Ayala made his debut in last weekend's 1-1 Barclays Premier League draw against Stoke City at Carrow Road, coming on for Anthony Pilkington midway through the second half.

His absence will come as a blow to Lambert, who rates the player highly.

Speaking earlier this month, he said: "I just think you've got to have a lot of cover throughout the coming games and a long hard season.

"He's a young player and obviously played against us for Hull and Derby and I thought he was strong and aerial as well. He was somebody we thought could benefit the football club."

 
_{Courtesy of:  premierleague.com}

[sen8taur]

UK Best Bet Betting and Poker Forum

Vaughan facing lengthy absence
Norwich City striker James Vaughan will be out for several months with a knee injury.

 


The 23-year-old hobbled off after coming on as a second-half substitute during the Canaries' 2-1 defeat of Sunderland on Monday night.

Tests were carried out on Vaughan, who moved to Carrow Road from Everton in the summer, which confirmed the injury blow.

bad luck

Canaries manager Paul Lambert confirmed Vaughan would be sidelined until early 2012.

Speaking to a news conference ahead of the Barclays Premier League trip to Old Trafford, Lambert said: "He is going to be out for a considerable time - it is his meniscus.

"It is a blow because he has been looking really good and is going to be out for three or four months.

"He has had really bad luck with injuries."


_{Courtesy of:   premierleague.com}