[Lord Snooty]

Norwich City v Huddersfield Town
The Sky Bet Championship
Tuesday August 16th - 19:45 ko
at Carrow Road

Huddersfield Town travel to Norwich to Carrow Road on Tuesday evening with the smell of revenge in their nostrils. Our last visit there ended in a humiliating 7-0 defeat, but now under the superb management of Danny Schofield, the Terriers have the chance to get one over on the calamitous Canaries.

Town lie in mid table, whilst Norwich are rock bottom, a position they've become used to in recent times. Danny and his boys, buoyed by a terrific triumph on Saturday when Yuta Nakayama opened the scoring against Stokyo City, will be full of confidence. Norwich will be full of flatulence after blowing off in Hull.

We will be without long term injured Matty Pearson, short term injured David Kasumu and forever blummin' injured Rolando Aarons, who's brother will be in the Norwich line up. And Tino Anjorin looked in pain as he came back out of the tunnell, limping, at full time. He may have just been annoyed at missing the victory wave though.

Tickets: Pay on the Day WILL NOT be available
Adults - £25
Over-65s - £15
Under-21s - £15
Under-18s - £10
Under-12s - £5
Wheelchair Bays and Ambulant tickets are priced at above prices and will receive a companion free of charge.
Tickets on our official coaches will be priced at £32 per person, with coaches departing at 1pm from the St Andrew's Road car park on match day.

A brief history of Norwich City: formed in 1902, they started playing at Newmarket Road but moved to The Nest in 1908, an old disused chalk pit. The club's chairman was a keen breeder of canaries and so he changed the club colours to the familiar yellow and green they have today and the nickname stuck. They went into liquidation during the First World War but reformed in 1919 and were then admitted to the league when it was extended in 1920 and they became members of the new Division Three (South).

The Nest

They won promotion to Division Two as champions in 1934. The FA were concerned about The Nest's unsuitability to hold large crowds and so they moved to a new stadium, the one they still play in at Carrow Road. It didn't herald success though and at the end of the season before the Second World War, they were relegated. They stayed in that league after the war and in 1956/57 finished bottom of the league. Fortunately they improved in the next one as the two Division Threes were nationalised into Div 3 and 4 and having finished in the top half, the Canaries were placed in the new Division 3.

This did herald a new era of success and in 1959 they reached the FA Cup semi finals as a 3rd division club. They beat Ilford and Swindon Town in the early rounds, then went on to beat Manchester United at Carrow Road in round 3. Goals from Terry Bly (2) and Errol Crossan gave them a famous 3-0 win over Busby's world famous team. They then beat Cardiff City which gave them a 5th round tie with Spurs. After a 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane, a Bly goal gave them a 1-0 win in the replay and the Canaries were in the quarter finals. Another replay was needed to see off Sheffield Utd and then they played Luton in the semis. It was back to White Hart Lane for this match, which again ended in a 1-1 draw, before the cup run came to an end at St Andrews where Luton triumphed 1-0.

The following season they got promoted to Div 2, finishing runners up behind Southampton. Club record appearance holder, Ron Ashman, skippered the Canaries through all this and then in 1962 led the club to their first trophy. This was the League Cup, in it's second season of existence, and they triumphed 4-0 on aggregate over 4th division Rochdale. The job was almost completed in the first leg as they won 3-0 at Spotland with goals from Derek Lythgoe (2) and Bill Punton, then a goal from Jimmy Hill (no not that one) finished the Dale off at Carrow Road. Ashman then took over the manager's job, with a total of 662 games behind him but couldn't get them up to the First Division.

They didn't have to wait that long though. Under the management of Ron Saunders, they won the 2nd division in 1972 and took our place at the top table as we got relegated. Whilst up there they reached the League Cup Final again, losing this time in their first visit to Wembley, beaten 1-0 by Spurs. Saunders left to manage Aston Villa and the Canaries were relegated. But they came straight back up again, finishing third behind Man Utd and Saunders' Villa team. And it was Saunders who would thwart his old club again in the next season as the Canaries reached the League Cup Final again and lost 0-1 again, with Ray Graydon scoring to give Villa the cup.

John Bond had been the manager for all this and when he left to go manage Man City, the Canaries were relegated in 1980. They came back up again in 1982, finishing 3rd behind Luton and Watford. Ken Brown was now the manager and in 1985 he guided them once more to the League Cup Final. This time they won it. After beating Preston, Aldershot, Notts County and Grimsby, they came up against their arch rivals Ipswich Town in a 2 legged semi final. They lost the first leg 0-1 at Portman Road but then the future Town management duo, John Deehan and Steve Bruce, gave them the victory at Carrow Road and they were off to Wembley again. They won it 1-0 against Sunderland, with the unfortunate Gordon Chisholm putting the ball into his own net.

