Welcome!

"... and so the story begins..."

I have finally been worn down by my friends and family who have long since been advocating that I need to start a football blog!

I suspect this has less to do with my 'OBVIOUS' skills in Football Journalism (something James Nursey cleary doesn't have - my hatred for him will become clear in the weeks that follow) and more to do with them getting sick and tired of me going on and on, especially now during silly season!

As the terrible blog name would suggest I am indeed a loud and proud Canary! I have been for as long as I can remember.

My first ever match was at Carrow Road on the 8th April 1994 at the age of 9 to see us play Southampton in the good old days of the Premier League. We lost 4-5! In those days the EPL had 22 teams in it! That year the relegated teams were Swindon, Oldham and Sheffield United the Scum missed out on relegation by 1 point! We on the other hand finished a respectable 12th on 53 points!

It was a fantastic first game for a young wipper snapper like my self. My dad in tow taught me all the songs, encouraged me to tell the ref he was a fucking idiot! Bought me my first yellow and green scarf (still got it as well, I have no idea what they made it out of though, itches like crabs!). I even remember the walk across the bridge with the site of Carrow Road in front of me, my eyes wide with excitement.

Dad stopped on the Bridge to get us a program. I then listened intently as he started engaging in deep conversations with complete strangers... I remember thinking to myself "I didn't realise Dad had this many friends!"

I couldn't believe the amount of people... all unified in yellow and green... the friendliness of everyone around me, "first game is it boy?", my dad as my elected spokeman replied, "yes it is"... the old chap bent down put his hand on my shoulder and said "remember this feeling boy, you'll need it in the bad times" it took all of 2 hours for that saying to make sense to me.

As we approached the turnstiles my Dad handed our tickets to the rotund gentleman in the booth as he ushered me through the turnstile. Finally I took my first step on the hallowed ground of the Barclay! I remember the walk up the steps to the lower tier as I got my first glimpse of the Carrow Road turf, a sea of yellow and green smiling faces... we made our way to our seats just to the left of the goal... we shuffled and tripped our way along row J till we found our seats. Seconds seemed liked minutes as the anticipation grew... finally it seemed that everyone had took their seats. The dull hum of people talking echoed throughout the stadium... the Southampton fans in good voice to my left in the old South Stand started their derogatory chants towards the yellow and green army of the Barclay.

All of a sudden the roar of the tannoy overshadowed the chants as the official announcements were made, my anticipation grew. Then the teams started to make their way on to the pitch welcomed by a deafening roar of cheers and clapping... I remember not being able to see a whole lot, my dad picked me up so I could see... "kick it off, throw it in, have a little scrimage, keep it low, splendid rush, bravo, win or die... ON THE BALL CITY, never mind the danger, steady on, nows your chance, hurrah we've scored, city... city... city" echoed throughout the ground as the whistle blew...

I concede the rest of it is a bit of blur... I know we were leading 2 or three times... and I know Southampton drew level in the 90th minute and went on to score the winning goal late in injury time... What I do remember is the feeling of hurt and pain on the ride home... the rollercoaster of emotions of one minute being overcome with joy and happiness and then seconds later having it torn away from you... the mixture of anger, impatience, frustration, elation, bitterness... truthfully I know of no other thing that can give you this range of emotions!

I remember crying like a baby when I got home to our house in Peterborough... the drive seemed to take forever... I laid down on the couch, still sporting with pride my yellow and green scarf, and cried... unashamedly! Very soon I fell asleep, the range of emotions had tired me out. As I fell asleep the old chaps words range around my head "remember this feeling boy, you'll need it in the bad times!"...

And so began my now 28 year love affair with our boys in Yellow! I like to think I have seen it all now... I was just old enough to remember our fur-ray in Europe... followed my relegation, years of championship obscurity, the chase years, the bellamy and roberts years, the ashton years, the worthington years, the hope that period gave, our short and sweet return to the prem... our subsequent relegation back to the Championship, the dark days of Glen Roeder, the unthinkable relegation to league one... the lambert years, Grant Holt, consecutive promotions, we are premier league say we are premier league, the amazing first year, the dark summer of lambert's departure, the frustration of last year and now the anticipation for what could be the most exciting year in Norwich City history... and that brings us up to date...

Join me on this, the most exciting of #ncfc journeys!

ON THE BALL CITY!!!!!!!

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