2006–07 Norwich City F.C. season

Norwich City
2006–07 season
Chairman Roger Munby
Manager Nigel Worthington 5 August 2006 – 1 October 2006
Peter Grant 15 October 2006 – 6 May 2007
Stadium Carrow Road
Championship 16th
FA Cup Fifth Round
League Cup Third Round
Top goalscorer League:
Robert Earnshaw (19)
All:
Robert Earnshaw (19)
Highest home attendance 25,476 vs Ipswich Town
(22 April 2007)
Lowest home attendance 23,311 vs Wolverhampton Wanderers
(30 January 2007)
Average home league attendance 24,544
Home colours
Away colours

The 2006–07 season was Norwich City's second consecutive year in the Football League Championship after failing to gain promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt. This article shows statistics and lists all matches that Norwich City played in the season.

Season overview

End of the Worthington era

Following the departure of key players Robert Green and Leon McKenzie to West Ham United and Coventry City respectively, Norwich's lack of activity in the summer transfer window was somewhat surprising. Indeed, only one player - Lee Croft, from Manchester City, for a fee in the region of £600,000[1] - came into the club on a permanent basis. However, despite this and an opening day defeat, the club enjoyed a relatively good start to the season, with three consecutive home wins in the league and progress in the League Cup. This form did not last - having collected just one point from a possible twelve during September, pressure was mounting on manager Nigel Worthington. Following the 3–1 defeat at Plymouth Argyle on 23 September, joint majority shareholders Delia Smith and Michael Wynn-Jones issued a public ultimatum stating that performances must immediately improve.[2]

In their next match on 1 October, Norwich slumped to a 4–1 defeat against Burnley at Carrow Road - a game which was televised by Sky Sports. The club announced they had parted company with Worthington just hours after the final whistle.[3]

Grant appointed

Martin Hunter was appointed caretaker manager going into the October international break. His side came out 3–0 winners in a friendly match at King's Lynn, specially arranged for former Norwich midfielder Shaun Carey who had suffered a double fracture of his leg.[4] During the week leading up to the meeting with Queens Park Rangers on 14 October, it emerged that former City player and West Ham coach Peter Grant was to be appointed new manager of the Canaries. He watched from the stands as his new side - still under the guidance of Hunter - drew 3–3 with QPR, conceding a stoppage-time equaliser by Martin Rowlands.[5]

Grant's start was encouraging, winning four of his first six matches in full charge. This included beating all three sides relegated from the Premier League the previous season, as well as then league leaders, Cardiff City. However, defeat to local rivals Ipswich Town followed by a run of six defeats in nine through December and January left the club languishing in 17th, with no realistic hopes of reaching the play-offs and just four points above the relegation zone.

A key point in the season came on 27 February, in a match against Luton Town at Kenilworth Road. Norwich were behind twice in the game and defeat would have left them in real relegation danger. However, equalisers from emerging striker Chris Martin and defender Jason Shackell, followed by a vital stoppage-time winning free-kick from new signing Simon Lappin lifted City to the relative safety of 16th.[6]

Norwich's form in the latter part of the season was very inconsistent, often winning one then losing one. The main bright spot was arguably the emergence of young striker Martin, who scored in four consecutive league games through February and March, reportedly attracting interest from Manchester United.[7] The return of top scorer Robert Earnshaw from injury could not stop a run of three defeats from the last four games, which left City ending an overall disappointing campaign in 16th place and hoping for much better in 2007–08.

Matches

      Win       Draw       Loss

League

Round 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Result 0–1 2–0 3–2 0–0 5–1 0–3 3–3 0–1 1–3 1–4 3–3 1–0 1–0 0–5 1–1 1–0 1–0 1–3 1–1 3–1 0–1 1–2 1–2
Position 19 10 7 6 2 4 5 10 14 17 19 15 11 17 16 13 9 12 13 12 15 15 16
Round 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46
Result 2–2 0–0 1–0 1–3 1–3 0–1 2–1 1–2 1–1 3–2 3–2 1–2 0–1 1–0 1–0 0–3 2–1 1–2 2–1 0–3 1–1 0–1 2–3
Position 15 17 15 17 17 17 16 18 18 16 16 17 17 15 15 16 13 16 15 15 15 16 16

August

September

October

November

December

January

February

March

April

May

FA Cup

Round 3 4 4(R) 5
Result 4–1 1–1 3–2 0–4

League Cup

Round 1 2 3
Result 2–0 4–2 0–0

Players in / out

Summer

In

Name Price From
Lee Croft £600,000 Manchester City

Out

Name Price To
Simon Charlton Free Oldham Athletic
Robert Green £2 million West Ham United
Leon McKenzie £1 million Coventry City

