# 1995–96 Norwich City F.C. season

During the 1995–96 English football season, Norwich City F.C. competed in the Football League First Division.

## Season summary

Martin O'Neill, who had taken Wycombe Wanderers from the Conference to the Second Division with successive promotions, was appointed as Norwich City manager in the summer of 1995. He lasted just six months in the job before resigning after a dispute with chairman Robert Chase over Chase's refusal to permit O'Neill to spend significant sums on strengthening the squad. Soon after O'Neill's resignation, Chase stepped down after protests from supporters, who complained that he kept selling the club's best players and was to blame for the relegation. Indeed, between 1992 and January 1995, Norwich sold a number of key attacking players: Robert Fleck (for £2.1M), Ruel Fox (for £2.25M), Chris Sutton (for £5M), Efan Ekoku (£0.9M) and Mark Robins (£1M). Nearly 40 years after being instrumental in saving the club from bankruptcy, Geoffrey Watling bought Chase's majority shareholding. Gary Megson was appointed Norwich manager on a temporary basis for the second time in eight months. Megson remained in charge until the end of the season before leaving the club. Just four seasons after finishing third in the Premiership and beating Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup, Norwich had finished 16th in Division One.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 14 | Southend United | 46 | 15 | 14 | 17 | 52 | 61 | −9 | 59 |
| 15 | Birmingham City | 46 | 15 | 13 | 18 | 61 | 64 | −3 | 58 |
| 16 | Norwich City | 46 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 59 | 55 | +4 | 57 |
| 17 | Grimsby Town | 46 | 14 | 14 | 18 | 55 | 69 | −14 | 56 |
| 18 | Oldham Athletic | 46 | 14 | 14 | 18 | 54 | 50 | +4 | 56 |

## Results

Norwich City's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League First Division

