2009–10 Norwich City F.C. season

Norwich City

2009–10 season
Chairman	Alan Bowkett
Manager	Bryan Gunn until 14 August Paul Lambert from 19 August
Stadium	Carrow Road
League One	1st – promoted to The Championship
FA Cup	Second round
League Cup	Second round
Football League Trophy	Area semi-finals
Top goalscorer	League: Grant Holt (24) All: Grant Holt (30)
Highest home attendance	25,506 (vs. Hartlepool United, 30 January)
Lowest home attendance	23,041 (vs. Walsall, 5 September)
Average home league attendance	24,756
Home colours Away colours
← 2008–09 2010–11 →

The 2009–10 season was the 108th season in the history of Norwich City. It was the club's first season in Football League One (third tier of the English football pyramid) for 49 years, following relegation from The Championship in 2008–09. However, they gained promotion back to the second tier as league champions with a club record total of 95 points, finishing nine points ahead of runners-up Leeds United. This article shows statistics and lists all matches played by the club during the season.

Position	Staff
Chairman	Alan Bowkett
Joint Majority Shareholder	Delia Smith
Joint Majority Shareholder	Michael Wynn-Jones
Director	Michael Foulger
Director	Stephan Phillips
Chief Executive	David McNally

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Position	Staff
Manager	Paul Lambert
Assistant manager	Ian Culverhouse
First team coach Reserve team manager	Ian Crook
Head of football operations	Gary Karsa
Goalkeeping coach	Paul Crichton
Head of strength and conditioning	Alan Pearson
Sports Scientist	Vacant
Academy manager	Ricky Martin
Under-14s coach	Neil Adams
Performance analyst	Liam Weeks
Physiotherapist	Simon Spencer
Head of player recruitment	Vacant
Club doctor	Dr Peter Harvey
Chief scout	Vacant

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Squad at end of season^[1]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 3 DF  ENG Adam Drury 4 MF  ENG Matthew Gill 5 DF  ENG Michael Nelson 6 DF  SCO Russell Martin 7 MF  WAL Owain Tudur Jones 8 MF  SCO Stephen Hughes 9 FW  ENG Grant Holt (captain) 10 FW  ENG Jamie Cureton 11 FW  IRL Stephen Elliott (on loan from Preston North End) 12 DF  IRL Gary Doherty (vice-captain) 13 GK  ENG Declan Rudd 14 MF  IRL Wes Hoolahan 15 MF  IRL Michael Spillane[notes 1] 16 FW  SCO Chris Martin 17 MF  ENG Tom Adeyemi 18 MF  NIR Paul McVeigh 19 MF  SCO Simon Lappin 20 MF  ENG Darel Russell

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 GK  ENG Fraser Forster (on loan from Newcastle United) 22 DF  WAL Rhoys Wiggins[notes 2] 23 DF  ENG Michael Rose (on loan from Stockport County) 24 MF  ENG Anthony McNamee 25 FW  ENG Luke Daley 26 DF  WAL David Stephens[notes 3] 27 FW  ENG Cody McDonald 28 DF  ENG Sam Habergham 29 FW  IRL Danny Kelly[notes 4] 30 MF  ENG Korey Smith 31 DF  USA Zak Whitbread 32 FW  ENG Oli Johnson 33 DF  DEN Jens Berthel Askou 34 GK  ENG Jed Steer 36 MF  ENG Damon Lathrope 37 DF  ENG George Francomb 38 MF  WAL Josh Dawkin[notes 5]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  AUS Michael Theoklitos (released) 2 DF  ENG Jon Otsemobor (to Southampton) 6 DF  SRB Dejan Stefanović (released) 10 FW  ENG Jamie Cureton (on loan to Shrewsbury Town) 11 MF  ENG Simon Whaley (to Chesterfield) 22 DF  WAL Rhoys Wiggins (on loan to Bournemouth)

No. Pos. Nation Player 23 DF  DEN Dario Đumić[notes 6] (to Brøndby) 33 FW  SCO Kris Renton (on loan to Brechin City) 31 GK  ENG Ben Alnwick (on loan from Tottenham Hotspur) 32 FW  SRB Goran Marić (to Real Unión) 36 MF  ENG Damon Lathrope (on loan to Bishop's Stortford)

