Norwich wasn't much on my radar for many years. I vaguely knew where it was, and I think I'd seen a tea towel with Norwich Cathedral on it. Even when we started to take holidays in Norfolk and Suffolk and occasionally stopped in the city, it felt busy, a bit ramshackle and more like a hurdle on the way to the coast than a place to savour.
Norwich is, however, home to the Canaries - Norwich City Football Club - and for whatever reason, since the age of about seven, my Scottish son has supported them.
Supporting the Canaries is football at the sharp end. They bob about between the English Championship and Premiership leagues, with the major ups and downs that brings - play offs at Wembley, relegation battles, promotion. This season the Canaries are Premiership and will be taking on the big beasts of football, starting, can you believe it, with European Champions League winners Liverpool on 9 August 2019.
Most football tours let you sit in the dug out, visit the press centre and go into the dressing rooms. As Carrow Road undergoes some major upgrading to prepare for its premiership season, our tour took in all those sights and more. The view from the Directors' box is amazing. We practiced our shouts of "Ye-ell-ows" and sat in Delia's seat. The best known director of Norwich is cookery writer Delia Smith, who marked 20 years of investment in the club in 2016. It was lovely to hear how excited and loud Delia's mum gets on match days - home and away. Best known fans include the wonderful Stephen Fry, and Wolverine, no less.
The stadium tour was led by two lifelong Canaries fans, Toby and his dad. They spoke at length about the history of the club, the stands, the terrible losses and magnificent victories Carrow Road has seen. Toby's dad knows as much about the grass on the pitch as the groundskeepers. Where other club tours have video extracts and messages, the Canaries tour has Toby acting things out and describing some of the great matches of the past. One minute he is explaining how the area of the ground known as the snake pit got its name, and the next he's giving us the big match build up of Wes Hoolahan's Roy of the Rovers style substitution against Charlton Athletic. Football often seems to me to be all about the money - and there is such a lot of money - at Carrow Road, seeing the club through Toby's eyes, football was all about passion and commitment.
The overwhelming sense from our visit was one of pride and respect. Pride in the club and its heritage and respect for all those who have made it happen. Who could fail to wish the Canaries well after that. (Ipswich?)
And that's how things are.
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