# 1987–88 Norwich City F.C. season

For the 1987–88 season, Norwich City F.C. competed in Football League Division One, as well as the FA Cup, Littlewoods Cup and Simod Cup.

## Overview

The previous season had seen Norwich finish fifth in Division One, their highest position to that date, but any hope of a repeat was quickly dashed. By the beginning of November, Norwich had only registered three league wins, and would soon after slip to bottom of the table after only winning one point from five matches. Chairman Robert Chase took drastic action: On 9 November, long-serving manager Ken Brown was sacked. Dave Stringer, who had only become his assistant at the start of the year after previously being reserve team manager, was appointed as his replacement, initially on a caretaker basis and later permanent. Veteran player David Williams was made a player/coach as his assistant.
The trend was not immediately reversed and in December club captain Steve Bruce left the club for Manchester United. His vice-captain Mike Phelan replaced him as captain. With the money from the sale, Norwich acquired Robert Fleck, who would contribute seven goals in the second half of the season and be the club's leading scorer for the next four seasons, as well as buying Andy Linighan as a replacement for Bruce at centre-half. One of the most unfortunate incidents of the year surrounded John O'Neill, who signed for the club in December only to suffer a career-ending knee injury on his debut, after which he never played professionally again.
Norwich made early exits from all three cup competitions but six wins and six draws in the latter half of the season were enough to secure them another season in the top flight as they finished in 14th place, four places and three points clear of the relegation play-offs. Their biggest win of the season was 4–1 against West Ham United and their heaviest defeat was 3–0, which occurred four times. Their highest scoring game was 4–2 which happened twice, a defeat to Arsenal and a victory over Oxford United.

## Squad

    Squad at the end of season (7 May 1988)
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 | Graham Benstead |
| — | GK | ENG | Jon Sheffield |
| — | DF | ENG | Ian Culverhouse |
| — | DF | ENG | Tony Spearing |
| — | DF | ENG | Ian Butterworth (vice-captain) |
| — | DF | ENG | Andy Linighan |
| — | DF | ENG | Shaun Elliott |
| — | DF | ENG | Simon Ratcliffe |
| — | DF | ENG | Kenny Brown |
| — | DF | NIR | John O'Neill |
| — | DF | ENG | Andy Fensome |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | ENG | Mike Phelan (captain) |
| — | MF | WAL | Mark Bowen |
| — | MF | ENG | Trevor Putney |
| — | MF | ENG | Ruel Fox |
| — | MF | ENG | Ian Crook |
| — | MF | ENG | Dale Gordon |
| — | MF | ENG | Jeremy Goss |
| — | MF | WAL | David Williams |
| — | FW | ENG | Kevin Drinkell |
| — | FW | SCO | Robert Fleck |
| — | FW | ENG | Wayne Biggins |
| — | FW | ENG | Robert Rosario |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Pos | Name | From | Fee |
| 16 June 1987 | DF | Simon Ratcliffe | Manchester United | £40,000 |
| 23 July 1987 | MF | Mark Bowen | Tottenham Hotspur | £90,000 |
| 23 July 1987 | DF | Paul Wilson | Huddersfield Town | £30,000 |
| 16 December 1987 | DF | John O'Neill | Queens Park Rangers | Unknown |
| 17 December 1987 | FW | Robert Fleck | Rangers | £580,000 |
| 4 March 1988 | DF | Andy Linighan | Oldham Athletic | £350,000 |

### Out

| Date | Pos | Name | To | Fee |
| 1 June 1987 | MF | Peter Mendham | King's Lynn | Free |
| 3 July 1987 | FW | Mark Barham | Huddersfield Town | £100,000 |
| July 1987 | FW | David Hodgson | Jerez Club de Portivo | Unknown |
| 18 December 1987 | DF | Steve Bruce | Manchester United | £900,000 |
| December 1987 | MF | Garry Brooke | Groningen | Unknown |
| 4 March 1988 | FW | Paul Clayton | Darlington | £25,000 |
| 29 March 1988 | DF | Phil Chapple | Cambridge United | Free |

## Final table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 12 | Southampton | 40 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 49 | 53 | −4 | 50 |
| 13 | Tottenham Hotspur | 40 | 12 | 11 | 17 | 38 | 48 | −10 | 47 |
| 14 | Norwich City | 40 | 12 | 9 | 19 | 40 | 52 | −12 | 45 |
| 15 | Derby County | 40 | 10 | 13 | 17 | 35 | 45 | −10 | 43 |
| 16 | West Ham United | 40 | 9 | 15 | 16 | 40 | 52 | −12 | 42 |

## Results
### Division One

* Source:

### FA Cup

* Source:

### Littlewoods Cup

* Source:

### Simod Cup

* Source:

## Appearances

| Pos | Player | League | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | FA Cup | Littlewoods Cup | Littlewoods Cup | Littlewoods Cup | Simod Cup | Simod Cup | Simod Cup | Total | Total | Total |
| Pos | Player | Starts | Sub | Goals | Starts | Sub | Goals | Starts | Sub | Goals | Starts | Sub | Goals | Starts | Subs | Goals |
| Goalkeepers |||||||||||||||||
| GK | Bryan Gunn | 38 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 0 | 0 |
| GK | Graham Benstead | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Defenders |||||||||||||||||
| RB | Ian Culverhouse | 33 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 0 |
| LB | Tony Spearing | 17 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 17 | 1 | 0 |
| CB | Steve Bruce | 19 | 0 | 2 | – | – | – | 3 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | 21 | 0 | 3 |
| CB | Ian Butterworth | 34 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 2 | 0 |
| CB | Andy Linighan | 12 | 0 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 12 | 0 | 2 |
| LB | Shaun Elliott | 14 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 3 | 0 |
| CB | Simon Ratcliffe | 6 | 3 | 0 | – | – | – | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 8 | 3 | 0 |
| RB | Kenny Brown | 7 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| CB | John O'Neill | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Midfielders |||||||||||||||||
| CM | Mike Phelan | 37 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 0 | 0 |
| DM | Mark Bowen | 23 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 1 | 2 |
| AM | Trevor Putney | 25 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 1 | 1 |
| AM | Ruel Fox | 33 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 1 | 2 |
| CM | Jeremy Goss | 20 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 2 | 0 | 1 | 24 | 2 | 3 |
| AM | Dale Gordon | 16 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 5 | 3 |
| CM | Ian Crook | 16 | 7 | 1 | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 9 | 1 |
| DM | David Williams | 7 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 0 |
| Forwards |||||||||||||||||
| ST | Kevin Drinkell | 38 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 0 | 12 |
| ST | Robert Fleck | 18 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 2 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 1 | 9 |
| ST | Wayne Biggins | 15 | 5 | 5 | – | – | – | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 5 | 6 |
| ST | Robert Rosario | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 6 | 2 |
* Source:

## Goalscorers

| Rank | Position | Player | Division One | FA Cup | Littlewoods Cup | Simod Cup | Total |
| 1 | ST | Kevin Drinkell | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 2 | ST | Robert Fleck | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 |
| 3 | ST | Wayne Biggins | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| 4 | LW | Dale Gordon | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | CB | Steve Bruce | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | CM | Jeremy Goss | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 5 | ST | Robert Rosario | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | RW | Ruel Fox | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | CB | Andy Linighan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | LB/LW | Mark Bowen | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | LW | Trevor Putney | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | RW | Ian Crook | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
* Source: