Check out: The 7 hardest Norwich City players of the last 20 years – Ranked
FLW’s Norwich City fan pundit lists their top seven toughest Canaries over the last two decades.
This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk‘ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Throughout the last 20 years, Norwich City have applied their trade in either the Premier League or the EFL Championship.
This season, the Canaries will be aiming for their sixth promotion back to the top-flight under the stewardship of David Wagner, after a disappointing 13th placed finish last campaign.
To be able to provide enough consistency for multiple promotions in that time, the Yellows have needed many tough characters in each of their squads.
Here at Football League World, we’ve been taking a look at some of the hardest players in the last 20 years at clubs across the EFL.
Today we focus on Norwich City, with our Canaries fan pundit Zeke Downes listing his top seven toughest players at Carrow Road.
7Sebastien Bassong
Kicking off the list is central defender Sebastien Bassong, who joined the East Anglian outfit in 2012.
The 37-year-old had plenty of experience in the top two tiers of English football, representing Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur alongside the Canaries in his playing career.
At the end of the 2012/13 season, Bassong made 35 appearances with three goals in all competitions. Due to his consistently impressive performances, the former Cameroon international was named Norwich City’s Player of the Season, winning the Barry Butler Memorial Trophy – becoming the first player from outside the British Isles to win the prestigious award.
Bassong heavily featured in their three top-flight campaigns during his stay in Norfolk, playing 135 times.
6Gary O’Neil
Next up is Gary O’Neil, who is vastly experienced in the Premier League and EFL Championship.
The London-born midfielder’s distinguished career saw him make 541 combined appearances, with long stints at Portsmouth and Middlesbrough.
The 40-year-old donned the green and yellow for two seasons, featuring 55 times across the Premier League and Championship, with his aggressive presence in the heart of the midfield an asset to the team before his departure.
5Bradley Johnson
At number five is Bradley Johnson, with the midfielder another to have had a wealth of regular playing time over his career.
Johnson has made over 100 appearances across the top three tiers in English football, with lengthy spells at Norwich City, Blackburn Rovers, Derby County and Leeds United.
After his move from Leeds back in 2011, Johnson had one of his most successful seasons with the club in the 2014/15 campaign, appearing in 44 of 46 Championship matches, scoring 15 goals and as a result was voted the fans’ Player of the Year.
Across five seasons at Carrow Road the 36-year-old played in 155 matches, registering 21 goals and 11 assists.
Johnson also earned 32 yellow cards in that time, with his big stature making him a player not to be messed with in his prime.
4Malky Mackay
In at number four is Malky Mackay, who spent the majority of his career at the Canaries in a six-year stay.
The Scotsman was named in the Football League First Division Team of the Year in his final season with the club, in which they gained promotion, with Mackay scoring a brace in the East Anglian derby against Ipswich Town.
The 51-year-old, who spent portions of his career at Celtic, West Ham and Watford played 226 times for Norwich City in the First Division, with his toughness in the backline a key reason for his lengthy stay in East England.
3Dickson Etuhu
At number three is former defensive-midfielder Dickson Etuhu, who has had impressive pedigree featuring in the Premier League, Championship and Europa League.
The former Nigerian international had a large stay in England, featuring for Blackburn Rovers, Fulham, Sunderland, Preston North End and Manchester City as well as the Yellows.
Etuhu arrived at Carrow Road in January 2006 and registered his first goal for the club the following season in a League Cup victory of Torquay United.
Despite only spending a season and a half at Carrow Road, Etuhu made 70 appearances, including 43 in the 2006/07 Championship campaign.
2Gary Holt
Entering the top two is Gary Holt, who joined Norwich City in 2001 from Kilmarnock.
In his first season for the Canaries, the Scotsman was voted Norwich City Player of the Year in the 2001/02 campaign and also collected a number of fans’ awards, including the Capital Canaries Player of the Season trophy.
That season, Holt was a member of the Norwich team that reached the final of the Division One play-offs, but they were defeated on penalties to Birmingham City.
Holt represented Norwich City in Division One for the first three years of his spell there and was part of the promotion winning squad in 2004 to the Premier League.
The 50-year-old was affectionately nicknamed ‘Three Lungs’ during his time at Carrow Road due to his hard work and constant running in central-midfield.
1Grant Holt
Topping the list for the hardest striker is Canaries legend Grant Holt, who has had a vast amount of experience in all four tiers of English professional football.
Norwich City secured the services of Holt from Shrewsbury Town in 2009, signing a three-year contract.
Under Paul Lambert, Holt was made club captain and had an electric at Carrow Road, providing 24 goals and 13 assists from 39 games in a League One title winning campaign.
The Norfolk-based club secured consecutive promotions to the Premier League, with the 42-year-old contributing 21 goals and 15 assists from 45 second tier appearances.
In the following campaign, Holt continued his goal scoring form with ease despite his first time in the top-flight, with a 15-goal season resulting in him being voted Player of the Season on the third consecutive occasion and being inducted into the Norwich City Hall of Fame in March 2012.
As a prolific talisman, the 6 ft 1 in forward was a constant worry for any opposition defender to come up against, with his high levels of determination and spectacular strength complimenting his aggressive playing style on the pitch.
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