The end of an era

Yesterday, joint majority shareholders, Delia Smith and her husband, Michael Wynn Jones, had their remaining shareholding bought out by Norwich Holdings, or whatever the vehicle is called.

This brings to and something like 29 years of control for the pair, who found, when they took over the club in the summer of 1995, that the club was technically insolvent, after a decade of stewardship by Robert Chase as chairman, who failed to control spending as football entered the Premier League age.

We might have been the first to learn that lesson, but were not the last.

Delia and Michael stabilised the club, while stuggling to get the debt under control. With the simple mantra of in ensuring the club's survival, that whatever it did, had to be self-sustaining.

An honest aim for sure, but one which meant the club was locked into a develop and sell cycle with players. Buy young, develop and then sell on at a handsome profit.

They didn't always get appointments right: Bryan Hamilton (former Ipswich player), Peter Grant, Glenn Roeder, Brian Gunn, Chris Houghton and David Wagner to name six. But did appoint Paul Lambert, Alex Neil and Daniel Farke, who each achieved prmotion to the Premier League, as did Nigel Worthington a decade before.

Sadly, only Lambert kept Norwich in the Premier League more than one season, and relegation followed. Lambert's reign began with him, famoulsy, as Colchester manager overseeing his side thrash Norwich 7-1 on the opening day of the 2009 League 1 season, Norwich's first season in the third tier for half a century.

He was made Norwich manager a week later, and saw Nowrich win the League 1 titel the next spring, and then achieve second place the following season in the Championship and so secure promotion to the Premier League, and kept them there in the first season before walking out to join Aston Villa.

Delia, nationally famous TV chef, who made the cake for the cover of the Rolling Sone's Let it Bleed album, then joining the BBC's Anglia studios as a TV chef before getting her own nation series. She wrote a series of three bokks, and a multi-part TV series on "How to Cook", in order to raise funds to put into the club.

Sadly, for most outside Norfolk, she is best remembered for an apparently drunken speech at half time in the 2005 televised game against Manchester City. She was always a fan. Sometimes sitting or standing with away fans at some games, and being an ambassador for the club and media focal point.

She, and Michael didn't always get it right, sometimes led with their hearts rather than their heads, but the highs were high, and we clebrated them with the pair.

Although blamed for recent stagnation, history will be very kind to them, as should Norwich fans now.