Even more unfortunately, both Norwich and Sunderland were relegated at the end of the season, the Canaries becoming the first team to win a major trophy and get relegated in the same season. More bad luck as well meant they couldn't play in Europe for their League Cup win as the country had been banned from playing in the European competitions after the Heysel disaster.

They won the 2nd division title in 1986 to get back into the top flight and were still there when the First Division was re-branded as the Premier League in 1992. And they almost won that first Premier League, with future Town manager Mark Robins top scoring, but faded towards the end after being top for quite a while. Their fate was sealed with a 1-3 defeat at Portman Road and eventually finished 3rd behind Man U and Villa. Still it was their highest ever finish and this time they were allowed into the UEFA Cup.

They had a famous win in the 2nd round, becoming the first English team to win away at Bayern Munich. Jeremy Goss and Mark Bowen gave them a 2-1 win and then Goss scored again in the 2nd leg 1-1 draw to give them the aggregate victory. They then came up against Inter Milan, who won both legs 1-0, with Denis Bergkamp on target for both goals.

All this was with Mike Walker in the manager's hot seat, but when he left to take the Everton job, things started to go downhill. John Deehan took over but couldn't stop the slide and at the end of the 1994/95 season, they went down. And they stayed down.

Nine years they stayed in division 2, almost going down to division 3, but rallying to reach the Play Offs for the first time in 2002. They drew against Birmingham City at the Millennium Stadium but lost on penalties. It spurred them on to greater things though and they won the title in 2004, finishing 8 points ahead of West Brom. But success didn't last and they came straight back down.

They had four years in what by now was called The Championship, but when they left it was in a downward direction, to League One. And what a terrible start to League One life they had, losing 1-7 at home to Colchester United. Manager Bryan Gunn was sacked and replaced with the man who had just got him sacked, Colchester's Paul Lambert. It was a good appointment for the Canaries as he led them to the title and then straight through the Championship to the Premier League, finishing runners up behind QPR.

They had three seasons in the Prem. Lambert left for Aston Villa and just as when Ron Saunders left for Villa, the Canaries went down. They won promotion straight away, beating Middlesbrough 2-0 in the Play Offs at Wembley with goals from Huddersfield lad Cameron Jerome and Nathan Redmond.

Straight back down again though in 2017 as we passed them on the way up, reversing the fortunes of 1972. But they won the Championship again in 2019 and were promoted as we came down, reversing the fortunes of 2017. They finished five points ahead of Sheffield Utd, but came straight back down.

Just for one season though as they went back up again as champions, only to come straight back down again. A proper yo-yo club.

Head to Head



Norwich lead the head to head with 15 wins to Town's 13, with 17 draws.

That Head to Head was level pegging by the start of the 2020/21 season, but they went and did the double over us. That was the watch it on i-player season and we played them at the JSS in the first game of the season. We held them off for most of the game and it looked like a good point was coming our way. But then Todd Cantwell went unpunished for elbowing Richard Stearman in the face. I say unpunished, he got a yellow card for what was clearly a red.

In the very next minute a still startled Stearman played an awful backpass into the path of Teemu Pukki, who raced from the halfway line, rounded Ben Hamer in the Town goal and squared it for the unmarked sub, Adam Idah, who'd only been on the pitch for a couple of minutes, to tap into the empty net.

I was screaming at the ref for the injustice of it all, but he never heard me, I was sat in our front room.

Pukki scored a hat trick in the rematch down at Carrow Road on a Tuesday evening in April. This was the match that should've seen that Spanish snake Carlos Corberan sacked as we got stuffed 7-0. Potless Phil Hodgkinson and the club decided not to get rid though and showed a hell of a lot of loyalty to him, which he repaid by walking out last month to take up a job in Greece.

Before that though, in our 2016/17 promotion season, we did the double over them. Elias Kachunga scored twice in a pre Christmas, Friday night Sky Sports extravaganza down at Carrow Road as we won 2-1. And the home game was also televised as we pumped them 3-0. Kacha on target again, as well as Aaron Mooy and Nahki Wells.

We have had some big losses down in Norwich over the years since I've been watching Town. We lost 4-1 in 85/86, 5-0 in 97/98, 4-1 in the next one, 3-0 in 09/10 and 5-0 in 14/15. Iwan Roberts, the Town legend, spoilt his legendary status a bit by scoring five goals against us, all at Carrow Road. What chances of a Town win in this? Norfolk n chance!

