Manchester United V Norwich: Six Past Battles of the Red Devils and Canaries

You can bet there will be no anti-Glazer protests at Carrow Road on Sunday. The chap in the picture is actually a Manchester United supporter with an identity crisis, by the look of it.

And Norwich City will not have been the most eagerly awaited fixture when the list came out—except for Canaries fans.

Now, it has taken on a greater import. Norwich have been one of the surprise packages this season, playing good football and getting some great results—Liverpool and Everton; Newcastle and Chelsea at home.

United, meanwhile, will believe they have to win almost every match left to depose City and secure another Premier League title.

It should be an open and entertaining match, much like the first ever between the sides, when a then third division Norwich side knocked United out of the FA Cup.

In fact, the first ever match between the two sides was in the second round of the FA Cup in 1906, starting a tradition of stirring Cup matches, even though United prevailed 3-0 on the day.

The first time they ever met at Old Trafford was nearly 30 years later in 1934, when United won again, 5-0. At the end of 1937/8, United were promoted to the old First Division, and the two sides never met in the league again until the 1970s.

Between 1972/3 and 1986/7, Norwich only won one of those encounters, but matters reversed somewhat in the late 1980s, with Ferguson winning only one of eight matches.

Norwich have won only one of the last 13 matches since 1990, however. That could of course change on Sunday, with the Canaries playing bright, open and inventive football under their highly rated young Scottish manager, Paul Lambert. They have already almost secured their place in the Premier League with 35 points and will be difficult to beat, led by burly captain Grant Holt.

However, they did have two great Cup encounters in 1959 and 1967 that were to shock the United faithful.

Immaculate beige beaches once

met effervescent

1958/9 FA Cup: Norwich City 3 Manchester United 0

Terry Bly was rejected by Norwich City as a youngster but fought his way back to the Canaries via Bury Town.

Most people will remember Bly (who died in 2009) as the holder of the post-war record for the most goals in a season at any level in the English senior leagues with 52.

Norwich City supporters, however, feted him for his massive contribution to their greatest Cup run ever. 

Third Division Norwich reached the semifinals of the Cup, where they lost to Luton Town after a replay. I remember it well, because their Cup run was a fairy tale. The replay was at 2.30 in the afternoon, and we were allowed to listen to it in my Primary School classroom, oohing and aahing until Luton prevailed 1-0.

The run was mainly due to Terry Bly, who was in the middle of an extraordinary goal blitz of 29 in 30 matches. He scored seven in seven, as City beat a string of better teams, including the mighty Spurs, who shortly after won the Double.

But the match that is forever engraved on the hearts of the Carrow Road faithful took place on Saturday 10 January 1959.

While the 'Busby Babes' had been decimated in the Munich air disaster, they still fielded a strong team including the great Bobby Charlton:

Harry Gregg
Bill Foulkes
Joe Carolan
Freddie Goodwin
Ronnie Cope
Wilf McGuinness
Warren Bradley
Albert Quixall
Dennis Viollet
Bobby Charlton
Albert Scanlon

The match was played on a snow-bound pitch in icy conditions in front of a capacity 38,000 crowd. Bly scored twice and Crossan once in one of the greatest shocks of all time, as United went on to finish second in the top division.

FA Cup 1967: Manchester United 1 Norwich City 2

In its way, what happened in 1967 was even more shocking, as the Canaries deposed what was to become Sir Matt Busby's European Cup-winning side at Old Trafford. 

OK, so there were a couple of key players missing, but one of the best attacks in Europe couldn't put Norwich away.

The match was played on 18 February in front of a massive 63,000 crowd, surging up and down the terraces, including a big following from Norwich.

The United team on the day was:

Alex Stepney

Tony Dunne

Bobby Noble

Paddy Crerand

David Sadler

Nobby Stiles

Jimmy Ryan

Denis Law

Bobby Charlton

David Herd

George Best

Norwich had only just reclaimed their place in Division Two, and United were to go on to win the Division One title that year and the European Cup in 1968.

Norwich scored first before Denis Law sent the Stretford End into delirium before halftime, and a United win looked inevitable. However, the Canaries clung on and Gordon Bolland grabbed an unlikely win before full time.

