Carrow Road - Norwich City FC
Norwich City 5-2 Wycombe Wanderers
22/08/09 - League One
Att: 23,428
As I was staying in nearby Thetford on a family holiday, I decided it would be a good opportunity to visit a new stadium and with Norwich playing host to Wycombe Wanderers I got a ticket for the match and I was very much looking forward to it. The previous year when we'd been staying in that part of the world we went to Norwich for a shopping trip and I had a look around the outside of the stadium, but unfortunately hadn't managed to see a game.
Norwich City were at their lowest point going into this game. After relegation from the Championship the previous season, they got off to a disastrous start to life in the third tier, after being humiliated by Colchester United on the opening day, Norwich had failed to win either of their following two matches at Exeter City and Brentford respectively. It was good timing for the Canaries to announce Paul Lambert as their new boss - The man who a couple of weeks previous had masterminded the 7-1 destruction of Norwich when managing Colchester. His first assignment was against a newly promoted Wycombe side who had also had a tough start to the season.
Carrow Road is a great venue and is a stadium that Norwich can be proud of. Built to a good standard, it's size is imposing and with four different stands coming together nicely, it has plenty of character too. It's a club that should never have found themselves in League One and the impressive attendance of over 23,000 shows the size of support that the club has.
My seat was in the Norwich and Peterborough Upper, which is behind the goal. It offered a great view of the pitch and the overhang of the roof blocked out most of the sky, making the stadium feel really enclosed. At the opposite end is the Barclay, which is similar in looks and size to the Norwich and Peterborough stand and to the right is the Jarrold South Stand, which is an impressive one tier stand, which swings round to join up with the Norwich and Peterborough stand and also houses the away supporters in a block at the opposite end. Finally there's the Geoffrey Watling City Stand, which is a smaller one tier stand, which has the tunnel and dugouts on that side.
There was a good atmosphere inside the stadium as the home fans belted out their anthem "On the Ball City" pre-match. The new manager received a warm welcome and Norwich were on top early on, taking only 16 minutes to break the deadlock through Grant Holt. 10 minutes later the lead was doubled and the home side were in cruise control. A 3rd Norwich goal appeared to kill the game off, but Wycombe snatched a goal back just before the break. A minute after the restart the nerves started to jangle as the visitors bagged a 2nd goal, but the tension was short lived as 5 minutes later Norwich restored their 2 goal cushion. Grant Holt wrapped up the scoring with 20 minutes remaining and the majority of the 23,000 inside Carrow Road went home happy, with Norwich getting their first win of the season.
This win was the start of a run that would eventually take Norwich to the league title and they followed that up with promotion again the following season. A club with the fanbase and stadium that Norwich has certainly does not look out of place in the top flight and I'm happy to see them doing so well at the moment. Carrow Road is a very enjoyable place to watch football and the city itself is a cracking place to visit. There are plenty of pubs and the stadium is within walking distance of the city centre, which makes it a very pleasant day for any visiting fans.
Norwich City Football Club
The rear of The Jarrold Stand
