The 2013–14 season was the 112th season of football for Norwich City. It was Norwich City's third campaign in the Premier League since achieving promotion during the 2010–11 season and was their 24th season in the top flight of English football. Norwich spent most of the season in the bottom half of the Premier League table, but only in two short periods, in September and October, were they actually in the relegation zone and this is where they slipped back to in the final few matches of the season. They finished the season in eighteenth place in the Premier League and were subsequently relegated to the Championship. Norwich lost in a replay to Fulham in the third round of the FA Cup and to Manchester United in the fourth round of the League Cup. It was a season that saw the sacking of manager Chris Hughton and the appointment of former Norwich player Neil Adams as his replacement with five games left to play.
Build up to the season
Expectations were high for Norwich after they finished the previous season in 11th position in the league, their highest league finish since 1992–93. The £13.5 million profit made during the 2011–12 season, and the prospect of becoming debt free, also raised the expectations of the fans with the prospect of significant spending on players over the summer 2013 transfer window.
Players and club staff Squad Club staff No. Player Date of birth (age) Signed from Signed in Goals 1 John Ruddy 1986-10-24 (age ) Everton 2010 98 0 2 Russell Martin (club captain) 1986-01-04 (age ) Peterborough United 2010 147 10 3 Steven Whittaker 1984-06-16 (age ) Rangers 2012 14 1 4 Bradley Johnson 1987-04-28 (age ) Leeds United 2011 68 3 5 Sébastien Bassong (captain) 1986-07-09 (age ) Tottenham Hotspur 2012 35 3 6 Michael Turner 1983-11-09 (age ) Sunderland 2012 28 3 7 Robert Snodgrass 1987-09-07 (age ) Leeds United 2012 40 7 8 Jonny Howson 1988-05-21 (age ) Leeds United 2012 44 3 9 Ricky van Wolfswinkel 1989-01-27 (age ) Sporting CP 2013 – – 10 Leroy Fer 1990-01-05 (age ) Twente 2013 – – 11 Gary Hooper 1988-02-26 (age ) Celtic 2013 – – 12 Anthony Pilkington 1988-06-06 (age ) Huddersfield Town 2011 65 13 13 Mark Bunn 1984-11-16 (age ) Blackburn Rovers 2012 26 0 14 Wes Hoolahan 1982-05-20 (age ) Blackpool 2008 194 35 15 Jonás Gutiérrez 1983-07-05 (age ) Newcastle United (loan) 2014 – – 16 Johan Elmander 1981–05–27 (age ) Galatasaray (loan) 2013 – – 17 Elliott Bennett 1988-12-18 (age ) Brighton & Hove Albion 2011 64 3 18 Javier Garrido 1985-03-15 (age ) Lazio 2013 35 0 19 Luciano Becchio 1983-12-28 (age ) Leeds United 2013 8 0 20 Carlo Nash 1973-09-13 (age ) Stoke City 2013 – – 22 Nathan Redmond 1994-03-06 (age ) Birmingham City 2013 – – 23 Martin Olsson 1988-05-17 (age ) Blackburn Rovers 2013 – – 24 Ryan Bennett 1990-03-06 (age ) Peterborough United 2012 28 1 25 David Fox 1983-12-13 (age ) Colchester United 2010 74 1 26 Joseph Yobo 1980–09–06 (age ) Fenerbahçe (loan) 2014 – – 27 Alexander Tettey 1986-04-04 (age ) Rennes 2012 29 1 31 Josh Murphy 1995–02–24 (age ) Academy (2006) 2013 0 0 Backroom Staff
Chris Hughton (manager until 6 April 2014) Neil Adams (manager from 6 April 2014) Colin Calderwood (assistant manager until 6 April 2014) Paul Trollope (first-team coach until 6 April 2014) Dave Watson (goalkeeping coach) Ewan Chester (director of football recruitment) Neal Reynolds (head of physiotherapy) Dr. Nick Wiford (team doctor)
Board of directors
Delia Smith (joint majority shareholder) Michael Wynn-Jones (joint majority shareholder) Alan Bowkett (chairman) Michael Foulger (deputy chairman) David McNally (chief executive) Stephan Phillips (director) Stephen Fry (director)
Apps/goals stats correct up to and including the 2012–13 season
Summer transfer window
Transfers out Following their 11th-place finish in the 2012–13 Premier League Norwich started their preparations for their third consecutive season in the top flight by releasing ten players in May 2013 including first team players Chris Martin, Simeon Jackson, Elliot Ward and Marc Tierney. Over the course of the summer James Vaughan, Grant Holt, Leon Barnett and Jacob Butterfield were all sold for undisclosed fees. Former Norwich City manager Paul Lambert returned to his former club to sign goalkeeper Jed Steer for his current club Aston Villa but the decision on a fee went to tribunal. During the summer Declan Rudd and Andrew Surman were both loaned out to lower league clubs for the season. During the lower league loan window David Fox and Daniel Ayala were loaned for half of the season.