Date	Squad number	Pos.	Name	From	Fee
16 June 2009	7	MF	Owain Tudur Jones	Swansea City	Undisclosed[2]
1 July 2009	4	MF	Matthew Gill	Exeter City	Free[3]
1 July 2009	5	DF	Michael Nelson	Hartlepool United	Free[4]
8 July 2009	1	GK	Michael Theoklitos	Melbourne Victory FC	Free[5]
22 July 2009	8	MF	Stephen Hughes	Motherwell F.C.	Free[6]
22 July 2009	18	MF	Paul McVeigh	Luton Town	Free[7]
24 July 2009	11	MF	Simon Whaley	Preston North End	Undisclosed[8]
24 July 2009	22	DF	Rhoys Wiggins	Crystal Palace	Undisclosed[8]
24 July 2009	9	FW	Grant Holt	Shrewsbury Town	£500,000[9]
30 July 2009	33	DF	Jens Berthel Askou	Unattached	Free[10]
30 July 2009	32	FW	Goran Marić	Unattached	Free[10]
4 January 2010	6	DF	Russell Martin	Peterborough United	Undisclosed[11]
4 January 2010	24	MF	Anthony McNamee	Swindon Town	Undisclosed[11]
8 January 2010	31	DF	Zak Whitbread	Millwall	Undisclosed[12]
8 January 2010	32	FW	Oli Johnson	Stockport County	Undisclosed[12]

• Total spending: ~ £650,000

Date	Squad Num	Pos.	Name	To	Fee
12 May 2009	1	GK	David Marshall	Cardiff City	£500,000[13]
18 May 2009	29	FW	Carl Cort	Brentford	Free[14]
28 May 2009	7	MF	Lee Croft	Derby County	Free[15]
1 July 2009	26	GK	Stuart Nelson	Aberdeen	Free
24 July 2009	8	MF	Sammy Clingan	Coventry City	£650,000[16]
6 August 2009	24	MF	Matty Pattison	Mamelodi Sundowns	Undisclosed[17]
1 September 2009	6	DF	Dejan Stefanović	Released	Free
3 December 2009	32	ST	Goran Maric	Real Unión	Free
8 January 2010	35	FW	Kris Renton	Brechin City	Free[18]
1 February 2010	11	MF	Simon Whaley	Chesterfield F.C.	Free[19]
5 March 2010	1	GK	Michael Theoklitos	Brisbane Roar	Free[20]

• Total income: ~ £1,150,000

Date	Pos.	Name	From	Expiry
24 July 2009	GK	Ben Alnwick	Tottenham Hotspur	October 2009[21]
28 August 2009	GK	Fraser Forster	Newcastle United	June 2010[22]
25 November 2009	DF	Russell Martin	Peterborough United	4 January 2010[23]
26 November 2009	MF	Anthony McNamee	Swindon Town	4 January 2010[24]
29 January 2010	DF	Michael Rose	Stockport County	June 2010[25]
5 March 2010	FW	Stephen Elliott	Preston North End	June 2010[26]

Date	Pos.	Name	To	Until
1 September 2009	FW	Kris Renton	Brechin City	9 December[27]
18 September 2009	MF	Simon Whaley	Rochdale	18 November 2009[28]
21 November 2009	MF	Simon Whaley	Bradford City	2 January 2010[29]
17 February 2010	FW	Jamie Cureton	Shrewsbury Town	5 May 2010[30][31]

  Win   Draw   Loss

Note: this section relates to first team friendlies only.

