40,000 fans - When was the last time?

[SussexYellow]

To get back to happier Wembley memories - when do we think the last time 40,000 Norwich fans attended a game to watch Norwich?

I do not think the allocation for the previous 3 Wembley finals was as large as 40,000. Allocations for cup finals, even league cup finals, tend to be less, so maybe 30,000. The Millenium stadium play off final had an attendance of less than 72,000 so not then.

The next biggest attendance I can recall was a rammed Carrow Road for the visit of Bristol City in April 1972. That was almost 35,000 and was virtually all home support.

So do we have to go back to the Carrow Road record crowd of nearly 44,000 in 1963 for the visit of Leicester in a FA Cup game? Anything pre 1970 is before my time as a supporter so I do not have any recollection of what might have happened in the 60's. But gates had fallen to well below 20,000 when I started going in 1970.

The point being that Wembley may have been the biggest gathering of Norwich support in over half a century - which further adds to it being a wonderful occasion.

 

[Ricardo]

11th March 1967

41k for visit of Sheff Wed in the FA Cup

I stood in the South Stand midway between the halfway line and Barclay Penalty area.

we lost.

 

[Boyerboy]

Presumably that game and the Leicester game included some away fans so Wembley was the greatest gathering of City fans at any match.

Whatever, the prekickoff singing of OTBC by 40,000 fans was the most magnificent and stirring sound I've ever heard a crowd make.

 

[Ricardo]

Presumably that game and the Leicester game included some away fans so Wembley was the greatest gathering of City fans at any match.

Whatever, the prekickoff singing of OTBC by 40,000 fans was the most magnificent and stirring sound I've ever heard a crowd make.

You weren't at White Heart Lane in 1959 then?

 

[SussexYellow]

Thanks for the update Ricardo. I knew I could rely on you for club history.

I do like Boyerboy's take that this could be the biggest ever gathering of Norwich fans to watch a match. It would add further to the occasion.

Could well be right that the other games had a fair amount of away support. Leicester was a FA cup quarter final, and the cup was a big thing in those days, so could well have brought more than 4,000. And Wednesday were a top team in the 60's so probably also brought quite a few.

 

[Moosheep]

Not a match, but does anyone have an estimation of how many people gathered for the various victory parades we have seen over the years? More or less than 40,000? Being in the scrum in front of city hall it has always felt like the entire city was on the streets.

 

[Boyerboy]

No Ricardo. I was 4. But I gather from what you say that Wembley was the second best song.

 

[Beauseant]

That Sheffield Wednesday game was my first visit to Carrow Road. I remember vividly the noise levels and the swaying of the crowd on the old River End. Pretty scary, but amazingly exciting for a 10 year old!

 

[David Black]

My first away game was at Sheffield Weds, when Dublin played his last game, when was that 08? That was a good atmosphere despite the score and a good day out too in the sun.