Norwich had high expectations after a good pre-season campaign, however a disastrous opening game of the season saw City suffer a record-breaking home defeat, losing 7–1 to Colchester United.
Although the Canaries then went on to win 4–0 at Yeovil in the League Cup, Bryan Gunn was sacked and Paul Lambert - the man who had masterminded Colchester's victory against Norwich a few days previously - would be named as his successor, following a 1–1 draw away at Exeter City.
Second-placed Charlton were next up at Carrow Road, and they quickly took control with an early 2–0 lead before Wes Hoolahan, recalled to the team, scored just before half time and eventually Grant Holt grabbed a last-minute equaliser to salvage a point.
This meant five wins out of 6 in October and Norwich were only 4 points off second placed Charlton City only had three league games in November due to cup commitments and they went through the month unbeaten.
Two home matches against fellow promotion chasers came next, with Huddersfield Town the first to be dispatched – being defeated 3–0 – before a 2–0 Boxing Day success over Millwall left Norwich just 2 points shy of second-placed Charlton.
Although the Canaries dominated the game they failed to make the breakthrough, and indeed were living dangerously at times with the home side coming close to taking the lead but for the width of the post.
City followed this up with a 3–1 win at home to Exeter, which meant that they went into arguably their biggest game of the season so far - the return fixture against Colchester (with whom there had been considerable bad feeling brewing since Lambert's departure to Carrow Road) - in solid form.
A Chris Martin double put City 2–0 up at half-time before Gary Doherty, Grant Holt and Oli Johnson made it 5–0, with Wes Hoolahan's missed penalty proving not to be costly, whilst Colchester finished the match with 10 men thanks to Ian Henderson's sending off against his former side.
Another late come-from-behind win at Walsall in their next game, coupled with Leeds slipping to defeat, saw Norwich consolidate their position at the top of the table, extending their lead to three points.
The Canaries were 1–0 down going into the final 10 minutes of the match, before Lambert's gamble of having four strikers on the pitch ultimately paid off as Norwich grabbed two late goals through Holt and Doherty to snatch three vital points.
In their next game City again suffered defeat, losing 0–2 to Southampton in what was their first home loss under Paul Lambert, but they had a chance to put it right against their next opponents when struggling Southend came to Carrow Road.
As the season started to reach the business end of proceedings, March was a hugely important month for Norwich with fixtures against 3 promotion chasers, including a home game against second-placed Leeds.
City began with an easy 3–0 win over Yeovil at Carrow Road, before a tricky looking match at Huddersfield - who were unbeaten at their Galpharm Stadium going into this game - and had put in some impressive home displays.
This set the stage for the visit of out-of-form Leeds to Carrow Road and presented Norwich with the opportunity of moving 11 points clear of their nearest rivals if they could muster a victory.
Tranmere then added a third despite a clear handball, to leave the Canaries furious with the inexplicable performance of referee Eddie Ilderton, before they managed a consolation goal in the second half - but the damage had already been done and the game ended 3–1.
With promotion looking as if it could be sealed as early as the next game, City headed to east London to play mid-table Leyton Orient, backed by a bumper away crowd.
City went ahead through a Michael Nelson header in the first half and, after some terrific saves from Fraser Forster, survived the Charlton onslaught to seal the win and promotion back to the Championship at the first time of asking.