Norwich City F.C. Player of the Year

For a list of all Norwich City players with a Wikipedia article, see Category:Norwich City F.C. players. For the current Norwich City first-team squad, see Norwich City F.C.#First-team squad.

Iwan Roberts, who won the award twice.

The Norwich City player of the year award is voted for annually by Norwich City's supporters, in recognition of the best overall performance by an individual player throughout the football season.^[1] As a mark of respect, the trophy is named The Barry Butler memorial trophy after the club captain who was killed in a car accident on 9 April 1966.^[2]

This is the more prestigious of just two awards made by Norwich City itself each year to its players, the other being the 'Young Player of the Year' accolade.^[3] The 2003–04 winner Craig Fleming made clear just how important this award is to Norwich City players, "It is something you dream of winning... it is such a prestigious award".^[4] Other awards available are awarded by other bodies, namely the Capital Canaries, Norwich City Independent Supporters Association and the "Ambassador Club".^[5]

Since the inaugural award was made to Terry Allcock, eight players have won the award twice, most recently Grant Holt in 2010 and 2011.^{[citation needed]} World Cup winner Martin Peters was the first to win the trophy in consecutive seasons, a feat since emulated by strikers Kevin Drinkell and Iwan Roberts, as well as Holt.^[6] Just two winners have gone on to manage the club, Dave Stringer,^[7] the 1972 winner, and double-winner Bryan Gunn.

Voting mechanism

This award is voted for by the fans of the club. Toward the end of the season, fans are invited to vote, either by submitting a paper slip to the club's Carrow Road offices, or by email or text message, with the winner being the player that polls the most votes.^[8] A percentage of the votes from the 'Player of the Month' awards throughout the season also count towards the final votes for Player of the year.^[8]

List of winners

      Norwich City F.C. Hall of Fame inductee^[9]
Player name in bold text represents players still on the playing staff of the club

Season	Level[nb 1]	Name[10]	Position[nb 2]	Nationality	Caps[nb 3]	Notes
1967	2	Allcock, TerryTerry Allcock	Defender[nb 4]	England		Inaugural winner.
1968	2	Curran, HughHugh Curran	Striker	Scotland	5
1969	2	Foggo, KenKen Foggo	Winger	Scotland
1970	2	Forbes, DuncanDuncan Forbes	Defender	Scotland
1971	2	Foggo, KenKen Foggo	Winger	Scotland		Second award.
1972	2	Stringer, DaveDave Stringer	Defender	England		Went on to manage the club, 1987-1992.[11]
1973	1	Keelan, KevinKevin Keelan	Goalkeeper	England		First goalkeeper to win the award, and retained it the following year.
1974	1	Keelan, KevinKevin Keelan	Goalkeeper	England[nb 5]		Second award.
1975	2	Suggett, ColinColin Suggett	Midfielder	England
1976	1	Peters, MartinMartin Peters	Midfielder	England	67
1977	1	Peters, MartinMartin Peters	Midfielder	England	67	Second award.
1978	1	Ryan, JohnJohn Ryan	Winger	England
1979	1	Powell, TonyTony Powell	Defender	England
1980	1	Bond, KevinKevin Bond	Defender	England		No voting for award this year
1981	1	Royle, JoeJoe Royle	Striker	England	6
1982	2	Downs, GregGreg Downs	Defender	England
1983	1	Watson, DaveDave Watson	Defender	England	12
1984	1	Woods, ChrisChris Woods	Goalkeeper	England	43
1985	1	Bruce, SteveSteve Bruce	Defender	England		Won the award in his first season with Norwich, who were Football League Cup winners but suffered relegation to the Second Division.
1986	2	Drinkell, KevinKevin Drinkell	Striker	England		Won the award in his first season with Norwich, who were promoted back to the First Division as Second Division champions.
1987	1	Drinkell, KevinKevin Drinkell	Striker	England		Second award. His goals helped newly promoted Norwich finished fifth in the First Division.
1988	1	Gunn, BryanBryan Gunn	Goalkeeper	Scotland	6
1989	1	Gordon, DaleDale Gordon	Midfielder	England
1990	1	Bowen, MarkMark Bowen	Defender	Wales	35
1991	1	Culverhouse, IanIan Culverhouse	Defender	England
1992	1	Fleck, RobertRobert Fleck	Striker	Scotland	4
1993	1	Gunn, BryanBryan Gunn	Goalkeeper	Scotland	6	Second award.
1994	1	Sutton, ChrisChris Sutton	Striker[nb 6]	England	1
1995	2	Newsome, JonJon Newsome	Defender	England
1996	2	Prior, SpencerSpencer Prior	Defender	England
1997	2	Eadie, DarrenDarren Eadie	Winger	England
1998	2	Jackson, MattMatt Jackson	Defender	England
1999	2	Roberts, IwanIwan Roberts	Striker	Wales	15
2000	2	Roberts, IwanIwan Roberts	Striker	Wales	15	Second award. Consecutive wins for first time since 1987.
2001	2	Marshall, AndyAndy Marshall	Goalkeeper	England
2002	2	Holt, GaryGary Holt	Midfielder	Scotland	10
2003	2	Drury, AdamAdam Drury	Defender	England		Longest-standing award winner still with club.
2004	2	Fleming, CraigCraig Fleming	Defender	England
2005	1	Huckerby, DarrenDarren Huckerby	Striker / Winger	England
2006	2	Doherty, GaryGary Doherty	Defender[nb 7]	Ireland	34	First non-British winner.
2007	2	Huckerby, DarrenDarren Huckerby	Striker / Winger	England		Second award.
2008	2	Dublin, DionDion Dublin	Striker / Defender	England	4	The oldest winner at the age of 39; retired at end of season.[12]
2009	2	Croft, LeeLee Croft	Midfielder / Winger	England
2010	3	Holt, GrantGrant Holt	Striker	England		Won the award in his first season with Norwich, who sealed promotion to the Championship as League One champions.
2011	2	Holt, GrantGrant Holt	Striker	England		Second award for the player, whose goals helped Norwich reach the Premier League with a second successive promotion as Championship runners-up.

