The Archives: When Norwich almost won the Premier League

What if I were to tell you that during the inaugural 92/93 Premier League season, another team nearly did what Leicester did 23 years later? Well, that team was none other than current yo-yo club Norwich City.

Norwich were widely tipped for relegation after just about avoiding relegation the previous season by 3 points, as well as selling star player Robert Fleck to Chelsea in the summer. Furthermore, long-time manager Dave Stringer also left. Nonetheless, Mike Walker was promoted to the first team after coaching the youth sides for several years, and he assembled a squad of young players, including future Blackburn and Celtic legend Chris Sutton, experienced veterans, and new signings, notably Mark Robbins from Manchester United, who hit 15 in the league that season.

The season started off in the expected disastrous fashion, falling 2–0 behind to a fancied Arsenal side at Highbury. But Norwich fought back, putting four past David Seaman to run out 2–4 winners, with new boy Robbins notching 2.

As the season wore on, Norwich continued to shock everyone, topping the league by the end of the year and even the end of March!

However, they regularly struggled against big teams, as highlighted by their 7–1 and 4–1 hammerings to Blackburn Rovers and Liverpool respectively. Norwich’s fate was ultimately sealed against title rivals, and eventual winners, Manchester United on the 5th of April at Carrow Road. United outclassed Norwich to win 1–3, before Norwich were thumped 5–1 by Tottenham Hotspur the next matchday.

With that, Norwich’s fairytale season ended somewhat anti-climatically, finishing in 3rd. Then again, this sentiment speaks volumes of how much they overachived in the season, and the story didn’t end there. In the next season, Norwich went on to play in the UEFA Cup and had one last hurrah, beating Bayern Munich 3–2 on aggregate in the 2nd Round!

In conclusion, Norwich’s brief time in the sun encapsulated the excitement the new Premier League era sought to bring, and though fleeting, provided fans with many great memories. Cheers Norwich.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Read more of our work by emailing us at jykearns26@gmail.com or shayaanalimeerza@gmail.com to receive the full newsletter & check our Instagram for previews of our stories: instagram.com/thelockerroomfootball/