Ian Crook wore this Norwich City shirt for the final match of the 92/93 season.
That was a thrilling 3-3 draw at Middlesbrough.
The result confirmed a 3rd place league finish.
Watch highlights from that Middlesbrough game here.
A few days later, Arsenal’s FA Cup final victory over Sheffield Wednesday then gave Norwich a place in the 93/94 UEFA cup.
Made by Ribero
This match worn shirt features plastic Premier League patches on both sleeves and a simple black number 7 on the back. Individual squad numbers and names were introduced in the following season.
This Norwich City shirt was made by Ribero and the label has been cut off the inside of the shirt. I’ve seen this before where the players really didn’t like the labels rubbing against them so simply removed them to solve the problem.
The Ribero logo and Norwich badge are fully embroidered.
Ian has signed the shirt at the front.
I really didn’t like this design when it was first launched. However, the success of the team changed my mind and it has become an absolute classic. It’s great now to see so many fans still wearing the “retro” version of this to games at Carrow Road.
Best ever finish
Looking forwards, it is hard to imagine the Canaries will ever do better than the 3rd place finish in the Premier League achieved during the 92/93 season.
It was the first ever Premier League season.
Pre-season expectations were very low following an 18th place finish in the previous campaign.
In fact, Norwich had finished 91/92 just 3 points clear of the relegation places. Dave Stringer also resigned as manager just before the final league fixture. Mike Walker succeeded Stringer.
Before the new season started, cult hero Robert Fleck forced through a move to Chelsea by threatening to go on strike. Mark Robins signed from Manchester United.
As it happened, the season turned out just fine…
Villa at home
The best game I saw from that season was the 1-0 win against Aston Villa on 24th March 1993. John Polston got the winner from a corner in the 81st minute.
The win took Norwich to the very top of the table with just 6 games to go. I really thought we were going to win the league.
However, it was not to be as the Canaries form dropped away at the worst time. They recorded just 2 wins and a draw from those final games.
The 3 defeats included losing at home to eventual champions Manchester United. Norwich finished 12 points behind United in the final table.
Nevertheless, a great season and a great shirt.
See a full set of programmes from that season here.
You can see more shirts from this season here.