Summary of wins by playing position

Holt's achievements from midfield in 2001–2 were also recognised with the Capital Canaries Player of the Season award

Position[nb 8]	Number of winners[nb 9]
Goalkeeper	6
Defender	16
Midfielder	7
Forward[nb 10]	14

Summary of wins by nationality

Nationality	Number of winners[nb 9]
English	31
Irish	1
Scottish	8
Welsh	3

Footnotes

1. ^ The official "Level" of competition in the structure of the English league system.
2. ^ For a full description of positions see Football Positions.
3. ^ If blank, uncapped at full international level.
4. ^ By this point in his career, the former forward was playing at "half-back".
5. ^ Keelan was born in India, of English parents.
6. ^ Played some games in defence, but scored 28 goals in all competitions and was then sold to Blackburn Rovers for a then national record fee of £5million.
7. ^ Also played some games as a striker.
8. ^ Doherty has been classed as a defender, Sutton as a striker, Allcock as a defender.
9. ^ ^{a b} Multiple winners are counted multiple times.
10. ^ Includes strikers and wingers.

References

1. ^ "PLAYER OF THE YEAR". canaries.co.uk. 27 April 2007. http://www.canaries.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetails/0,,10355~1017653,00.html. Retrieved 2007-10-03. 
2. ^ Eastwood, John; Mike Davage (1986). Canary Citizens. Almeida Books. p. 107. ISBN 0711720207. "As a mark of permanent respect..." 
3. ^ "Roll up for the end of the year show". The Pink 'Un. 5 May 2007. http://new.pinkun.com/search/story.aspx?brand=PINKUNOnline&category=DavidCuffley&itemid=NOED05%20May%202007%2014:44:47:243&tBrand=PINKUNOnline&tCategory=search. Retrieved 2007-10-03. "Top honour, of course, was the Barry Butler Memorial Trophy for player of the year." 
4. ^ "FLEMING HONOURED TO WIN AWARD". canaries.co.uk. 7 November 2004. http://www.canaries.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetails/0,,10355~520356,00.html. Retrieved 2007-10-03. 
5. ^ "HUCKS ON A HAT-TRICK". canaries.co.uk. 4 May 2007. http://www.canaries.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetails/0,,10355~1018999,00.html. Retrieved 2007-10-03. 
6. ^ "Player of the Season - The Barry Butler Memorial Trophy". On The Ball, City. http://www.otbc.co.uk/pots.asp. Retrieved 2007-09-11. 
7. ^ "Dave Stringer's managerial career". Soccerbase. http://www.soccerbase.com/managers2.sd?managerid=333. Retrieved 2007-10-15. 
8. ^ ^{a b} "Race is on for Barry Butler trophy". The Pink 'Un. 16 March 2006. http://new.pinkun.com/search/story.aspx?brand=PINKUNOnline&category=Norwich&itemid=NOED15%20Mar%202006%2019:06:50:843&tBrand=PINKUNOnline&tCategory=search. Retrieved 2007-10-03. 
9. ^ "Canary stats - Norwich City Hall of Fame". Eastern Daily Press. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. http://web.archive.org/web/20070927172948/http://www.edp24.co.uk/Content/Sport/CanaryCentenary/HallofFame.asp. Retrieved 2007-10-09. 
10. ^ "Player of the Season 1967-2007". canaries.co.uk. http://www.canaries.premiumtv.co.uk/page/History/0,,10355~1132064,00.html. Retrieved 2007-10-12. 
11. ^ "Dave Stringer's managerial career". soccerbase.com. http://www.soccerbase.com/managers2.sd?managerid=333. Retrieved 2007-10-15. 
12. ^ "Tearful Dublin in Carrow farewell". BBC Online. 2008-04-28. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/n/norwich/7370902.stm. Retrieved 2008-01-05.