1988/9 Manchester United 1 Norwich City 2

1988/89 was a dismal season for the recently appointed Sir Alex Ferguson and his team. He failed to sign Paul Gascoigne, despite paying himself for a Maltese holiday, and made up for it by signing Jim Leighton....

The home match against Norwich was played in midweek, and United should have taken the lead in the first half when Brian McClair missed a penalty after he was fouled.

The teams turned round goalless and United seemed to be on the way after Mark Hughes turned in a Gordon Strachan cross, but Norwich never gave up. This was the first of two consecutive wins at Old Trafford, at a time when, but for the European ban on British teams, they would have played in Europe several times.

With six minutes to play, United looked to be home and hosed, until Norwich's then-captain and now United Assistant Manager, Mike Phelan, scored the equaliser.

Not settling for a draw, Norwich pressed home with confidence, and present day TV commentator Andy Townsend scored a late equaliser.

United eventually finished in eleventh place.

1992/3 Norwich City 1 Manchester United 2

By 1986/7, Norwich had reclaimed their place in the top tier and were one of the inaugural teams when the Premier League was formed in 1992/3.

By this time, of course, Sir Alex Ferguson was well-established at Old Trafford but had not yet managed to win a League title, having been pipped by Leeds United in the final season of the old First Division.

It looked like United might be frustrated again in 1992/3, as Norwich City led the Premier League for most of the season before falling away in the final few weeks, eventually finishing third behind champions United—the first of Sir Alex's twelve titles to date.

The match was played on 3 April 1993 and with seven matches to go, United were in third place to Norwich. The home side's defeat was the final plank in their decline that left them eventually 12 points adrift of the new English champions.

On the day, United played their typical fast-paced ball-playing style, going 3-0 up with counter-attacking goals from Giggs, Kanchelskis and Captain Cantona scoring. Ironically, it was Mark Robbins, who had been credited with saving Sir Alex's job previously, who scored Norwich's consolation goal.

2004/5 Norwich City 2 Manchester United 0

Not surprisingly, the easiest videos to find of matches between Manchester United and Norwich City are those where the 'underdog' has prevailed.

Once again, this was a key match played towards the end of the season, in this case on 9 April 2005.

This time the tables were turned, and Norwich ended United's slim title hopes. In the event, the Red Devils did not win a single trophy that season. 

Chelsea walked the Premier League with 95 points, losing only one match, with Arsenal as runners-up and United third on 77 points.

The only other realistic chance of a trophy was in the FA Cup, where they faced Arsenal. In arguably the most disgraceful final of all time, Arsene Wenger abandoned his pretty football and his team made absolutely no attempt to win the match, not having a single shot on target. Paul Scholes missed a penalty and Arsenal went on to win on penalties.

United's only consolation was by ending Arsenal's 49-match unbeaten run, but by April, they weren't in with a realistic chance of winning the title anyhow.

The match in 2005 was the last time the two sides met before this season's comfortable 2-0 home win for United.

On the day, Norwich were comfortable winners, with Dean Ashton and Leon McKenzie scoring in the second half.

The true story of the match was one of United's complacency, however. With the notable exception of Wayne Rooney, they never looked like winning. 

Norwich had come into the match without a clean sheet for six months and United were on a 20-match winning run. Ferguson not surprisingly rested Roy Keane, who was one yellow card away from suspension. The manager set the wrong tone, by leaving Ronaldo, Rooney and van Nistelrooy on the bench.

The United team on the day was one of the worst in years and played like it. By the time the three 'galacticos' had been introduced, the pattern of play had been set. United went away with nothing and Norwich had the bragging rights for what turned out to be more than six years.

1977 Norwich City 2 Manchester United 1

1977 was one of the bleakest years in Manchester United's history. A season blighted by United hooliganism reached rock bottom when United supporters started a riot after their team was beaten 2-1 at Carrow Road in April.

Many football stadia were more primitive in those days, as the attached footage shows. The police were hard pressed to keep the supporters under control and several climbed onto the roof of the stand, raining ripped up debris on the heads of police and supporters.

Tommy Docherty tried to calm supporters down and later called for the return of the birch.

It was not a particularly good season on the pitch either. The defeat at Norwich ended a long unbeaten run and United eventually finished sixth in the League, although they did beat Liverpool to win the FA Cup.

The events at Norwich and elsewhere led to widespread calls for United to be banned from away grounds. It would be several years before the events of 1977 were forgotten.