- Norwich City lost 4-2 at The Valley and were relegated in 2009.
- One year on, a 1-0 win at The Valley sealed their promotion.
- Same opponents and same stadium, 349 days apart, with completely opposite results.
The Valley holds a significant place in the hearts of City fans. For good and for bad.
On 3 May 2009, Norwich lost 4-2 there and were relegated to League One for the first time since 1960. On 17 April 2010, they won 1-0 at the same ground and sealed promotion straight back to the Championship.
Same stadium, same opponents, 349 days apart.
Fixtures between Charlton and City stretch back to the 1920s, and the all-time head-to-head is close: 35 Charlton wins, 30 Norwich wins, 19 draws. The Valley has hosted its share of memorable score-lines over the decades, including 3-3 draws in 1934 and on Boxing Day 1967. But those two spring afternoons usurped everything else.
The disaster
Norwich arrived in south-east London on the final day of the 2008-09 Championship season needing a win and hoping Barnsley lost at Plymouth. Charlton were already relegated. It should have been the easier ask. It all unravelled in half an hour.
Nick Bailey headed Charlton ahead after nine minutes. Deon Burton added two more before the half-hour mark. Norwich were three down inside 30 minutes against a team with nothing to play for.
Alan Lee pulled one back and Sammy Clingan scored in the 61st minute, but the 4-2 defeat confirmed relegation to League One in front of 22,020 at The Valley.
Burton finished with a hat-trick. Norwich finished in the third tier.
The redemption
Twelve months later, Paul Lambert’s Norwich, rebuilt after a 7-1 opening-day loss to Colchester United under Bryan Gunn, returned to The Valley in League One. This time, the stakes were the same but different.
Michael Nelson headed in from a Simon Lappin corner on 34 minutes. That was the only goal Norwich needed, but keeping it required Fraser Forster to produce a string of saves against Nicky Forster, Deon Burton (him again) and Nicky Bailey.
ESPN’s match data tells the story of a bit of a siege: Charlton had 68% possession, nine shots on target to Norwich’s two, nine corners to Norwich’s one. Norwich won 1-0.
Promotion confirmed. At The Valley. On the same pitch where they’d gone down a year earlier.
The BBC’s match report at the time noted the irony: Nelson’s winner came “on the same ground on which the Canaries were relegated to League One a year ago.”
Two spring afternoons. One ground where Norwich were three down inside 30 minutes, and another where the lead was defended for 56 minutes after Nelson’s header.
What’s it to be today?
