- Chase’s tenure saw iconic European nights but ended in significant fan friction.
- Departure of Martin O’Neill remains a major sticking point for Norwich supporters.
- Saving the club from bankruptcy makes his complicated legacy difficult to judge.
In part two of our series of Norwich City heroes/villains, things get tricky.
The Nineties was the time when I first remember supporting Norwich City. Despite European success, it seemed to me that Robert Chase was a Mr Burns-like figure.
But was this ire justified? Weighing this up we will see if we can decide if Robert Chase was a Norwich City hero or villain.
A life
Robert Chase died on March 4th 2023. He was chairman of Norwich City between 1985 and 1996.
This time included the iconic moment when Jeremy Goss scored the winning goal against Bayern Munich, the one and only time a British club got a win at the Olympic Stadium.
The clash
It seems strange then that the person in charge during one of the club’s most successful periods would be disliked.
Part of this has been attributed to Chase’s conflict with manager Martin O’Neill. O’Neill wanted more investment in the team and Chase refused to give it to him, resulting in the manager walking out on the club after only six months.
Given O’Neill’s massive success at other clubs (including his current interim stewardship at Celtic), it is fair to say this may be one of the sticking points fans might have had with Chase.
The buyout
Another issue was that despite selling Chris Sutton for a then-record £5 million (as well as major departures such as Efan Ekoku, Robert Fleck and Ruel Fox) it was felt the funds generated were not sufficiently invested in the squad.
It was Geoffrey Watling who stepped in to buy out Chase’s majority shareholding in Norwich City. He then sold his shares to Delia Smith and it is fair to say the rest is history.
Difficult call
When Chase purchased Norwich City, it was said he saved the club from bankruptcy, something that shouldn’t be ignored.
It also can’t be ignored the heights the team reached during the first years of the Premier League.
But this can then be countered with the fact that his approach arguably cost Norwich City a great manager. Then again would the club have been able to fund the changes O’Neill wanted to make without risking its future?
I was prepared to name Chase as a villain given how a lot of people reacted to him when I was growing up around the nineties.
But weighing up what I’ve seen I can’t bring myself to label him that.
Verdict: It’s complicated
