1987–88 Norwich City F.C. season

Norwich City
1987–88 season
Chairman	Robert Chase
Manager	Ken Brown (until 9 November); Dave Stringer (from 9 November)
Stadium	Carrow Road
First Division	14th
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Third round
Full Members Cup	Fourth round
Player of the Year	Bryan Gunn
Top goalscorer	League: Kevin Drinkell (12); All: Kevin Drinkell (12)
Highest home attendance	22,509 v Liverpool
Lowest home attendance	11,872 v Wimbledon
Average home league attendance	15,759
Home colours	Away colours
	← 1986–87 1988–89 →

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,^[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 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.^[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; some limited exceptions apply. 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]
23 July 1987	DF	Paul Wilson	Huddersfield Town	£30,000	^[6]
16 December 1987	DF	John O'Neill	Queens Park Rangers	Unknown	^[7]
17 December 1987	FW	Robert Fleck	Rangers	£580,000	^[5]
4 March 1988	DF	Andy Linighan	Oldham Athletic	£350,000	^[5]^[8]

Out

Date	Pos	Name	To	Fee	Reference
1 June 1987	MF	Peter Mendham	King's Lynn	Free	^[9]
3 July 1987	FW	Mark Barham	Huddersfield Town	£100,000	^[10]
July 1987	FW	David Hodgson	Jerez Club de Portivo	Unknown	^[11]
18 December 1987	DF	Steve Bruce	Manchester United	£900,000	^[12]
December 1987	MF	Garry Brooke	Groningen	Unknown	^[13]
4 March 1988	FW	Paul Clayton	Darlington	£25,000	^[14]
29 March 1988	DF	Phil Chapple	Cambridge United	Free	^[15]^[16]

Final table

Pos	Team v t e	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: ^[17]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored

Results

Division One

15 August 1987 (1987-08-15) 1	Everton	1–0	Norwich City	Liverpool
	Power 35'			Stadium: Goodison Park Attendance: 31,728 Referee: G. Tyson

19 August 1987 (1987-08-19) 2	Norwich City	0–1	Southampton	Norwich
			Moore 61'	Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 14,429 Referee: K. Hackett

22 August 1987 (1987-08-22) 3	Norwich City	3–1	Coventry City	Norwich
	Bruce 20' Drinkell 54' 84'		Kilcline 58' (pen.)	Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 13,726 Referee: A. Buksh

29 August 1987 (1987-08-29) 4	West Ham United	2–0	Norwich City	London
	Cottee 51' 65'			Stadium: Upton Park Attendance: 16,394 Referee: M. Reed

1 September 1987 (1987-09-01) 5	Norwich City	1–1	Newcastle United	Norwich
	Biggins 73'		D. Jackson 76'	Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 16,636 Referee: B. Hill

5 September 1987 (1987-09-05) 6	Watford	0–1	Norwich City	Watford
			Bruce 48'	Stadium: Vicarage Road Attendance: 11,724 Referee: L. Shapter

12 September 1987 (1987-09-12) 7	Norwich City	1–2	Derby County	Norwich
	Rosario 78'		Davison 50' Gregory 67' (pen.)	Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 14,402 Referee: D. Hedges

19 September 1987 (1987-09-19) 8	Chelsea	1–0	Norwich City	London
	Dixon 4'			Stadium: Stamford Bridge Attendance: 15,242 Referee: J. Martin

26 September 1987 (1987-09-26) 9	Norwich City	0–2	Nottingham Forest	Norwich
			Webb 28' 31'	Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 13,755 Referee: P. Don

3 October 1987 (1987-10-03) 10	Oxford United	3–0	Norwich City	Oxford
	Slatter 14' Hill 57' Foyle 68'			Stadium: Manor Ground Attendance: 6,847 Referee: A. Gunn

10 October 1987 (1987-10-10) 11	Norwich City	2–1	Tottenham Hotspur	Norwich
	Drinkell 23' Biggins 63'		Claesen 34'	Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 18,689 Referee: K. Barrett

17 October 1987 (1987-10-17) 12	Manchester United	2–1	Norwich City	Manchester
	Davenport 46' Robson 80'		Biggins 29'	Stadium: Old Trafford Attendance: 39,345 Referee: G. Alpin

24 October 1987 (1987-10-24) 13	Sheffield Wednesday	1–0	Norwich City	Sheffield
	Pearson 12'			Stadium: Hillsborough Attendance: 15,861 Referee: M. Peck

