NORWICH CITY 1985-86 SECOND DIVISION CHAMPIONS
APUB stop might not be high on the list of a modern manager’s list of manmanagement techniques, but for Ken Brown it turned his Norwich City team into title winners.
The Canaries, newly-relegated from the First Division despite winning the Milk Cup, had suffered a poor start to the new season with three defeats in their first five games.
And, with a number of new players struggling to bed in, Brown decided on a simple remedy to the problem: a heart to heart over a pint in a country pub.
“We were coming back up from Portsmouth. Everyone thought it was all over before it had started. I hadn’t scored a goal,” said Kevin Drinkell.
“Everybody was glum, but Ken had noticed that. So, he pulled the bus in at a pub in the middle of nowhere.
“He sat us all down and told us that he had faith in us. That we needed to trust in him and, if we did that, it would all come together.”
Whatever was said that evening worked a treat as Norwich would make it a hat-trick of bouncing back from relegation from the top flight at the first attempt.
They had managed it in 197475 and 1981-82 and went one better, winning the title, finishing seven points ahead of Charlton Athletic and eight in front of Wimbledon.
Drinkell finished as the division’s leading scorer with 22 goals and clearly remembers scoring two in the 4-0 thrashing of Sheffield United a week later.
“After that, I think we lost only twice in about 25 games,” he said. “I always scored against them when I was at Grimsby so that was maybe my saviour.
“We were unlucky to have been relegated at the end of the previous season.
“There was a feeling at the time that we were a First Division team playing in the wrong division. Once Ken had sorted out that bad start to the season and made a couple of adjustments, there was no stopping us.
“It was fantasy football at times. We were letting the ball run through our legs and backheeling it to each other. It was just a joy to play in.
“Ken had got a team together from the lower divisions and reserve football. It was just a case of knitting them together.”
1. Mike Phelan: An England international and Sir Alex Ferguson’s long-time assistant at Manchester United, who managed Hull City until January 2017. He has also had two spells on Norwich’s coaching staff.
2. Dennis Van Wyk: A Dutch defender who was a Milk Cup winner with Norwich. He went into management in Holland and Belgium, where he is currently head coach of Oud-Heverlee Leuven.
3. Graham Benstead: England semi-pro international goalkeeper, who won promotion with Brentford and is now based in Woking, Surrey, where he works as a self- employed painter and decorator
4. Robert Rosario: England Under-21 striker and winner of the 1990 ITV Goal of the Season competition. Settled in the US and is a director at Carolina Rapids FC.
5. Chris Woods: England goalkeeper who tasted much success at Nottingham Forest and Rangers. He became a goalkeeper coach and is currently working for West Ham United.
6. Dave Watson: England centrehalf who managed Everton, where he had won FA Cup and League Championship honours, and also Tranmere. He is now Newcastle United’s Under-18 coach.
7. John Deehan: England Under21 striker and Milk Cup winner with Norwich, he later managed the Canaries and Wigan Athletic. His last coaching job at Sheffield Wednesday ended in June 2015.
8. Tim Sheppard: The Canaries’ long-serving physio was inducted into the club’s hall of fame and still lives in the area, running his own private practice.
9. Peter Mendham: Midfielder who won a Milk Cup with Norwich. He has been a fund-raiser for the East Anglian Air Ambulance and has coached for the UK Soccer Academy in Norfolk. A decade ago, he served a twoand-a-half year sentence in jail after admitting to wounding with intent his then girlfriend.
10. Dale Gordon: England Under-21 winger who won two Scottish championships with Rangers. He has run soccer schools in Norfolk and a bar in Great Yarmouth but now coaches in Dubai.
11. Steve Bruce: Central defender who won nearly every honour in the game at Manchester United but not an England cap. He went into management and is now the manager of Aston Villa.
12. Wayne Biggins: Striker who won an Autoglass Trophy with Stoke. Lives in his native Sheffield, running his own business making pallets and packing cases.
13. Ian Culverhouse: Defender who won a UEFA Cup with Tottenham. He went into management and has been Norwich’s assistant manager, a role he currently has at Dagenham & Redbridge.
14. Mel Machin: Managed Manchester City, Barnsley, Bournemouth and Huddersfield. Scouted for West Ham, Spurs and Liverpool. Also served on the board of Bournemouth, the town where he lives in retirement.
15. David Williams: A Welsh international midfielder who has managed Bristol Rovers, worked as a driving instructor in Harrogate and coached at a number of other clubs, including Doncaster Rovers.
16. Tony Spearing: Defender who helped Norwich win the FA Youth Cup. He has twice managed King’s Lynn and held a number of scouting posts. He is currently Norwich City’s head of recruitment.
17. Mark Barham: England winger who was regional sales manager for a hire centre and then ran a tool hire company. Now business development manager for the MITIE Group in Norwich.
18. Ken Brown: Led Norwich to the Milk Cup and promotion before managing Plymouth Argyle and scouted for England. He also had an investment in Lakenham Leisure Centre.
19. Kevin Drinkell: Striker who was twice voted Norwich player of the year. Also at Stirling Albion and Montrose. Later, a players’ agent, he is now a sales executive at Arnold Clark Mercedes.
20. Paul Haylock: Full-back who won the Milk Cup with Norwich and has managed Sittingbourne and Herne Bay while working for the Royal Bank of Scotland as a maintenance engineer.
21. Garry Brooke: Midfielder who won the FA Cup twice with Tottenham. His business interests included a soccer school and sports shop. Now based in Essex and coaches in schools.