Match	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Result	7–2	1–0	1–0	3–2	1–1	1–0	3–2

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	1–7	1–1	1–2	5–2	2–0	0–0	1–2	2–2	1–1	4–0	5–1	1–0	1–2	1–0	3–1	2–0	2–2	4–1	3–0	2–0	3–3	3–0	2–0
Position	23	22	22	19	10	10	14	14	14	9	7	6	6	5	5	5	5	4	3	3	3	3	3

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	1–0	3–1	5–0	1–0	2–1	2–1	1–2	2–1	0–2	2–1	1–0	3–0	3–1	1–1	1–0	1–3	2–1	1–1	1–2	1–0	2–0	3–0	0–2
Position	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1

Norwich had high expectations after a good pre-season campaign, however a disastrous opening game of the season saw City suffer a record-breaking home defeat, losing 7–1 to Colchester United. Although the Canaries then went on to win 4–0 at Yeovil in the League Cup, Bryan Gunn was sacked and Paul Lambert - the man who had masterminded Colchester's victory against Norwich a few days previously - would be named as his successor, following a 1–1 draw away at Exeter City. Despite losing to Brentford, with the new manager sat in the stands, Lambert's first game in the dug-out saw City beat Wycombe 5–2 at Carrow Road before going on to win their first away league game of the season at Hartlepool (either side of a 1–4 home defeat to Premier League Sunderland in the League Cup), with Canaries fans starting to see signs of a recovery.

After putting together an encouraging run at the end of August, September proved to be a more frustrating month for City. Starting off with a goalless draw at home to Walsall, Norwich followed that up with a 2–1 away defeat to MK Dons thanks to a dubious penalty awarded to the home side. Second-placed Charlton were next up at Carrow Road, and they quickly took control with an early 2–0 lead before Wes Hoolahan, recalled to the team, scored just before half time and eventually Grant Holt grabbed a last-minute equaliser to salvage a point. The Canaries then travelled to Gillingham the following week, where they found themselves both a goal down and a man down at halftime after goalkeeper Frazer Forster was sent off. But for the second game in succession, City showed fight and determination and once again grabbed a 90th-minute equaliser, this time through Darel Russell. Viewed by some as a turning point, Norwich then eased past Leyton Orient - winning 4–0 at Carrow Road - in the final game of September.

October proved to be the month when Norwich really started climbing up the table. Days after their 4–0 win over Leyton Orient City followed it by a 5–1 win over Bristol Rovers before grabbing a hard-fought 1–0 win away at Carlisle courtesy of a Wes Hoolahan goal. 3 wins on the trot and 10 goals scored meant Norwich were now in a play off place. Next up for Norwich was top of the league Leeds who already looked to be running away with the league. Some would argue City were the better side in this game and City looked to be heading for a point, however Frazer Forster's miskick meant Leeds won the game with virtually the last kick of the game. However City went on to win their next two games of October beating play off chasing Swindon at Carrow Road 1–0 and then a 3–1 away win at Stockport. This meant five wins out of 6 in October and Norwich were only 4 points off second placed Charlton

City only had three league games in November due to cup commitments and they went through the month unbeaten. They grabbed a 2–0 win over struggling Tranmere before drawing 2–2 away at improving Southampton. They followed this up with a 4–1 win over Brighton at home. Grant Holt, Chris Martin and Wes Hoolahan all scored and all three were beginning to rack up the goals for Norwich

For the second month in succession, Norwich went unbeaten and by the end of December had begun to really put pressure on the top 2. First up was a 3–0 away win at Southend - a ground the Canaries hadn't won at for 57 years. Following a goalless first half, the visitors turned on the style in the second half with a double from talismanic striker Grant Holt and another from academy-product Korey Smith. This was followed up with a routine 2–0 home win over Oldham, before what proved to be one of City's most exciting games of the season away at Yeovil. The home side took the lead in the first half through ex-Ipswich striker Dean Bowditch, before Norwich came back in the second half with goals from Chris Martin and Gary Doherty giving the Canaries a 2–1 lead. However, Yeovil quickly equalised and then looked to have won it after a 90th-minute goal, before a Russell Martin shot deflected off Gary Doherty in injury-time to ensure a share of the spoils. Two home matches against fellow promotion chasers came next, with Huddersfield Town the first to be dispatched – being defeated 3–0 – before a 2–0 Boxing Day success over Millwall left Norwich just 2 points shy of second-placed Charlton.

