16 past and present Premier League stars you (probably) forgot played for Norwich
Norwich City are back in the Premier League, securing promotion just one season after their relegation to the Championship.
The Canaries stuck with Daniel Farke following their drop last summer and have been duly rewarded, winning the Championship title and finishing six points clear of second-placed Watford and 10 above third.
Fans were hoping they’d fare better than their previous campaign in the top flight, but as things stand — following Farke’s removal — they are staring relegation in the face.
Nevertheless it has got us thinking back to some of the notably players that have graced the yellow and green shirt in the past. So, here are 16 past and present Premier League players that you may have forgotten once played for the Canaries (unless you’re a Norwich fan, of course).
1. Craig Bellamy
When? 1990-2000
Appearances: 84
Bellamy actually came through the academy ranks with Norwich after moving there from Bristol City as a youngster.
He made his debut for them in 1997 and went on to score 32 goals before being snapped up by Coventry City for a club-record fee of £6m in 2000, a move Bellamy regretted and would go on to label a ‘backwards step’.
Bellamy was, of course, one of the best Welsh players of his generation and enjoyed successful spells with the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City, before finishing his career with Cardiff City.
2. Harry Kane
When? August 2012-February 2013
Appearances: 5
Norwich was one of several loan moves Spurs sent Kane on as a youngster.
The striker spent pre-season with his parent club ahead of the 2012/13 season, before making his Premier League debut for Spurs in one of their first matches of the campaign.
However, the club eventually decided to loan Kane out to Norwich, who were also in the Premier League at the time. He suffered a serious foot injury in his second appearance for the club and didn’t return until late December. Spurs recalled Kane in February and loaned him out to Championship side Leicester City soon after. The England captain has come a long way.
3. Kieran Gibbs
When? January-April 2008
Appearances: 7
Left-back Gibbs was loaned to Norwich City from Arsenal as a 19-year-old.
At the time, Gibbs was considered to be a winger or midfielder and made just seven appearances for the Canaries before returning to the Gunners before the end of their season.
He did, of course, go on to have a successful Arsenal career, making 229 appearances for his boyhood club and 10 appearances for England before joining West Brom. He has now left England, linking up with Phil Neville at Inter Miami in MLS.
4. Peter Crouch
When? September-December 2003
Appearances: 15
Crouch was loaned to Norwich from Aston Villa as he searched for first-team football during the 2003/04 season.
The target man struggled during the early stages of his Villa career, but his spell with the Canaries was a success and sparked interest from a number of other clubs.
Crouch managed four goals for Norwich, helping them earn promotion to the Premier League.
5. Patrick Bamford
When? January-May 2016
Appearances: 7
We all felt sorry for Patrick Bamford during this period of his career.
Despite scoring a lot of goals for Chelsea’s youth teams, the striker was placed in the Blues’ dreaded loan group and Norwich was one of six temporary spells for him between 2012 and 2017.
The Canaries were in the Premier League when he arrived, but despite making seven appearances, Bamford failed to net a goal during his time at the club. He is banging them in in the top-flight now though, with Leeds United.
6. Robert Snodgrass
When? 2012-2014
Appearances: 74
Snodgrass enjoyed a relatively successful spell in the Premier League with Norwich after signing from Leeds ahead of the 2012/13 season.
He was voted as the club’s second-best player for the season after their 11th placed finish.
Altogether, the winger managed 14 goals for the Canaries before leaving for Hull City in June 2014. He’s now spent last season back in the Premier League with West Brom, but missed out on a reunion with Norwich next season as the Baggies suffered relegation.
7. Ryan Bertrand
When? January 2008-January 2009
Appearances: 60
Left-back Bertrand was another Chelsea player to enjoy a spell with Norwich as a youngster.
He first moved to Carrow Road for the second half of the 2007/08 season and impressed while playing as a left-back and on the left side of midfield.
The Norwich fans nicknamed him ‘plastic’ in reference to Belgian singer ‘Plastic Bertrand’. He returned to the club for the 2008/09 season and after a six-year spell with Southampton has joined Champions League side Leicester City having made a number of appearances for England.
