Information about local Norwich football clubs and football facilities will be posted here.
Norwich is of course the home of the Canaries, Norwich City FC, who play at Carrow road, and who have just celebrated being promoted to the Premier League after winning a promotion trophy. Tens of thousands of Norwich FC fans turned out to celebrate their Premier League promotion parade on May 10, 2011, proving just how popular football is in Norwich. During the season, thousands regularly turn up to see Norwich FC play on Saturdays.
There is also a passion for playing football in Norwich. The council takes care of four five-a-side football pitches and four full-size football pitches. At Sportspark at the University of East Anglia there are more football pitches than anywhere else in East Anglia and a choice between surface and pitch size is available. The four five-a-side football pitches are surrounded by netting and are made of art 3G synthetic grass with rubber crumb. Then there are six Astroturf larger size 7-a-side football pitches, which are floodlit, good for friendly games and training sessions, plus three seven-a-side 3G synthetic grass pitches. The pitches are available for bookings.
The Community Sports Foundation in the area provides a football development programme for children aged 4 to 14. The experienced coaches teach dribbling, passing, control of the ball, heading, match play and goalkeeping, using a variety of training methods. An invitation to a Player Development Centre for girls and boys is a possibility if the standard of the player is high enough. NFCC schools established in 1992 have courses for children across the country for five to fourteen year olds that work in age bands of no more than three years apart. This allows for the most effective soccer training and skills like heading, dribbling and match play are taught as part of a summer camp. Small sides play is done to allow players to show off their talents and a tournament is held at the end of the camp.
Soccer skill centres are weekly training sessions for young footballers. Each week there is taught a different skill in training for small-side matches. There is also a goalkeeping development programme, match nights of small-side games, a mini kicker’s course for four to six year olds. A boy’s Player Development Centre is held by invitation only to those who have learned superior football skills and is based in Norwich. There is a goalkeeping centre in Norwich specifically. These centres can lead onto playing at Norwich City FC Academy and to playing competitively against Ipswich Town, Cambridge United and Colchester United. The Player Development Centre is there to provide a safe and secure environment, understanding of each player’s physical capabilities and a place to improve players’ technical abilities.
If you’re a woman or girl looking to play in the Norwich area the Community Sports Foundation provides play and training for girls aged four to adulthood. Norwich City Ladies is the leading women’s only club in Norwich and plays in the South East Combination League, which is the third tier of national women’s play. The Girls Centre of Excellence programme allows girls to progress their skills from the age of sixteen onwards.
