Norwich City

Former Norwich City goalkeeper Chris Woods says the League Cup final success in 1985 was a "special" moment in his career.

The ex-England international was between the sticks for the Canaries 40 years ago when they beat Sunderland 1-0 to lift the trophy.

"It's frightening to think it was that long ago but obviously still great memories," Woods told BBC Radio Norfolk's The Scrimmage podcast.

"It's something that every footballer wants to do, go and play in a cup final at Wembley. I was very lucky when I was only 18 playing in a League Cup final with Nottingham Forest against Liverpool [in 1978].

"But I wasn't the established number one at that time so to go there with Norwich City being the number one meant an awful lot to me.

"Looking back on it, some of the players were household names. It's just great to have been part of that team and that era."

Clive Walker spurned the chance to equalise for Sunderland late in the second half when his penalty struck the post after Dennis van Wijk was penalised for handball in the area.

Woods revealed: "I chose the side I was going to go. Fortunately it hit the post but I probably would have saved it anyway, if it had gone inside.

"No one will ever know but it's something I can think to myself."

Woods recalls feeling "relief" at the final whistle when he realised "everything you'd worked for was there and you'd won it".

Fans flocked to Norwich City Hall to celebrate with the team following the victory and Woods can still recall how much it meant to the club at the time.

"Just the turnout from all the supporters, I remember being on the balcony and it being absolutely packed," he added.

"I think it's moments like that you tend to relish and think you've actually achieved something for everybody to come out and support what you've done.

"It was a great day for supporters. It was something special."

Listen to The Milk Cup Men - an hour-long special episode of The Scrimmage podcast featuring Woods and Steve Bruce - on BBC Sounds.

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Steve Bruce says the League Cup final win for Norwich City against Sunderland in 1985 is "arguably the best day in the club's history".

The Canaries lifted the trophy 40 years ago today with a 1-0 win at Wembley over the Black Cats.

"I'm a Newcastle fan so always the enemy was Sunderland, of course it was," Bruce told BBC Radio Norfolk's The Scrimmage podcast.

"But it never really felt that way for me because it was Sunderland. It was just, can I play well on the day?

"I remember the song on the bus going down, It's Now or Never by Elvis. This was our big opportunity, our big chance - and I think we just about handled the occasion better than they did.

"It wasn't a great or a classic final. For everybody who supports Norwich, though, it was. We'd won a cup, it didn't matter. If it'd come off two deflections, it didn't matter.

"To see the excitement and for everybody concerned, if you're a Norwich fan, that day is arguably the best they've had in their history."

You can listen to The Milk Cup Men - an hour-long special episode of The Scrimmage podcast featuring Steve Bruce - on BBC Radio Norfolk at 18:00 GMT on 24 March.

Steve Bruce has reminisced over the "great feeling" of scoring the winning goal for Norwich City in the League Cup semi-final tie against rivals Ipswich Town 40 years ago.

Bruce's header in the 87th minute made it 2-0 to the Canaries on 6 March, 1985 at Carrow Road and 2-1 on aggregate.

His effort helped take the club to Wembley en-route to winning what was then named the Milk Cup by beating Sunderland 1-0 in the final.

"I'd only been there myself five or six months after a pretty dismal start when I had an own goal after 30 seconds on my debut," Bruce told BBC Radio Norfolk's The Scrimmage podcast.

"Six months later, you're scoring the winner that takes the club to Wembley and of course, we all know what went on after that.

"It was a really good time for everybody."

You can listen to The Milk Cup Men - an hour-long special episode of The Scrimmage podcast featuring Steve Bruce - on BBC Radio Norfolk at 18:00 GMT on 24 March.

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Norwich forward Josh Sargent played 68 minutes but his USA team were upset by Panama in their Concacaf Nations League semi-final.

They were beaten 1-0 in Los Angeles and Panama will meet Mexico in the final on Sunday evening after El Tri beat Canada 2-0.

Sargent has scored 12 Championship goals for Norwich this season and is set to feature for the USA in their third place play-off against the Canadians on Sunday before flying back to the UK.

The Canaries' next league game is at home to West Bromwich Albion on 29 March.

Norwich City defender Brad Hills says he would like to "get a promotion on the CV" while on loan with Stockport County.

Stockport are fifth in League One, six points shy of second placed Wycombe Wanderers.