Grant Holt's exit followed a very successful period at the club including two promotions, being named Norwich City F.C. Player of the Season three times and being top scorer at the club four seasons in a row. Holt blamed the tactics of Chris Hughton as a contributory factor in his exit, along with the prospect of playing Europa League football for the first time.
Date Player Moving to Fee Goals 20 May 2013† Simeon Jackson FW Eintracht Braunschweig released 86 21 20 May 2013† Korey Smith CM Oldham Athletic released 73 4 20 May 2013† Marc Tierney LB Bolton Wanderers released 39 0 20 May 2013† Elliott Ward CB Bournemouth released 55 1 20 May 2013† Chris Martin FW Derby County released 117 34 20 May 2013† Tom Adeyemi CM Birmingham City released 17 1 20 May 2013† George Francomb RB AFC Wimbledon released 5 0 20 May 2013† Lee Camp GK West Bromwich Albion released 6 0 20 May 2013† Ramil Sheriff CB unattached released – – 20 May 2013† Olumide Durojaiye CM Falkirk released – – 26 Jun 2013† Jed Steer GK Aston Villa 2 0 3 Jul 2013 James Vaughan FW Huddersfield Town undisclosed 6 0 8 Jul 2013 Grant Holt FW Wigan Athletic undisclosed 168 78 1 Aug 2013 Leon Barnett CB Wigan Athletic undisclosed 55 2 2 Sep 2013 Jacob Butterfield CM Middlesbrough undisclosed 3 0
Date Player Loaned to Expires Notes 18 Jun 2013† Declan Rudd GK Preston North End Jun 2014 season-long 31 Jul 2013 Andrew Surman CM Bournemouth Jun 2014 season-long 27 Sep 2013 David Fox CM Barnsley 27 Dec 2013 three-month 23 Oct 2013 Daniel Ayala CB Middlesbrough 23 Jan 2014 three-month
Transfers in The summer transfer window was a record breaking one for Norwich with both a record amount spent in total and a record amount spent on a single player. The task of building on the successes of the previous season for the 2013–14 season started while the 2012–13 season was still in progress when during March 2013 it was announced that Ricky van Wolfswinkel had signed for a reported club record fee of £8.5 million. Javier Garrido who had been with Norwich the previous season signed a two-year permanent deal during May 2013. During the summer Gary Hooper, Leroy Fer, Carlo Nash, Martin Olsson and Nathan Redmond all also signed permanent deals. Norwich first attempted to sign Hooper during the January 2013 transfer window with a number of bids reported to have been rejected but he eventually signed during July 2013 for £5 million. In August 2013 Johan Elmander signed on a season long loan deal.
