Yellow and green blood

In May 2002, I stood in the Gunn Club at Carrow Road, looking out at the old ground as work had begun to dismantle the old South Stand.

It looked forlorn, and I cried, as this is where Dad first took me to watch Norwich, standing at the bottom of the terrace, getting into the ground at half twelve so I could see. Then when it was turned into seating, we had season tickets in Block N.

Dad had been going to watch Norwich since the 1950s. My Granddad had been watching them since they played in the old ground, the Nest, an old chalk pit on Rouen Road in the late 1920s. The cub had been barely in existence for two decades then.

At the Nest there was a chalk bank behind one goal line, so forwards or wingers would have to be careful to be able to stop in time, lest they would collide with the 50 foot high cliff face. Upon promotion in 1934, the Football League said The Nest wasn't suitable, so Norwich bought the land, and built a new ground on Carrow Road. In 14 weeks.

City have played there ever since.

Heck, the King even paid a visit soon after it opened.

After the war, City struggled. In the 50s, three times Norwich nearly went out of business, and the club would send a balnket held by staff to collect pennies thrown from the stands to help save the club.

In the end, it was a cup run that saved it. In 1959, as a third division south club, Norwich went all the way to a semie final replay before Luton knocked us out, but we had already knocked our the Busby Babes, Spurs and Sheffield Utd.

Promotion back to the second division followed the next year, clinching it on 27th April 1960, 59 years to the day until City did it again at home.

Inbetween, Norwich have been promoted at Vicarage Road, Hillsborough, Bradford, whilst when Crystal Palace lost, Plymouth, Charlton and at Wembley in the play offs four years ago.

I was at Hillsborough in 1982, my first away game. It was the first season where teams got three points for a win. Norwich were mid-table untl February, then put a run of twelve wins in 14 games, or something close to that, to only need to draw against Sheffield Wednesday on the final day.

Ten thousand fans made the trip, filling infamous Lepping Lane end. I travelled by coach, my first away game, and watched on as Norwich lost to a final minute shot, with a Sheffield Wednesday fan in the same penalty area. In the end, results went our way, and we went up anyway.

On the way home, we stopped at Sutton Bridge and found the team standing outside the team bus, eating chips from newspaper.

Three years later, we were fighting for promotion again, and a hardy bunch of us went to Odsal in Bradford. City were nearly up, but a 2-0 win there and other results going our way meant we were up that day. After a 15 minute wait for the results, and the late kick off result, I think for Portsmouth, confirming it. How we cheered and jumped.

The locals were not so happy, and three stones at our coaches as we left the city.

Fans in car drove ahead of the buses and stood on over bridges, waving scarves and flags as we passed underneath.

In 2002, Norwich almost made it again, in our centenary season sneaking into the play offs, beating Wolves over two legs to set up a final in Cardiff against Birmingham.

A half two kick off meant buses leaving Norwich at half four. My friend Andrew and myself, waiting outside the ground all night to be first on a coach, but there was a mad scramble when they started to arrive.

Getting to Cardiff, we had four hours, so 80,000 fans trying to find an bar still with beer in to celebrate. By now I had been up 36 hours, and was flagging.

IN the stadium, Norwich played well, but the game ended 0-0. Two minutes into extra time, Iwan Roberts scored, and we went bonkers. Sadly, Brum levelled, and the game went to penalties.

Norwich lost by one, and Birmingham went up, and we didn't.

Two years later, and it seemed we were never going to be challengers again. Our lone striker, Zema Abbey did his knee in the second game of the season, and Darren Huckerby and Peter Crouch were loaned in.

We started winning.

And romped to the title.

In 2009, Norwich, now a third division team needed a win at Charlton to return to the Championship. All we had to do was win at Charton, where a year before we had been relegated. Charlton could have sold twenty thousand tickets to City supports, but chose not to. So, by cance we were in the area before the game as Norwich fans gathered. Again, results went our way and we went up.

A year later, we were on holiday in the Mosel Valley, sitting in our room of the vineyard, as I waited for a text from Andrew to let me know we had won at Portsmouth.

That leaves the play off win in 2015. We beat Ipswich in the play of semi final, winning 3-1 in the second leg at home, which I watched in a pub in Deal, running round the bar as the third went in.

I managed to get a ticket, had to drive to Lowestoft and back the day before the game to collect it, but I was there.

I had seen City win at the old Wembley, when they beat Sunderland in the League Cup in 1985, now I saw them win, and play better in beating Middlesborough.

Now this, sitting on my sofa watching TV, my eyes wet with tears as the final whistle went and promotion was assured and confirmed.

We will never see another season like this, so unexpected, so dominating, only losing three times since August, promoted and deservedly so. And playing almost Brezil-like football too. Scoring 102 goals, so far. Pukki scoring 28 goals, and four others getting ten or more each.

Amazing.