January proved to be a pivotal month for Norwich and they started it with a 1–0 win away at struggling Wycombe. Although the Canaries dominated the game they failed to make the breakthrough, and indeed were living dangerously at times with the home side coming close to taking the lead but for the width of the post. But Korey Smith eventually struck the winner in the 79th minute to send Norwich second in the league and into the automatic places for the first time this season. City followed this up with a 3–1 win at home to Exeter, which meant that they went into arguably their biggest game of the season so far - the return fixture against Colchester (with whom there had been considerable bad feeling brewing since Lambert's departure to Carrow Road) - in solid form. After the 7–1 drubbing on the opening day of the season and Paul Lambert's return to Colchester, it had all the makings of a classic. Ultimately though, the match merely served as a way for Norwich to exact fitting revenge, thrashing their hosts 5–0 on an extremely waterlogged pitch. A Chris Martin double put City 2–0 up at half-time before Gary Doherty, Grant Holt and Oli Johnson made it 5–0, with Wes Hoolahan's missed penalty proving not to be costly, whilst Colchester finished the match with 10 men thanks to Ian Henderson's sending off against his former side. On top of handing out a convincing defeat in a local derby, Norwich had now also closed the gap to league-leaders Leeds, and due to the latter's cup commitments, meant that City would usurp Leeds with a win over Brentford in their next match. That task was made more difficult after Grant Holt's sending off in the first half, but they still managed to see out a 1–0 win thanks to a Chris Martin goal. The Canaries now sat above Leeds on goal difference, albeit having played two games more. Another late come-from-behind win at Walsall in their next game, coupled with Leeds slipping to defeat, saw Norwich consolidate their position at the top of the table, extending their lead to three points. City ended the month with a 2–1 win over Hartlepool at Carrow Road, in a match that would see them record their highest attendance of the season, giving them a perfect record of 6 wins from 6 games in January.

City got off to a bad start in February, losing 2–1 away at Millwall despite taking an early lead – their first defeat since October, however, they bounced back with a fortunate 2–1 win away at Brighton. The Canaries were 1–0 down going into the final 10 minutes of the match, before Lambert's gamble of having four strikers on the pitch ultimately paid off as Norwich grabbed two late goals through Holt and Doherty to snatch three vital points. In their next game City again suffered defeat, losing 0–2 to Southampton in what was their first home loss under Paul Lambert, but they had a chance to put it right against their next opponents when struggling Southend came to Carrow Road. Despite their respective league positions, it was Southend who scored first, and indeed were still leading 1–0 with only 11 minutes remaining, before super-sub Oli Johnson came on to score two late goals - the winner arriving in the 94th minute - to clinch the game for Norwich in the most dramatic of circumstances. The final game of the month saw the Canaries see out a 1–0 win away at Oldham, which - coupled with inconsistent results for their promotion rivals across February - was enough to have built-up a 5-point gap on second-placed Leeds and, crucially, a 9-point gap on third-placed Charlton.

As the season started to reach the business end of proceedings, March was a hugely important month for Norwich with fixtures against 3 promotion chasers, including a home game against second-placed Leeds. City began with an easy 3–0 win over Yeovil at Carrow Road, before a tricky looking match at Huddersfield - who were unbeaten at their Galpharm Stadium going into this game - and had put in some impressive home displays. After a disappointing first half, Norwich found themselves 1–0 down going into the break, however, a stirring comeback in the second half saw Grant Holt, who had a hand in all of the goals, grabbing the equaliser before on-loan striker Stephen Elliot bagged a brace to give the Canaries a massive 3–1 win. Next up was a trip to 4th-placed Swindon Town who, despite falling a goal behind to Grant Holt's second-half header, managed to salvage a 92nd-minute equaliser in a 1–1 draw. This set the stage for the visit of out-of-form Leeds to Carrow Road and presented Norwich with the opportunity of moving 11 points clear of their nearest rivals if they could muster a victory. The game itself proved to be a tight and cagey affair, but with 89 minutes on the clock, substitute Chris Martin headed home what was to be another dramatic late winner for the Canaries, leaving them ahead of the chasing pack by considerable distance with just 8 games of the season to go.