So what's going on down the side of the River Wensum? Managed nowadays by Dean Smith, the Walsall and Leyton Orient legend.

He was born in West Bromwich in 1971 and was the West Midland Junior Chess Champion before he signed a professional football contract with Walsall in 1989. He was a centre back and after five years as a Saddler, he became Hereford's record signing when they paid £80,000 for him in 1994.

His time at Edgar Street was a bit up and down, making it to the Play Offs, losing against Darlington, then getting relegated out of the League. At this point, he transferred to Leyton Orient. He made it to the Play Off Final twice with the O's, but then after nearly 300 games for them and a lifetime of lower league football, he was signed by Sheffield Wednesday, who were in what is now called the Championship. That didn't last long though. After less than half a season with t'Owls, he was relegated back to the 3rd tier.

He then had half a season at Port Vale before going back to coach the kids at Orient. That lasted a few years, working up to be assistant to Martin Ling, but both were sacked in a clear out in 2009. So he went back to another old club, Walsall. Two years as Youth Coach and he was suddenly thrust into his first management role when Chris Hutchings, the former Town full back was booted out of the Bescot.

He did alright, which ended up with him getting other jobs at Brentford, Aston Villa and now Norwich.

Last week's line up at Hull:


1 Tim Krul - Dutch keeper, ex Newcastle.
2 Max Aarons - Rolando's younger, less injury prone brother.
4 Andrew Omobamidele - 20 year old Irish defender.
5 Grant Hanley - Club captain, Scottish international.
19 Jacob Sørensen - 24 year old Danish midfielder.
10 Kieran Dowell - 24 year old Lancastrian midfielder.
23 Kenny McLean - 30 year old Scottish international midfielder.
26 Marcelino Núñez - 22 year old Chile international midfielder.
7 Milot Rashica - 26 year old Kosovo international midfielder.
22 Teemu Pukki - 32 year old Finnish finisher.
14 Todd Cantwell - 24 year old prick.

Subs:
6 Ben Gibson - Boro chairman's nephew, ex York City centre back.
20 Aaron Ramsey - Not that one, a kid on loan from Villa.
21 Danel Sinani - A legend at Leeds Road and Luxembourg.
24 Josh Sargent - Soccerballer from Missouri.
25 Onel Hernández - Cuban/German, was out on loan at Boro n Brum last season.
28 Angus Gunn - Son of another Gunn, Bryan the Norwich legend.
46 Liam Gibbs - 19 year old midfielder from Bury St Edmunds.



Club connections:

Iwan Roberts, I've mentioned already for scoring five goals against us as a Norwich player. Another player who always played well against us was Alex Pritchard. They had our pants down when we paid them an undisclosed fee for him, believed to be around ten million. James Vaughan was alright though. He signed from the Canaries in 2013 after a loan.

We have numpty managers with Canary connections. Mark Robins and Steve Bruce are both Norwich legends., not so highly thought of in Kirklees.

Danel Sinani, who was a vital member of our squad last season, said he would've joined us permanently had we gone up. He was of course, on loan from Norwich and instead he's now establishing himself in their team for this season. Although he joined the Canaries two years ago, he's only just made his debut for them and scored his first goal in the Carabooboo last week against Birmingham.

And our very own Jordan Rhodes won a Championship champions medal with Norwich in 2018/19 when he was on a season loan from the Wendies.

Norwich in popular culture:






'ow to get theere an' wheere to sup: There are car parks close to the ground. The one recommended for away fans is the Norfolk County Hall car park, which is a 15 minute walk away from the ground. It has spaces for 2,000 cars, but costs eight quid to get in.

Even closer to Carrow Road is Norwich Railway Station. It's about a ten minute walk. That walk takes you past The Queen Of Iceni, a Wetherspoons pub. Good luck trying to get a train back to Huddersfield at that time of night though.

If you fancy something a bit more up market, there's Delia's Restaurant and Bar at the ground. I doubt they'll let us in though.

There is the Stadia Bar, which despite it's name, isn't at the ground. It's five minutes walk from the station, but in the opposite direction to the ground. Still manageable though. That's on Upper King Street and welcomes away supporters.

If it's not booze you're looking for, there's a Costa, a Starbuck's, a TGI Fridays, Estabulo, Nando's, all on that walk from the station to the ground.

Norwich Railway Station

Recent form - first 4 matches:

Town 3-1 Stoke
Town 1-4 PNE (EFL Cup)
Birmingham 2-1 Town
Town 0-1 Burnley

Hull 2-1 Norwich
Norwich 2-2 Birmingham (EFL Cup) (won 4-2 on pens)
Norwich 1-1 Wigan
Cardiff 1-0 Norwich

Town are 14th in the Championship table with 3 points. Norwich are 24th with 1.