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 13 August 1995 | Luton Town | A | 3–1 | 7,848 | Newsome (2), Adams |
| 19 August 1995 | Sunderland | H | 0–0 | 16,739 | |
| 26 August 1995 | Birmingham City | A | 1–3 | 19,267 | Sheron |
| 30 August 1995 | Oldham Athletic | H | 2–1 | 14,816 | Bowen, Johnson |
| 2 September 1995 | Port Vale | H | 2–1 | 13,908 | Johnson, Fleck |
| 9 September 1995 | Sheffield United | A | 1–2 | 11,205 | Ward |
| 13 September 1995 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 2–0 | 27,064 | Johnson, Ward |
| 16 September 1995 | Millwall | H | 0–0 | 15,962 | |
| 23 September 1995 | Grimsby Town | A | 2–2 | 5,901 | Akinbiyi, Fleck |
| 30 September 1995 | Leicester City | H | 0–1 | 18,435 | |
| 7 October 1995 | Stoke City | A | 1–1 | 12,016 | Akinbiyi |
| 14 October 1995 | Barnsley | H | 3–1 | 14,002 | Newsome, Johnson, Fleck |
| 21 October 1995 | Charlton Athletic | A | 1–1 | 13,369 | Bowen |
| 29 October 1995 | Tranmere Rovers | H | 1–1 | 15,513 | Johnson |
| 4 November 1995 | Huddersfield Town | A | 2–3 | 13,747 | Ward (2) |
| 11 November 1995 | Crystal Palace | H | 1–0 | 14,156 | Johnson |
| 19 November 1995 | Ipswich Town | H | 2–1 | 17,862 | Newsome, Fleck |
| 21 November 1995 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 4–1 | 13,680 | Fleck, Scott, Ward, Adams |
| 26 November 1995 | Watford | A | 2–0 | 7,798 | Ward, Scott |
| 2 December 1995 | Stoke City | H | 0–1 | 15,707 | |
| 9 December 1995 | Grimsby Town | H | 2–2 | 13,283 | Ward, Eadie |
| 17 December 1995 | Leicester City | A | 2–3 | 14,251 | Fleck, Eadie |
| 23 December 1995 | Portsmouth | A | 0–1 | 9,934 | |
| 26 December 1995 | Southend United | H | 0–1 | 17,029 | |
| 30 December 1995 | Reading | H | 3–3 | 13,556 | Ward, Johnson, Fleck |
| 1 January 1996 | Derby County | A | 1–2 | 16,714 | Fleck |
| 14 January 1996 | Sunderland | A | 1–0 | 14,983 | Ward |
| 20 January 1996 | Luton Town | H | 0–1 | 12,474 | |
| 4 February 1996 | Birmingham City | H | 1–1 | 12,612 | Ward |
| 10 February 1996 | Oldham Athletic | A | 0–2 | 17,001 | |
| 17 February 1996 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 2–3 | 14,691 | Eadie, Crook |
| 24 February 1996 | Millwall | A | 1–2 | 8,218 | Milligan |
| 28 February 1996 | Sheffield United | H | 0–0 | 10,945 | |
| 2 March 1996 | Southend United | A | 1–1 | 6,208 | Bradshaw |
| 9 March 1996 | Portsmouth | H | 1–1 | 13,004 | Milligan |
| 16 March 1996 | Reading | A | 3–0 | 8,501 | Sheppard (own goal), Eadie, O'Neill |
| 20 March 1996 | Port Vale | A | 0–1 | 6,085 | |
| 23 March 1996 | Derby County | H | 1–0 | 15,349 | Goss |
| 30 March 1996 | Charlton Athletic | H | 0–1 | 13,434 | |
| 2 April 1996 | Barnsley | A | 2–2 | 6,375 | Newman, Fleck |
| 6 April 1996 | Tranmere Rovers | A | 1–1 | 6,618 | Eadie |
| 8 April 1996 | Huddersfield Town | H | 2–0 | 13,021 | Fleck, Akinbiyi |
| 14 April 1996 | Ipswich Town | A | 1–2 | 20,355 | Cureton |
| 20 April 1996 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 2–2 | 14,667 | Cureton, Eadie |
| 27 April 1996 | Watford | H | 1–2 | 14,188 | Crook |
| 5 May 1996 | Crystal Palace | A | 1–0 | 20,664 | Hopkin (own goal) |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R3 | 6 January 1996 | Brentford | H | 1–2 | 10,082 | Newsome |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R2 1st Leg | 20 September 1995 | Torquay United | H | 6–1 | 7,542 | Akinbiyi (2), Crook, Sheron (2), Gore (own goal) |
| R2 2nd Leg | 4 October 1995 | Torquay United | A | 3–2 (won 9–3 on agg) | 1,790 | Ullathorne, Mills, Eadie |
| R3 | 25 October 1995 | Bradford City | H | 0–0 | 11,649 | |
| R3R | 8 November 1995 | Bradford City | A | 5–3 (a.e.t.) | 8,665 | Ward (3), Johnson, Fleck |
| R4 | 29 November 1995 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 0–0 | 13,820 | |
| R4R | 20 December 1995 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 0–0 (won 3–2 on pens) | 8,736 | |
| QF | 10 January 1996 | Birmingham City | H | 1–1 | 13,028 | Fleck |
| QFR | 24 January 1996 | Birmingham City | A | 1–2 | 21,097 | Mølby |

## Players
### First-team squad

    Squad at end of season
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | SCO | Bryan Gunn |
| — | GK | ENG | Andy Marshall |
| — | DF | WAL | Mark Bowen |
| — | DF | ENG | Carl Bradshaw |
| — | DF | ENG | Danny Mills |
| — | DF | ENG | Rob Newman |
| — | DF | ENG | Jon Newsome |
| — | DF | ENG | John Polston |
| — | DF | ENG | Spencer Prior |
| — | DF | ENG | Daryl Sutch |
| — | DF | ENG | Robert Ullathorne |
| — | DF | NIR | Jon Wright |
| — | MF | ENG | Neil Adams |
| — | MF | IRL | Shaun Carey |
| — | MF | ENG | Ian Crook |
| — | MF | ENG | Darren Eadie |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | ENG | Ali Gibb |
| — | MF | WAL | Jeremy Goss |
| — | MF | ENG | Andy Johnson |
| — | MF | IRL | Mike Milligan |
| — | MF | DEN | Jan Mølby (on loan from Liverpool) |
| — | MF | IRL | Keith O'Neill |
| — | MF | ENG | Matthew Rush |
| — | MF | ENG | Jamie Shore |
| — | MF | ENG | Karl Simpson |
| — | FW | ENG | Ade Akinbiyi |
| — | FW | ENG | Jamie Cureton |
| — | FW | SCO | Robert Fleck |
| — | FW | ENG | Keith Scott |
| — | FW | ENG | Mike Sheron |
| — | FW | ENG | Ashley Ward |