For the 1987–88 season, Norwich City F.C. competed in Football League Division One, as well as the FA Cup, Littlewoods Cup and Simod Cup.

Overview The previous season had seen Norwich finish fifth in Division One, their highest position to that date, but any hope of a repeat was quickly dashed. By the beginning of November, Norwich had only registered three league wins, and would soon after slip to bottom of the table after only winning one point from five matches. Chairman Robert Chase took drastic action: On 9 November, long-serving manager Ken Brown was sacked. Dave Stringer, who had only become his assistant at the start of the year after previously being reserve team manager, was appointed as his replacement, initially on a caretaker basis and later permanent. Veteran player David Williams was made a player/coach as his assistant.

The trend was not immediately reversed and in December club captain Steve Bruce left the club for Manchester United. His vice-captain Mike Phelan replaced him as captain. With the money from the sale, Norwich acquired Robert Fleck, who would contribute seven goals in the second half of the season and be the club's leading scorer for the next four seasons, as well as buying Andy Linighan as a replacement for Bruce at centre-half. One of the most unfortunate incidents of the year surrounded John O'Neill, who signed for the club in December only to suffer a career-ending knee injury on his debut, after which he never played professionally again.

Norwich made early exits from all three cup competitions but six wins and six draws in the latter half of the season were enough to secure them another season in the top flight as they finished in 14th place, four places and three points clear of the relegation play-offs. Their biggest win of the season was 4–1 against West Ham United and their heaviest defeat was 3–0, which occurred four times. Their highest scoring game was 4–2 which happened twice, a defeat to Arsenal and a victory over Oxford United.

Squad Squad at the end of season (7 May 1988)

Transfers In DatePosNameFromFeeReference16 June 1987DFSimon RatcliffeManchester United£40,0001989 Club Directory p.39723 July 1987MFMark BowenTottenham Hotspur£90,00023 July 1987DFPaul WilsonHuddersfield Town£30,0001993 Club Directory p.26316 December 1987DFJohn O'NeillQueens Park RangersUnknownCanary Citizens p.30317 December 1987FWRobert FleckRangers£580,0004 March 1988DFAndy LinighanOldham Athletic£350,0001993 Club Directory p.22

Out DatePosNameToFeeReference1 June 1987MFPeter MendhamKing's LynnFreeCanary Citizens p.2933 July 1987FWMark BarhamHuddersfield Town£100,0001989 Club Directory p.277July 1987FWDavid HodgsonJerez Club de PortivoUnknownCanary Citizens p.26918 December 1987DFSteve BruceManchester United£900,0001989 Club Directory p.353December 1987MFGarry BrookeGroningenUnknownCanary Citizens p.2254 March 1988FWPaul ClaytonDarlington£25,000Canary Citizens p.23329 March 1988DFPhil ChappleCambridge UnitedFree1989 Club Directory p.1331993 Club Directory p.134

Final table

Results Division One

Source:Norwich City: The Modern Era p.213-217

FA Cup

Source:Norwich City: The Modern Era p.218

Littlewoods Cup

Source:

Simod Cup

Source:1991 Club Directory p.392–393

Appearances Player League FA Cup Littlewoods Cup Simod Cup Total Starts Sub Goals Starts Sub Goals Starts Sub Goals Starts Sub Goals Starts Subs Goals Goalkeepers GK Bryan Gunn 38 0 0 2 0 0 3 0 0 2 0 0 45 0 0 GK Graham Benstead 2 0 0 – – – – – – – – – 2 0 0 Defenders RB Ian Culverhouse 33 0 0 2 0 0 3 0 0 2 0 0 40 0 0 LB Tony Spearing 17 1 0 – – – – – – – – – 17 1 0 CB Steve Bruce 19 0 2 – – – 3 0 1 – – – 21 0 3 CB Ian Butterworth 34 1 0 2 0 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 39 2 0 CB Andy Linighan 12 0 2 – – – – – – – – – 12 0 2 LB Shaun Elliott 14 2 0 – – – 3 0 0 1 1 0 18 3 0 CB Simon Ratcliffe 6 3 0 – – – 2 0 0 – – – 8 3 0 RB Kenny Brown 7 0 0 – – – – – – – – – 7 0 0 CB John O'Neill 1 0 0 – – – – – – – – – 1 0 0 Midfielders CM Mike Phelan 37 0 0 2 0 0 3 0 0 2 0 0 44 0 0 DM Mark Bowen 23 1 1 2 0 0 3 0 1 2 0 0 30 1 2 AM Trevor Putney 25 1 1 2 0 0 – – – 1 0 0 28 1 1 AM Ruel Fox 33 1 2 2 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 30 1 2 CM Jeremy Goss 20 2 2 2 0 0 – – – 2 0 1 24 2 3 AM Dale Gordon 16 5 3 2 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 21 5 3 CM Ian Crook 16 7 1 – – – 1 1 0 0 1 0 17 9 1 DM David Williams 7 2 0 – – – 2 0 0 0 1 0 9 3 0 Forwards ST Kevin Drinkell 38 0 12 2 0 0 3 0 0 2 0 0 45 0 12 ST Robert Fleck 18 0 7 0 1 0 – – – 2 0 2 20 1 9 ST Wayne Biggins 15 5 5 – – – 3 0 1 1 0 0 19 5 6 ST Robert Rosario 9 5 2 2 0 0 – – – 0 1 011 6 2 Source:

Goalscorers Rank Position Player FA Cup Littlewoods Cup Simod Cup Total 1 ST Kevin Drinkell 12 0 0 0 12 2 ST Robert Fleck 7 0 0 2 9 3 ST Wayne Biggins 5 0 1 0 6 4 LW Dale Gordon 3 0 0 0 3 CB Steve Bruce 2 0 1 0 3 CM Jeremy Goss 2 0 0 1 3 5 ST Robert Rosario 2 0 0 0 2 RW Ruel Fox 2 0 0 0 2 CB Andy Linighan 2 0 0 0 2 LB/LW Mark Bowen 1 0 1 0 2 6 LW Trevor Putney 1 0 0 0 1RW Ian Crook 1 0 0 0 1 Source:

References

Bibliography Canary Citizens Centenary Edition: Authors Mike Davage, John Eastwood and Kevan Platt Barclays League Club Directory 1989: Editor Tony Williams Norwich City: The Modern Era: Author Rob Hadgraft News of the World Football Annual 1988-89 Editors Bill Bateson and Albert Sewell Barclays League Club Directory 1993: Editor Tony Williams