Winter

In

Name Price From
Luke Chadwick Undisclosed Stoke City
Chris Brown Undisclosed Sunderland
David Marshall On Loan Celtic
Mark Fotheringham Free Unattached
Simon Lappin £100,000 St. Mirren

Out

Name Price To
Ian Henderson On Loan Rotherham United
Craig Fleming Free Rotherham United

Players

First team squad

As of 6 May 2007.[8]Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
No. Position Player
1 Scotland GK David Marshall (on loan from Celtic)
3 England DF Adam Drury (captain)
4 England DF Jason Shackell
6 England FW Darren Huckerby
7 England MF Lee Croft
9 England FW Dion Dublin
10 Wales FW Robert Earnshaw
11 England MF Luke Chadwick
12 Trinidad and Tobago GK Tony Warner (on loan from Fulham)
14 England FW Chris Brown
15 Morocco MF Youssef Safri
16 Scotland MF Mark Fotheringham
17 England MF Andrew Hughes
19 Scotland MF Simon Lappin
No. Position Player
20 Nigeria MF Dickson Etuhu
21 Scotland GK Paul Gallacher
24 Netherlands DF Jurgen Colin
26 England MF Robert Eagle
27 Republic of Ireland DF Gary Doherty
28 Republic of Ireland MF Michael Spillane
29 England DF Matthew Halliday
31 Scotland MF Andrew Cave-Brown
33 Scotland FW Kris Renton
34 England GK Steven Arnold
35 England FW Chris Martin
36 South Africa MF Bally Smart
37 England MF Patrick Bexfield

Players on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
23 England FW Ryan Jarvis (on loan to Leyton Orient)
25 England DF Rossi Jarvis (on loan to Rotherham United)
No. Position Player
30 England GK Joe Lewis (on loan to Stockport)

Board and staff members

Board members

Position Name Nationality
Chairman Roger Munby  England
Vice Chairman Barry Skipper  England
Joint Majority Shareholder Delia Smith  England
Joint Majority Shareholder Michael Wynn-Jones  Wales
Director Michael Foulger  England
Chief Executive Neil Doncaster  England

Coaching staff

Position Staff
Manager Scotland Peter Grant
Assistant manager England Jim Duffy
First team coach England Martin Hunter
Goalkeeping coach England James Hollman
Youth coach England Ricky Martin
Physiotherapist England Neal Reynolds
Sports Science England Dave Carolan
Club Liaison Scotland Bryan Gunn

Last updated: 6 May 2007
Source: Norwich FC

League Championship

PWDLFAGDPts
C1Sunderland46277127647+2988
P2Birmingham City46268126742+2586
P3Derby County46259126246+1684
 4West Bromwich Albion462210148155+2676
 5Wolverhampton Wanderers462210145956+376
 6Southampton462112137753+2475
 7Preston North End46228166453+1174
 8Stoke City461916116241+2173
 9Sheffield Wednesday462011157066+471
 10Colchester United46209177056+1469
 11Plymouth Argyle461716136362+167
 12Crystal Palace461811175951+865
 13Cardiff City461713165753+464
 14Ipswich Town46188206459+562
 15Burnley461512195249+357
 16Norwich City46169215671-1557
 17Coventry City46168224762-1556
 18Queens Park Rangers461411215468-1453
 19Leicester City461314194964-1553
 20Barnsley46155265385-3250
 21Hull City461310235167-1649
R22Southend United461012244780-3342
R23Luton Town461010265381-2840
R24Leeds United46137264672-2636*

* Deducted 10 points for going into administration

References

  1. ↑ "Croft completes Norwich transfer". BBC Sport. 2006-07-31. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
  2. ↑ Jackson, Stewart (2006-09-27). "Delia turns up the heat on Worthington". blogs.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
  3. ↑ "Norwich sack manager Worthington". BBC Sport. 2006-10-01. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
  4. ↑ "Hunter pleased with Canaries bow". BBC Sport. 2006-05-10. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
  5. ↑ Wilson, Jonathan (2006-10-16). "Queen's Park Rangers 3 Norwich City 3: Grant faces sizeable task". independent.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
  6. ↑ "Coca-Cola Football League Championship - 27/02/2007". Norwich City F.C. 2007-02-27. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
  7. ↑ "Martin’s a Premiership striker in the making". eveningnews24.co.uk. 2007-03-13. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
  8. ↑ "First team Profiles". Norwich City F.C. Retrieved 2007-10-13.