31 October 1987 (1987-10-31) 14	Norwich City	1–1	Queens Park Rangers	Norwich
	Biggins 64'		Allen 80'	Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 14,522 Referee: D. Axcell

7 November 1987 (1987-11-07) 15	Charlton Athletic	2–0	Norwich City	London
	Bennett 15' Jones 22'			Stadium: Selhurst Park Attendance: 5,044 Referee: J. Ashworth

14 November 1987 (1987-11-14) 16	Norwich City	2–4	Arsenal	Norwich
	Drinkell 31' 81'		Rocastle 49' 54' Thomas 52' Groves 61'	Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 20,558 Referee: J. Key

21 November 1987 (1987-11-21) 17	Liverpool	0–0	Norwich City	Liverpool
				Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 37,446 Referee: J. Deakin

28 November 1987 (1987-11-28) 18	Norwich City	0–1	Portsmouth	Norwich
			Horne 36'	Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 13,099 Referee: T. Holbrook

5 December 1987 (1987-12-05) 19	Luton Town	1–2	Norwich City	Luton
	Stein 20'		Gordon 61' Crook 88'	Stadium: Kenilworth Road Attendance: 7,002 Referee: D. Scott

18 December 1987 (1987-12-18) 20	Wimbledon	1–0	Norwich City	London
	Fashanu 14'			Stadium: Plough Lane Attendance: 4,026 Referee: A. Seville

26 December 1987 (1987-12-26) 21	Derby County	1–2	Norwich City	Derby
	Wright 49'		Fleck 33' Gordon 52'	Stadium: Baseball Ground Attendance: 15,452 Referee: V. Callow

28 December 1987 (1987-12-28) 22	Norwich City	3–0	Chelsea	Norwich
	Fox 51' Goss 71' Drinkell 76' (pen.)			Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 19,668 Referee: K. Morton

1 January 1988 (1988-01-01) 23	Norwich City	4–1	West Ham United	Norwich
	Gordon 47' Drinkell 67' Bowen 79' Rosario 86'		Cottee 27'	Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 20,059 Referee: B. Hall

16 January 1988 (1988-01-16) 24	Norwich City	0–3	Everton	Norwich
			Sharp 21' 87' Heath 90'	Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 15,750 Referee: S. Lodge

23 January 1988 (1988-01-23) 25	Southampton	0–0	Norwich City	Southampton
				Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 12,002 Referee: R. Lewis

6 February 1988 (1988-02-06) 26	Norwich City	0–0	Watford	Norwich
				Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 13,318 Referee: M. Bailey

13 February 1988 (1988-02-13) 27	Newcastle United	1–3	Norwich City	Newcastle
	Gascoigne 34'		Fleck 2' 58' Drinkell 85'	Stadium: St James' Park Attendance: 21,068 Referee: A. Flood

20 February 1988 (1988-02-20) 28	Coventry City	0–0	Norwich City	Coventry
			Elliott	Stadium: Highfield Road Attendance: 15,577 Referee: E. Parker

5 March 1988 (1988-03-05) 29	Norwich City	1–0	Manchester United	Norwich
	Fleck 76'			Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 19,129 Referee: M. Reed

12 March 1988 (1988-03-12) 30	Tottenham Hotspur	1–3	Norwich City	London
	Claesen 85'		Goss 37' Fleck 67' Drinkell 75'	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 19,322 Referee: G. Tyson

16 March 1988 (1988-03-16) 31	Norwich City	4–2	Oxford United	Norwich
	Linighan 10' Fleck 65' 80' Drinkell 72'		Bardsley 45' Hebberd 82' Phillips	Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 12,280 Referee: K. Miller

19 March 1988 (1988-03-19) 32	Queens Park Rangers	3–0	Norwich City	London
	Channing 25' Coney 47' Fereday 81'			Stadium: Loftus Road Attendance: 9,033 Referee: D. Allison

26 March 1988 (1988-03-26) 33	Norwich City	0–3	Sheffield Wednesday	Norwich
			Sterland 43' (pen.) Jonsson 75' Chapman 80'	Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 13,280 Referee: D. Hutchinson

2 April 1988 (1988-04-02) 34	Norwich City	2–0	Charlton Athletic	Norwich
	Fox 50' Drinkell 58'			Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 15,015 Referee: B. Stevens

4 April 1988 (1988-04-04) 35	Arsenal	2–0	Norwich City	London
	Smith 38' Groves 59'			Stadium: Highbury Attendance: 19,341 Referee: B. Stevens