Heading into April and given their advantage at the top of the table, Norwich knew that all that was required was to see the job through to earn promotion. However, the first game of the month proved to be one of the more bizarre games of the season. Away to struggling Tranmere, the home side were awarded two highly dubious penalties in the opening 10 minutes, scoring both, with Fraser Forster also being sent off for Norwich. Tranmere then added a third despite a clear handball, to leave the Canaries furious with the inexplicable performance of referee Eddie Ilderton, before they managed a consolation goal in the second half - but the damage had already been done and the game ended 3–1. Norwich were at least given the perfect opportunity to put things right after that with a home game against bottom team Stockport County following three days later. Whilst the Canaries were far from their best, the game ended in a 2–1 home win that saw Grant Holt become the first Norwich player since 1964 to score 30 goals in a season. MK Dons were the visitors to Carrow Road a few days later in what proved to be a fiery affair. The Dons went 1–0 up in the first half, with City being denied a clear-cut penalty in the second half as the game grew increasingly bad-tempered - the visitors racked up a total of 9 yellow cards (including two for goal-scorer Aaron Wilbraham which saw led to his dismissal) - but once again Chris Martin scored a late goal to rescue a point. With promotion looking as if it could be sealed as early as the next game, City headed to east London to play mid-table Leyton Orient, backed by a bumper away crowd. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be their day as the Canaries were defeated 2–1 by a spirited home side. However, they had a chance to put this right at Charlton. If results went their way, Norwich could be promoted with a win at the ground at which they were relegated 11 months previously. City went ahead through a Michael Nelson header in the first half and, after some terrific saves from Fraser Forster, survived the Charlton onslaught to seal the win and promotion back to the Championship at the first time of asking. Considering their opening day mauling and the 15-point lead that Leeds had once held, it was a monumental achievement for Norwich. It also meant that they only needed 1 point from their remaining three games to seal the title - which was duly delivered in their next game following a 2–0 home win over Gillingham.

With promotion and the League One title already sealed, it was a case of ending the season on a high for the impressive Canaries. Early promotion contenders Bristol Rovers were comfortably defeated 3–0 in Norwich's final away game of the season, before a surprise 0–2 loss to Carlisle ensured that City finished the season as they started it - with a home defeat. Ultimately though, this did little to dampen the fans' and players' promotion celebrations at the final whistle, with everyone associated with the Canaries left to reflect on what had been a hugely memorable and successful season, which saw them finish 9 points ahead of second-placed Leeds and 10 points clear of third-placed Millwall. Norwich also finished the season as the league's highest scorers, with a huge 89 goals scored across the season.

Round	1	2
Result	7–0	1–3

Due to being in League One, City started in the FA Cup in the first round. They started off with a potential banana skin^{[clarification needed]} away at non-league Paulton Rovers. However City made easy work of Paulton winning 7–0, although City would not make it to the third round of the cup, losing 3–1 away at Carlisle

Round	1	2
Result	4–0	1–4

Norwich once again failed to make any sort of real impact in the Carling Cup, going out in the second round. They managed to pick up a 4–0 away win away at Yeovil with Grant Holt getting a hat-trick in what proved to be Bryan Gunn's final game as manager. Then, in Paul Lambert's second as manager, they lost 4–1 with Lambert putting out a below strength team. Wes Hoolahan grabbed the only goal. The game ended bizarrely with Michael Spillane sent off. Ben Alnwick was forced off injured so City were down to nine men and Cody McDonald was forced to go in goal.^{[citation needed]}

Round	1	2	3	4
Result	1–0	1–0	0–0	2–2

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Norwich City (C, P)	46	29	8	9	89	47	+42	95	Promotion to Football League Championship
2	Leeds United (P)	46	25	11	10	77	44	+33	86
3	Millwall (O, P)	46	24	13	9	76	44	+32	85	Qualification for League One play-offs
4	Charlton Athletic	46	23	15	8	71	48	+23	84
5	Swindon Town	46	22	16	8	73	57	+16	82

• 2009–10 in English football