Date Player Moving from Transfer fee Contract 23 Mar 2013† Ricky van Wolfswinkel FW Sporting CP £8.5 million 4-year 14 May 2013† Javier Garrido LB Lazio undisclosed 2-year 4 Jul 2013 Nathan Redmond LW Birmingham City undisclosed 4-year 10 Jul 2013 Martin Olsson LB Blackburn Rovers undisclosed 4-year 10 Jul 2013 Carlo Nash GK Stoke City free 1-year 13 Jul 2013 Leroy Fer CM FC Twente undisclosed 4-year 26 Jul 2013 Gary Hooper FW Celtic undisclosed 3-year
Date Player Loaned from Expires Notes 21 Aug 2013 Johan Elmander FW Galatasaray Jun 2014 season-long † effective July 2013
January transfer window
Transfers in On 13 January Jonás Gutiérrez signed on loan from Newcastle United. On 30 January Joseph Yobo signed from Fenerbahçe on loan.
Date Player Loaned from Expires Notes 13 Jan 2014 Jonás Gutiérrez RW Newcastle United Jun 2014 six-month 30 Jan 2014 Joseph Yobo CB Fenerbahçe Jun 2014 six-month
Transfers out After his original three-month loan deal at Middlesbrough expired Daniel Ayala made his move permanent on 24 January for an undisclosed fee. On 7 February it was announced Jacob Murphy would be joining Swindon Town for a month when the loan window opens (8 February).
Date Player Moving to Fee Goals 24 Jan 2014 Daniel Ayala CB Middlesbrough undisclosed 10 0
Date Player Loaned to Expires Notes 8 Feb 2014 Jacob Murphy RW Swindon Town 8 Mar 2014 one-month
Pre-season matches
Norwich started their build up to the season with a pre-season tour of the United States. It continued with away games against Brighton and Braga and concluded with two home games against Panathinaikos and Real Sociedad.
Note: first-team friendlies only
Premier League season
August
Norwich started their league season with a home draw with Everton with record signing Ricky van Wolfswinkel scoring a 71st-minute equaliser on his debut. This was followed up with a 1–0 away defeat by Hull City. Hull spent an hour with ten men following Yannick Sagbo's red card for an apparent head butt motion towards Russell Martin. Norwich earned their first win of the season with a 1–0 home win over Southampton in which Nathan Redmond scored his first goal for the club.
September
Norwich's poor away form continued with a 2–0 away defeat by Tottenham Hotspur. The run of defeats continued when Aston Villa's visit to Carrow Road ended in a 1–0 defeat. Norwich scored their first away goal of the season in their first ever win at the Britannia Stadium when they beat Stoke City 1–0.
October
Norwich got back into the game against Chelsea with a goal from Anthony Pilkington but conceded two late goals to finish 1–3 to the visitors. This was followed up with a 4–1 away defeat by Arsenal. The home fixture against Cardiff City finished in controversy when Leroy Fer put the ball in the back of the net when passing the ball back to goalkeeper David Marshall. This resulted in a melee in which both Norwich and Cardiff were fined £20,000 by the FA for failing to control their players. The game was also notable with Norwich having 31 shots at goal despite the game finishing as a draw.
November
November started badly with a 7–0 defeat at Manchester City following a 4–0 defeat against Manchester United in the League Cup earlier in the week. This heavy defeat following on from a run of bad form resulted in calls from fans for Chris Hughton to be replaced as manager. Norwich responded to the defeat the following week with a 3–1 comeback win over West Ham United. Gary Hooper's first Premier League goal from the penalty spot marked the start of the comeback and it was completed with goals from Robert Snodgrass and Leroy Fer. Norwich's poor away form continued after the international break with a 2–1 defeat at Newcastle United which stretched their away record to five defeats out of six matches. The run of injuries continued when Anthony Pilkington was stretchered off with a suspected hamstring injury. The 1–0 home win over Crystal Palace was watched by a record all-seater home attendance at Carrow Road in a match which was Tony Pulis' first game in charge of the visitors.
December