20 April 1988 (1988-04-20) 36	Norwich City	0–0	Liverpool	Norwich
				Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 22,509 Referee: R. Hart

23 April 1988 (1988-04-23) 37	Norwich City	2–2	Portsmouth	Norwich
	Linighan 31' Biggins 90' (pen.)		Quinn 59' Mariner 68'	Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 12,762 Referee: P. Don

30 April 1988 (1988-04-30) 38	Norwich City	2–2	Luton Town	Norwich
	Drinkell 51' Putney 63'		Stein 87' Wilson 98' (pen.)	Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 12,700 Referee: A. Ward

4 May 1988 (1988-05-04) 39	Nottingham Forest	2–0	Norwich City	Nottingham
	Webb 9' Glover 51'			Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 11,610 Referee: A. Robinson

7 May 1988 (1988-05-07) 40	Norwich City	0–1	Wimbledon	Norwich
			Gibson 82'	Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 11,782 Referee: J. Martin

Source:^[18]

FA Cup

9 January 1988 (1988-01-09) Third Round	Swindon Town	0–0	Norwich City	Swindon
				Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 12,807 Referee: K. Walmsley

13 January 1988 (1988-01-13) Third Round Replay	Norwich City	0–2	Swindon Town	Norwich
			Bamber 67' 87'	Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 12,501 Referee: J. Moules

Source:^[19]

Littlewoods Cup

22 September 1987 (1987-09-22) Second Round, First Leg	Burnley	1–1	Norwich City	Burnley
	Oghani 7'		Biggins 15'	Stadium: Turf Moor Attendance: 7,912 Referee: G. Courtney

7 October 1987 (1987-10-07) Second Round, Second Leg	Norwich City	1–0	Burnley	Norwich
	Bowen 48'		Oghani	Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 6,168 Referee: I. Hemley

27 October 1987 (1987-10-27) Third Round	Stoke City	2–1	Norwich City	Stoke
	Daly 14' Talbot 17'		Bruce 76'	Stadium: Victoria Ground Attendance: 8,603 Referee: J. Moules

Source:^[19]

Simod Cup

19 January 1988 (1988-01-19) Third Round	Millwall	2–3	Norwich City	London
	Cascarino 18' 60'		Fleck 14' 23' Goss 75'	Stadium: The Den Attendance: 4,654 Referee: J. Key

23 February 1988 (1988-02-23) Fourth Round	Swindon Town	2–0	Norwich City	Swindon
	Elliott 64' (og.) Foley 72'			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 10,491 Referee: K. Barratt

Source:^[20]

Appearances

Pos	Player	League			FA Cup			Littlewoods Cup			Simod Cup			Total
Pos	Player	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	0	11	6	2

Source:^[20]

Goalscorers

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

Source:^[20]

References

^ "Norwich City". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
^ "Flown from the Nest: John O'Neill". ex-canaries.co.uk. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
^ "Norwich City match record: 1988". 11v11. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
^ "Norwich CITY squad 1987/88". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d 1989 Club Directory p.397
^ 1993 Club Directory p.263
^ Canary Citizens p.303
^ 1993 Club Directory p.22
^ Canary Citizens p.293
^ 1989 Club Directory p.277
^ Canary Citizens p.269
^ 1989 Club Directory p.353
^ Canary Citizens p.225
^ Canary Citizens p.233
^ 1989 Club Directory p.133
^ 1993 Club Directory p.134
^ "League Division One end of season table for 1987-88 season". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
^ Norwich City: The Modern Era p.213-217
^ ^a ^b Norwich City: The Modern Era p.218
^ ^a ^b ^c 1991 Club Directory p.392–393

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

[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.

[NorwichSquad-5] 1989 Club Directory p.397

[6] 1993 Club Directory p.263

[7] Canary Citizens p.303

[8] 1993 Club Directory p.22

[9] Canary Citizens p.293

[10] 1989 Club Directory p.277

[11] Canary Citizens p.269

[12] 1989 Club Directory p.353

[13] Canary Citizens p.225

[14] Canary Citizens p.233

[15] 1989 Club Directory p.133

[16] 1993 Club Directory p.134

[17] "League Division One end of season table for 1987-88 season". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 18 April 2022.

[18] Norwich City: The Modern Era p.213-217

[CupResults-19] Norwich City: The Modern Era p.218

[Fullresults-20] 1991 Club Directory p.392–393

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