Leading scorers:

Terriers:
Jordan Rhodes (2)
Danny Ward (2)

Canaries:
Danel Sinani (1)
Marcelino Núñez (1)
Jacob Sørensen (1)
Max Aarons (1)


August the 16th down the ages: How did we get on in previous matches played on this date?

1969: Aston Villa (h) Div 2, WON 2-0 (Bobby Hoy, Frank Worthington)
1975: Northampton Town (h) Div 4, drew 1-1 (Terry Gray)
1977: Carlisle Utd (a) League Cup, drew 2-2 (Mick Butler 2)
1980: Chesterfield (a) Div 3, lost 1-2 (Steve Kindon)
1994: Scunthorpe Utd (a) League Cup, lost 1-2 (Pat Scully)
2003: Boston Utd (a) Division 3 (4th tier), drew 2-2 (Jon Stead, Ian Hughes)
2004: Hartlepool Utd (h) League One (3rd tier), lost 0-2
2008: Colchester Utd (a) League One, drew 0-0
2011: Hartlepool Utd (a) League One, drew 0-0
2014: Cardiff City (a) Championship, lost 1-3 (Murray Wallace)
2016: Aston Villa (a) Championship, drew 1-1 (Michael Hefele)
2019: Fulham (h) Championship, lost 1-2 (Karlan Grant)


Not looking good! Played 12, WON 1, drew 6, lost 5.

We have a couple of iconic wins over Aston Villa though which both led to promotion. Slip of the fingers there. I put they were both wins, when the one in 2016 was only a draw. But it really did feel like a win after the Hef had come on late on and scored with his arse.

Apart from that, we have some proper early season dross in there. 

Norwich Anagrams: Some football related, some not.

1. Triple Granada 
   
2. Rainbow Rest 
   
3. Puke Time UK 
   
4. Jersey Smog 
   
5. Damn Shite 
   
6. Coward Roar 
   
7. Pilchard Taxer 
   
8. Fake Ireland 
   
9. Ron Jerome Came 
   
10. Hot Bronte 
    

[Amelia Chaffinch]

That's a Russ Abbot "see you, Jimmy" haircut.

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Or the Dick Emery character he performed with Roy Kinnear.

[theo_luddite]

A very appropriate shirt for a chess champion. How much longer will it be before Delia and her Hubby castle him sideways from this job?

[Lord Snooty]

Maybe after tomorrow knight.

[Amelia Chaffinch]

Wonder if Delia will bring a pack-up with pawn sandwiches.

[Lord Snooty]

[theo_luddite]

Wonder if Delia will bring a pack-up with pawn sandwiches.

The Queen of the well floured baps? Absolutely.

How about Rook pie? Or is he going to be told to Rook off this week?

[theo_luddite]

As for Aarons, Town need to come up with a settlement deal with the insurance guys and pay him off. He gets injured putting his kit on or drying himself off after a shower. Just stealing a wage at the moment (whatever it is) that we could be paying to someone who can actually play. He's never played more than a dozen full first team games for the whole match for a club in a season in his life. That's going back over 10 years.

If and when he ever declares himself fit again he can see if anyone from League 1 down to the Conference lower leagues is willing to sign him on pay-to-play terms. That or go get a proper job.

Back in my yoof there was a lad that would play a couple of games of U18 rugby with us then claim 2 weeks insurance on the sick for a broken finger nail or whatever injury he dreamed up that he had. Then he'd turn up and get himself "injured" again. Needless to say, we didn't accept him when he tried to sign for us the next season, especially when the club found out he was working full time for someone else in between his real job for back pocket cash.

[theo_luddite]

At the risk of hijacking Snoots's thread - here's the new lad from Aston Vanilla on Radio Local

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0ct6ywj

[theo_luddite]

Well, the local weatherman came round again yesterday. He's also known as the window cleaner. I don't care what Carol Kirkwood and her mates forecast on the morning BBC tellybox news, he's spot on almost every time.

Within 24 hours of him turning up, frequently within 2, it pisses it down. It did it last night and it's just done it again. Did the same last month, the month before that ........

Saves me going out with me collection of used wine bottles to do the plants and me banging haskets. I have a watering can but I've frequently used it with weed killer so not the best choice for the things I try to grow on purpose in between the weeds I think.

He's not as good looking as Carol mind you (in my opinion) either - no matter what age you are.

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3. Teemu Pukki
6. Carrow Road