"I feel like Stockport do try and play and that's how I want to play. That's where I'm best suited, on the ball and getting it moving," Hills, 21, told BBC Radio Norfolk's The Scrimmage podcast.

"Sometimes it's hard in the league with the pitches and the teams we are playing against.

"We are capable of being up there and we are there. That's the aim and that's why I came here in the first place, to get promoted."

The Canaries academy graduate joined the Hatters on loan in January in a bid to gain more playing time.

He has since started seven of his eight games for the League One side, being named Stockport's player of the month in February by supporters.

"I just want to keep myself in the team, keep building on performances and take that into next season," he added.

"I just come here and do my thing and see where it takes me. At the minute, I'm lucky enough I'm playing so I know if I play my best game, I've got every best chance of playing each week."

You can listen to the full episode and more on The Scrimmage: A Norwich City podcast.

"The season is fizzling out. I think the play-off dream is well and truly gone.

"You need 75 points to get sixth place... the most Norwich can get now is 73, so it's gone. I think it had gone before Bristol City anyway."

BBC Radio Norfolk's Chris Goreham and Rob Butler look back on the Canaries' 2-1 loss at Bristol City - their second defeat in a row.

You can listen to the full episode and more on The Scrimmage: A Norwich City podcast.

Image source, Rex Features

Norwich City boss Johannes Hoff Thorup spoke to BBC Radio Norfolk after their 2-1 defeat at Bristol City.

"We are in a difficult place in the moment and it takes a lot from us to get something out of the good stuff that we do, and we get punished really hard on the one or two mistakes we made in the game.

"The first passing mistake we made in the final third and they punished us – a brilliant finish but a situation we should deal with better.

"Our response to that was really, really good – to create one or two big, big chances that we normally score. But after they scored the second we were a little bit all over the place and frustration was about to take over.

"It was a good time for half-time and we made an okay plan for the second half but mostly praise for the players for not letting frustration take over.

"The goal came a little bit too late but we gave it a push, we tried – even though the circumstances were not in our favour.

"It's not the same mood as after the game on Tuesday [the 3-2 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday]. All of us were completely down and frustrated.

"I took some time to talk to the players, especially the ones who need the team, and the feeling that were in there were different because we were close to 3.0 expected goals away from home, we have 20 shots on goal and in the second half we missed three big chances.

"If we can consistently can deliver that then simple logic tells me it will change at some point."

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Norwich City boss Johannes Hoff Thorup has been speaking to BBC Radio Norfolk ahead of the Canaries' visit to Bristol City in the Championship on Friday (20:00 GMT).

• Goalkeeper George Long has completed the concussion protocol and will start for the first time since November in place of Vicente Reyes with first-choice stopper Angus Gunn still out with a hamstring injury. Midfielder Marcelino Nunez is also back in the squad and "available".

• "Kenny [McLean] wants the best for the team and he gets really frustrated when we are not performing as we should do," Thorup said after the captain described Norwich's second-half performance in the 3-2 loss to Sheffield Wednesday as the "worst" this season and a "shambles".

• Thorup added: "He's a great voice in the dressing room and he's important for many things we want to do here. What I liked about his interview is his honesty, no holding back."

• Norwich have to "remember where we came from as a group" and "how many things we have overcome this season".

• "I still need to remind the players there are a lot of good things going on," Thorup said. "Just go back and watch that first half against Sheffield Wednesday. It was top class. Then I am annoyed that we don't get the second half right or at least defend it in a better way. Those are the moments we have to make sure the players remember because we are scoring goals and creating chances."

• On Gunn's contract after the keeper said he's had "no communication" from the club over renewal talks with his current deal expiring in June: "It was just a couple of months ago that I know they spoke together. Whether there has been any communication since, I'm not aware. But I will expect it to come soon. There is an international break so that's probably a fair time to go through all the contract situations."

• On whether he wants Gunn to stay: "I think Angus Gunn is a good goalkeeper, he's an international goalkeeper and in many ways has been doing well for us. If everyone can agree on something the it's definitely something we should look at."

Bristol City will look to maintain their push for a Championship play-off spot when they welcome Norwich City on Friday night (20:00 GMT).

The Robins picked up a valuable late draw at Bramall Lane on Tuesday to extend their unbeaten run to six games (W3 D3) and are just two points off the top six.

