History of Norwich City F.C.

played in Division Three (South), then the joint lowest tier of the football league, a period that was distinguished by "a thrilling giant-killing sequence which took them to the FA Cup semi-finals" in 1959.

[13] The following season, inspired by the nickname, City played for the first time in Canary livery; yellow shirts with green collars and cuffs.

Following an FA Commission of inquiry, the club was informed on the last day of 1904 that they had been deemed a professional organisation and hence ineligible to compete in amateur football.

The club officials, including founding chairman Robert Webster, had to be removed from office and Norwich were to be ousted from the amateur game at the end of the season.

[1] The rest of the decade proved more successful for Norwich, with a club-record victory, 10–2,[22][a] over Coventry City and promotion to the Second Division as champions in the 1933–34 season under the management of Tom Parker.

[23] With rising crowds and the Football Association raising concerns over the suitability of The Nest, the club considered renovation, but ultimately decided on a move to Carrow Road.

Construction took 82 days and the inaugural match at the new ground, held on 31 August 1935, against West Ham United, ended in a 4–3 victory for the home team and set a new record attendance of 29,779.

[24][1] A highlight of the fourth season at Carrow Road was the visit of King George VI on 29 October 1938; this was the first occasion a reigning monarch attended a second-tier football match.

[25] Norwich's anguish was exacerbated by the closeness of the relegation fight; having finished second from bottom of Division Two, they were demoted on a goal average difference of just 0.05.

[28] The lacklustre performances did not deter the crowds, and, in 1948, Carrow Road attracted its record attendance; 37,863 spectators watched City play Notts County.

[31][32][33] In 1962, Ron Ashman guided Norwich to their first trophy, defeating Rochdale 4–0 on aggregate in a two-legged final to win the League Cup.

[6] A highly successful first season saw promotion back to the First Division and another visit to Wembley, again in the League Cup final, this time losing 1–0 to Aston Villa.

[37] The 1984–85 season was one of mixed fortunes for the club; a fire gutted the old Main Stand on 25 October 1984 but on the pitch, under Ken Brown's management, they reached the final of the Milk Cup at Wembley Stadium.

[6] Norwich had qualified for a place in the UEFA Cup, but were denied their first foray into European competition when English club sides were banned, following the Heysel Stadium disaster.

[43] They had shown that they were a force to be reckoned with from the very first day of the Premier League season, achieving an impressive 4–2 away win over an Arsenal side who were among the pre-season title favourites in a race finally won by Manchester United.

[51] During the 1994 close season, the club sold 21-year-old striker Chris Sutton to Blackburn Rovers for a then British record fee of £5 million.

[39] But, following a serious injury to goalkeeper Bryan Gunn, the club's performance nosedived; with just one win in their final 20 Premiership fixtures,[53] Norwich plummeted to 20th place and were relegated to the second tier of English football.

[39] Martin O'Neill, who had taken Wycombe Wanderers from the Conference to the Second Division with successive promotions, was appointed as Norwich City manager in mid-1995.

[57] Between 1992 and January 1995, Norwich had disposed of several key attacking players: Robert Fleck (for £2.1M), Ruel Fox (for £2.25M), Chris Sutton (for £5M), Efan Ekoku (£0.9M) and Mark Robins (£1M).

[61] English television cook Delia Smith and her husband Michael Wynn-Jones took over the majority of Norwich City's shares from Watling in 1996,[59] and Mike Walker was re-appointed as the club's manager.

[64] Rioch's successor, Bryan Hamilton, lasted in the job for six months before he resigned with the club 20th in the First Division, and in real danger of relegation to the third tier of English football for the first time since the 1960s.

[30] Among the celebrations and events was an initiative to create a Hall of Fame, to honour players, coaches, managers, directors and executives who have "made the greatest contribution to the club in its long history both on and off the pitch".

[69] After a season of consolidation, in 2003–04 Worthington led the club to the First Division title, a success achieved by a margin of eight points and Norwich returned to the top flight for the first time in nine years.

[74] The club was expected to make a quick return to the Premiership in the 2005–06 season,[75][76] but a terrible first four months to the campaign saw City fall as low as 18th in The Championship and "the fans started to turn on Nigel Worthington".

[78] Half of Ashton's fee was immediately reinvested in the purchase of Welsh striker Robert Earnshaw,[79] who helped the Canaries' revival to a ninth-place finish.

[80] Worthington made just one permanent signing in the close season,[81] and when a poor run of form ensued, leaving the club in 17th place in the Championship, he was dismissed.

[94] Lambert oversaw a turnaround in fortunes to lead Norwich to promotion back to The Championship as League One champions, during a season that included a 16-game unbeaten run.

A 1–0 home defeat to Luton Town that season resulted in Norwich becoming the first English top-flight team to lose a FA Cup tie to a non-league side in 24 years.

[102] The appointment reinvigorated Norwich's season and after narrowly missing out on automatic promotion back to the Premier League, victory in the 2015 Championship playoff final secured an immediate return to the top division of English football.

[105] When it became clear that the club would not be promoted, Neil left his post and was replaced in May 2017 by German coach, Daniel Farke, on a two-year contract.