Good news for Norwich City: Norwich City’s three star players celebrate their birthdays on the same day, including their goalkeeper
The good news for Norwich City is that all three of their key players—including the goalkeeper—celebrate their birthdays on the same day.
Wes lists his seven favorite experiences from his career with Norwich City in the article! Have fun:
For your all-time Norwich XI, there is fierce competition at practically every position. There were lethal attackers, a series of deft, quick wingers, elegant central midfielders, lanky center backs, cunning fullbacks, and athletic goalkeepers.
Still, one region is all by itself. The tenth position. There is no player we have ever seen in a Norwich shirt like Wes Hoolahan. In British and Irish football, his talents are uncommon. This explains why admirers frequently lament that we might never see someone like him again; it’s not just a corny platitude; his talent is that special. When Wes is on the ball, he slows down the game to an ideal pace, making the game flow to his beat.
It’s surprising to hear that despite his obvious suitability for the No. 10 position, he never gave it much thought until Paul Lambert pulled him aside before a League One match in 2009, suggesting he would be more effective in the hole than out on the left flank. He hasn’t turned around.
Wes provides a wealth of knowledge on his eight years with Norwich in an exclusive interview to commemorate his 300th appearance. We consider ourselves fortunate to have had him for such a long time. As Wes himself states, “Spending that much time at a club is extremely uncommon in contemporary football.” But so far, so good—each and every minute of it.
Paul Lambert took me in before the game to tell me that he thought I would do better playing in the center, where I would see more of the ball than on the left wing. Before Paul urged me to play in the hole, I had never even considered doing so. He was correct, too. My career has improved steadily throughout the years since then.
I had always considered myself to be on the left. I used to perform there as a child and later performed there with Simon Grayson at Blackpool. It felt like I’d always been in the 4-4-2 position when I first started, but now it seems like I’ve always been in the position naturally!
Charlton took a 2-0 lead, but I equalized just before halftime, and then Holty came up with a last-minute goal. That was the beginning of a lot of our late goals that season and the following one. It was amazing—the supporters never left before the end because they knew that something would always happen in the final minutes and during injury time, and it typically did!
We had been watching Cardiff play Middlesbrough at the Portsmouth hotel before to the match. Even though we knew that a victory would guarantee us promotion, we were shocked to see Cardiff behind 2-0 after just 20 minutes. Korey Smith yelling and celebrating while sprinting up and down the hotel halls will always be in my memory!
Of course, you had childhood fantasies of being a Premier League player. Then it was fantastic to see the Norwich supporters who had traveled all the way to Wigan, and it was incredible to be mentioned as a Premier League team and a player—it’s something you imagine when you’re a young child hoping to play football.
And it was made much better when I scored on my Premier League debut. Ali Al-Habsi mishandled a cross-shot from Steve Morrison, and I was fortunate enough to be in the correct place to tap it in. I walked off in my joy, seeming shocked!
My dad used to take me to Old Trafford for many Manchester United games when I was a child, and I loved watching there and being in such a large crowd. It was therefore a dream to walk out there in front of ninety thousand people rather than being in the stands.
It was made even more memorable by the fact that I was captain in addition to being allowed to play there. Granted, Grant Holt was the captain that year, but he wasn’t in the game, so I filled in for him for a couple of games, which was an incredible honor.
I paused to enjoy being on the field in such a renowned stadium and to take in my surroundings. Additionally, you could hear and see a pocket of two to three thousand Norwich supporters during the game, which was
Those two games in the semifinals against Ipswich were nerve-wracking. There was no room on the field for the first forty-five minutes of the second leg following the 1-1 draw in the first leg.
The gaffer then instructed us to celebrate that evening and have Sunday off. In order to decompress, clear our minds, and get ready for the championship, we all went to play golf.
Everything about the day out, including the atmosphere and the match, was fantastic. It was great to walk out into the sea of yellow, and the entire game was brilliantly audible due to the supporters’ noise.
Although I felt a little sorry for Middlesbrough, someone had to lose. We owed Boro one as well, though, since they defeated us twice in the league, and we utilized that memory in the final. I remembered them yelling and applauding after their victory at home.
That day, everyone was truly at the top of their game. The 11 players and the substitutes all performing to their best capacity is not something that happens very often. It’s normal to have seven, eight, or nine players who are all playing well and a handful who are having a bad game. We completely destroyed Middlesbrough in the opening thirty minutes because everyone was playing at the peak of their abilities on such a monumental occasion. After we scored our second goal, we took a step back and played the rest of the game with professionalism. It was a performance that was almost flawless.
The festivities at the Wembley Hotel were a lot of fun. The entire backroom crew was present, along with everyone’s friends and families, and we all partied the night away.
We had a sneaking suspicion before the game that we could beat them because their form wasn’t at its peak. It just seemed like a good opportunity to get their fans on their backs early on and keep them quiet, even if they hadn’t lost at home all season. Cameron gave us the lead in the first half, and we were sure we could silence the supporters the longer the game lasted.
Then Tettey’s toe poke for the second goal in the second half! I recall that David de Gea was unsure of whether it was a pass or a shoot, so he had no idea where it was heading! To be honest, I doubt anyone knew where it would be.