The Canaries have won just one of their previous seven matches (D4 L2) and are seven points behind the play-off places.

• Bristol City are looking to complete a league double over Norwich City for the first time since the 2008-09 campaign.

• Norwich have won four of their past seven league visits to Bristol City (D2 L1) and are looking to win consecutive games at Ashton Gate for the first time since March 1975.

• Bristol City have won seven of their past 10 home league matches (D2 L1) and haven't conceded more than once in any of those 10 games.

• Norwich City are unbeaten in their past three away league games (W1 D2), last enjoying a longer unbeaten run on the road between February and April 2023 (five).

• Anis Mehmeti has scored seven goals in his past nine league starts at Ashton Gate and has scored nine goals at home this season. The last Robins player to reach double figures for home league goals in a season was Andreas Weimann in 2021-22 (12).

Chris Goreham
BBC Radio Norfolk commentator

Image source, Rex Features

The world 'shambles' is often used during post-match phone-ins - but you know there's a problem when it's the club captain saying it rather than one of the callers.

Kenny McLean summed up the mood at Carrow Road after Norwich City's baffling 3-2 defeat at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday.

The Canaries had been superb in the first half, playing the sort of quick one and two touch football that boss Johannes Hoff Thorup has spent the season attempting to instil in his players.

They were leading 2-0 at half-time and, despite a shaky start to the second-half, that two-goal cushion remained intact on the hour mark. Between the 64th and 76th minutes the Canaries capitulated, conceding three soft goals.

It means they have thrown away an extraordinary 30 points from winning positions this season. Had they held onto just eight of those they would now be in the top six.

They have been in front against every team in the Championship this season bar Preston, QPR, Portsmouth and Bristol City. They still have matches to come against the latter two.

Leeds, Burnley and Sheffield United have all gone behind at Carrow Road but none of them have gone on to lose.

Only Leeds have scored more Championship goals than Norwich this season but an inability to manage games from winning positions has undermined their ability to get goals.

Borja Sainz is the Championship's top scorer and yet he didn't find the net at all between the end of November and 11 March. Every positive is blunted by a negative. That's how you finish up in mid-table.

Most Norwich City fans, even the ones who ring up the Canary Call phone-in, were anticipating a mid-table finish this season given the huge changes to playing style, budget and personnel.

By the middle of March they would have been expecting to see a side that had found its rhythm and was showing signs of a brighter future, rather than one still struggling to solve the puzzles that have plagued them all season.

Image source, Getty Images

Norwich City captain Kenny McLean did not pull any punches in his assessment of their second-half capitulation in Tuesday's 3-2 defeat by Sheffield Wednesday, calling it "a shambles", "shocking" and the performance after half-time as "probably the worst this season".

It had looked very different for the Canaries when top-scorer Borja Sainz and Ante Crnac put them 2-0 up 10 minutes before the break.

But three goals in 12 woeful minutes allowed the Owls to turn the game around as Michael Ihiekwe, Josh Windass and Djeidi Gassama shattered the home side and delivered Wednesday's first win at Carrow Road for 16 years.

"Seven months into the season and it's the same old story. I'm struggling myself to get answers," McLean told BBC Radio Norfolk after the game.

"We can't turn up and play football for 45 minutes every week. It's not enough."

Defeat was the fourth time Norwich have lost from a winning position this season and takes the number of points dropped after taking the lead to a Championship-high 30.

McLean says that is something "we have to fix" but added, "we still don't have the answers, or are able to find the answers, during games".

He continued: "It's actually a shambles. We need to do so much more. When teams get a goal, they know we're vulnerable.

"That's the worst probably this season [the performance] - that was evident at the final whistle with the crowd."

McLean said he thought the issue might be a mixture of both their tactical and mental approach during matches.

"A bit of everything," the 33-year-old Scot said. "I'd love to be able to say exactly what it was. We've got experience of being in these positions a lot this season and it still continues to happen. It's such a frustration.

"We're a nice team. When it clicks, it's really good. When things go against us, it's shocking. We need to deal with tough situations better and stand up to the challenges teams throw at us.

"We're not wresting control back. We should know what we're doing. We should be more resilient, more committed to winning second balls. At times, we're the best footballers in the league and it baffles me.

