1987–88 Norwich City F.C. season

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.

Norwich City
1987–88 season
ChairmanRobert Chase
ManagerKen Brown (until 9 November)
Dave Stringer (from 9 November)
StadiumCarrow Road
First Division14th
FA CupThird round
League CupThird round
Full Members CupFourth round
Player of the YearBryan Gunn
Top goalscorerLeague: Kevin Drinkell (12)
All: Kevin Drinkell (12)
Highest home attendance22,509 v Liverpool
Lowest home attendance11,872 v Wimbledon
Average home league attendance15,759

Overview

The previous season had seen Norwich finish fifth in Division One, their highest position to that date,[1] 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 contributed 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.[2]

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.[3]

Squad
Squad at the end of season (7 May 1988)[4]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
— GK  SCO Bryan Gunn
— GK  ENG Graham Benstead
— GK  ENG Jon Sheffield
— DF  ENG Ian Culverhouse
— DF  ENG Tony Spearing
— DF  ENG Ian Butterworth (vice-captain)
— DF  ENG Andy Linighan
— DF  ENG Shaun Elliott
— DF  ENG Simon Ratcliffe
— DF  ENG Kenny Brown
— DF  NIR John O'Neill
— DF  ENG Andy Fensome
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF  ENG Mike Phelan (captain)
— MF  WAL Mark Bowen
— MF  ENG Trevor Putney
— MF  ENG Ruel Fox
— MF  ENG Ian Crook
— MF  ENG Dale Gordon
— MF  ENG Jeremy Goss
— MF  WAL David Williams
— FW  ENG Kevin Drinkell
— FW  SCO Robert Fleck
— FW  ENG Wayne Biggins
— FW  ENG Robert Rosario

Transfers

In
Date Pos Name From Fee Reference
16 June 1987 DF Simon Ratcliffe Manchester United £40,000 [5]
23 July 1987 MF Mark Bowen Tottenham Hotspur £90,000 [5]
16 December 1987 DF John O'Neill Queens Park Rangers Unknown [6]
17 December 1987 FW Robert Fleck Rangers £580,000 [5]
4 March 1988 DF Andy Linighan Oldham Athletic £350,000 [5][7]

Out
Date Pos Name To Fee Reference
1 June 1987 MF Peter Mendham King's Lynn Free [8]
3 July 1987 FW Mark Barham Huddersfield Town £100,000 [9]
July 1987 FW David Hodgson Jerez Club de Portivo Unknown [10]
18 December 1987 DF Steve Bruce Manchester United £900,000 [11]
December 1987 MF Garry Brooke Groningen Unknown [12]
4 March 1988 FW Paul Clayton Darlington £25,000 [13]
29 March 1988 DF Phil Chapple Cambridge United Free [14][15]

Final table
Main article: 1987–88 Football League
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
12 Southampton 40 12 14 14 49 53 −4 50
13 Tottenham Hotspur 40 12 11 17 38 48 −10 47
14 Norwich City 40 12 9 19 40 52 −12 45
15 Derby County 40 10 13 17 35 45 −10 43
16 West Ham United 40 9 15 16 40 52 −12 42
Source: [16]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored

References
  1. "Norwich City". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  2. "Flown from the Nest: John O'Neill". ex-canaries.co.uk. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  3. "Norwich City match record: 1988". 11v11. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  4. "Norwich CITY squad 1987/88". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  5. 1989 Club Directory p.397
  6. Canary Citizens p.303
  7. 1993 Club Directory p.22
  8. Canary Citizens p.293
  9. 1989 Club Directory p.277
  10. Canary Citizens p.269
  11. 1989 Club Directory p.353
  12. Canary Citizens p.225
  13. Canary Citizens p.233
  14. 1989 Club Directory p.133
  15. 1993 Club Directory p.134
  16. "League Division One end of season table for 1987-88 season". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 18 April 2022.

Bibliography
  • Canary Citizens Centenary Edition: Authors Mike Davage, John Eastwood and Kevan Platt ISBN 0711720207
  • Barclays League Club Directory 1989: Editor Tony Williams ISBN 0-85144-472-5
  • Norwich City: The Modern Era: Author Rob Hadgraft ISBN 978-1-905328-82-6
  • News of the World Football Annual 1988-89 Editors Bill Bateson and Albert Sewell ISBN 0855431458
  • Barclays League Club Directory 1993: Editor Tony Williams ISBN 1-873057-12-1
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