8. Joseph Yobo
When? January-May 2014
Appearances: 8
Nigerian centre-back Yobo is known for his spell at Everton, and Norwich was the only other Premier League club that he went on to play for.
The defender moved to Carrow Road for the second half of the 2013/14 season but made just eight appearances. Yobo is now assistant coach for the Nigerian national team.
9. Kyle Naughton
When? July 2011-May 2012
Appearances: 23
Right-back Naughton signed for Spurs as a youngster along with Kyle Walker in 2009. He was loaned out to Middlesbrough and Leicester before spending the 2011/12 season at Carrow Road.
He eventually displaced Russell Martin as the first-choice right-back, and his loan spell with Norwich saw him work his way into the first team set up at Spurs.
Naughton is currently with Championship side Swansea City.
10. Luke Chadwick
When? November 2006-October 2008
Appearances: 18
Former Manchester United midfielder Chadwick initially played for Norwich on loan before signing a two and a half-year deal with the Canaries two months after his arrival.
However, injury problems thwarted his time at Carrow Road, just as they did for much of his career, and he eventually moved on to MK Dons.
Chadwick retired in 2016.
11. Danny Mills
When? 1995-1998
Appearances: 66
Full-back Mills came through the ranks as a youngster at Norwich but failed to nail down a regular starting spot there in the early years of his career.
He eventually moved on to Charlton Athletic and is best known for his spells with Leeds United and Manchester City.
Mills, who represented England at the 2002 World Cup, retired a decade ago and is now a well-known pundit.
12. Scott Parker
When? October-December 2000
Appearances: 6
Former England international Parker played for just about every Premier League club based in London, but he also enjoyed a very, very brief loan spell with Norwich during the 2000/01 season.
At the time, the midfielder was trying to break into the first team with Charlton Athletic, then in the top flight, and Norwich in the First Division.
He was an England U21 international those days and scored one goal in six appearances at Carrow Road.
13. Tim Sherwood
When? 1989-1992
Appearances: 88
Sherwood is best known nowadays for his spells as manager of Spurs and Aston Villa (and punditry hot takes), but he did have a decent playing career.
The midfielder came through the ranks at Watford before joining Norwich in July 1989.
He managed 13 goals before he left for Blackburn Rovers, where he won the Premier League in 1995 and was deemed so good in Lancashire that the Riversiders are said to have turned down the chance to sign a fledgling Zinedine Zidane.
14. Sam Vokes
When? March-April 2011
Appearances: 4
Wales forward Vokes is another to have spent some time on loan at Norwich, albeit very, very briefly.
The striker, now of Burnley, was loaned to Carrow Road from Wolves during the 2010/11 season.
The intention was for him to stay there until the end of the campaign, but some injury issues for Wolves saw him recalled having made just four appearances for the Canaries. He did manage a goal, though. Short and sweet.
15. David Bentley
When? May 2004-August 2005
Appearances: 26
Norwich was the club where former Arsenal wide man Bentley — once dubbed the ‘new David Beckham’ — really started to make a name for himself.
He was loaned there as a youngster for the 2004/05 season and started very well, before a knee injury brought a halt to his progress.
He returned in April but his contributions were not enough to stop the Canaries from being relegated. Altogether he managed two goals. Bentley retired in 2014 and now owns a bar in Spain, moving away from the football world.
16. Leroy Fer
When? July 2013-August 2014
Appearances: 33
There was much fanfare when highly promising Dutch midfielder Leroy Fer — who modeled his game on Yaya Toure — swapped FC Twente for Norwich in 2013.
So much was then expected of him in England but like compatriot Ricky van Wolfswinkel he just never settled in East Anglia and instead moved onto QPR a year later but not before representing the Netherlands at that summer’s World Cup finals. He made his only appearance in Brazil against Chile, a game that saw him net for Oranje, which remains the Dutchman’s only international goal.
After then struggling at QPR the Zoetermeer-born midfielder enjoyed somewhat of a resurgence at Swansea which then led to re-joining boyhood club Feyenoord. Today you can find him plying his trade in Turkey with Süper Lig club Alanyaspor.