"We're being told to adapt during games but we're not doing it at the right times. As soon as teams come after us, and we lose the ball, we crumble. One mistake always leads to another and then another.

"There seems to be an anxiety across us when we make a mistake - teams see that vulnerability in us and we don't deal with it."

Norwich City and Sheffield Wednesday still have hopes of gate-crashing the Championship play-offs as they meet on Tuesday night (19:45 GMT).

The Canaries are six points off the pace after a four-game unbeaten run which has included three draws.

Wednesday snapped a three-game losing streak with a 3-0 win at Plymouth on Saturday and are seven points behind sixth-placed West Brom.

• Norwich City have lost just one of their past seven league games against Sheffield Wednesday (W4 D2), but could lose both league games to the Owls in a season for the first time since 2008-09.

• Sheffield Wednesday are winless across their past six away league games against Norwich City (D2 L4), since a 1-0 victory at Carrow Road in April 2009.

• Norwich have only won two of their past 11 Championship games played on a Tuesday (D4 L5) with home victories over Watford (4-2 in February 2024) and Plymouth (6-1 in November 2024).

• Sheffield Wednesday have lost only one of their past 11 midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) league games (W5 D5), and are unbeaten in their previous four on the road (W2 D2).

• Borja Sainz has been directly involved in three goals in his three Championship appearances against Sheffield Wednesday (2 goals, 1 assist), scoring and assisting in this exact fixture for Norwich last season.

Phil Daley
Radio Norfolk sports editor

Image source, Getty Images

Norwich City head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup has been speaking to the media ahead of the Canaries' home game against Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday (19:45 GMT).

Here are some of the key points from the press conference:

• Goalkeeper Angus Gunn and midfielder Marcelino Nunez will not be in the squad. Gunn is not likely to feature until after the international break.

• Back-up keeper George Long is also missing as he is still in a concussion protocol, meaning 21-year-old Vicente Reyes will start, having made his first appearance of the season for the club in the 1-1 draw against Oxford on Friday.

• Amankwah Forson will return to the squad but will only be called on "if needed".

• "Results are important, but we still have to be smart with our players - we will freshen things up," Thorup told BBC Radio Norfolk.

• Thorup expects decisions to be made on those players out of contract in the next three or four weeks. The contracts of key players such as Gunn and Emi Marcondes expire in this summer.

• On Sheffield Wednesday, Thorup says he thinks they are excellent at adapting to their opposition and injecting some "chaos" into games.

• Thorup said: "I hope that the fans can see where we are going. I think they can see we have made improvements but also see where we are not good enough... and that should be directed at me, not the players."

You can listen to full live coverage of Norwich City v Sheffield Wednesday on BBC Radio Norfolk on FM and DAB from 19:00 GMT on Tuesday, 11 March.

Image source, Getty Images

Norwich City head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup has revealed captain Shane Duffy was absent from their starting line-up in the 1-1 draw with Oxford because he missed a team meeting.

The 33-year-old was an unused substitute for the game at Carrow Road.

"Shane was late for the team meeting," Thorup told his post-match press conference.

"I set a culture for a football team and tell the players how we run things.

"It's unfortunate for Shane and he didn't do it on purpose but we've made it clear incidents like that cannot happen on game day."

Duffy had played every league match for the Canaries this season before the draw on Friday night.

"It was an easy decision to take even though I don't like it – the culture is on top of anything else," Thorup added.

"There is room for mistakes but in my view mistakes should be followed by consequences."

Duffy afterwards posted on X that he had been delayed on the way to the ground by a road accident.

"Full details are there was a crash and stuck in traffic which led me to be late 20 mins," he said.

Image source, Rex Features

Norwich City goalkeeper Vicente Reyes has signed a new contract to run until the summer of 2027, with an option for a further year.

Reyes arrived at Carrow Road from Major League Soccer side Atlanta United and was called into Chile's senior international squad for the first time in October.

He has yet to make a first-team appearance for the Canaries but has spent time on loan at both Forest Green Rovers in League Two and Cambridge United in League One.

Reyes, who has made 23 appearances for the U's in the current campaign, told the Norwich website, external: "The plan that the club had for me from the start, everything is falling in order."

Sporting director Ben Knapper added: "Vinny has progressed well since joining the club back in the summer of 2023.

"He's gained some valuable experiences whilst out on loan and is now benefitting from working every day here with our first-team group."