Position: Left-back/Central defender
Age: 33
Born: Huddersfield (Oct 25, 1971)
Height: 5ft, 8in.
Weight: 11st, 10lbs.
Date signed: July 13, 2004
Signed from: Bolton, £250,000
Contract: June 2006, with further one year option
City debut: v Crystal Palace H (August 14, 2004)
International honours: England Under-18
Former clubs: Huddersfield, Southampton, Birmingham,
Bolton.

Season 2004/05 Appearances (max 41): 26 Goals: 1
Norwich City appearances: 26 Goals: 1

Career:
Huddersfield (89-93): 154 appearances, 3 as sub, 2 goals.
Southampton (93-98): 122 appearances, 15 as sub, 3 goals.
Birmingham (97-00): 75 appearances, plus 3 as sub, 0 goals.
Bolton (00-04): 120 appearances, plus 15 as sub, 0 goals.
Total: 471 appearances, plus 36 as sub, 5 goals.

A regular at the start of the season, the surprise signing started to forge a strong partnership with Craig Fleming in central defence, but a lack of height meant his time there was limited as the taller Gary Doherty and Jason Shackell were preferred. Charlton’s experience proved vital at certain points of the season, and he scored an excellent goal against Portsmouth.

Looked the most impressive of City's summer signings during the early part of the season – whether it be alongside Fleming in the centre of defence or as Drury's replacement at left-back. Was unlucky to lose his place after being played out of position in the 3-0 drubbing at Blackburn and only featured as a substitute after that. It was a shame to see Charlton on the sidelines because he had done a good solid job for the Canaries before disappearing from the scene.

Verdict: An excellent professional, who can fill a number of positions in defence, Charlton would be an asset to the Canaries in Division One. But with a first team place far from guaranteed will he want to hang around? Another difficult one to predict.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS:

Simon Charlton talks about his footballing first steps.

First footballing memory: Watching Huddersfield Town in action when I was a kid.

First match attended: It would have been a Huddersfield match at their old Leeds Road ground.

First footballing hero: At national level it was Kenny Dalglish – he really was the king. At Huddersfield it was Steve Kindon, an old-style centre forward who didn’t take any prisoners.

First team played for: Skelmanthorpe, which is just outside Huddersfield.

First team played for (pro): Huddersfield Town.

League debut: A 0-0 draw at Brentford during the 1989-90 season. I was only 17 at the time and it was a big moment for me when I was brought on as a substitute. The one thing I remember about the game is getting back to clear a goal-bound effort off the line. The manager congratulated me afterwards for saving a point for the side – that meant a lot to a youngster just starting out in the game.

First manager: The man who thanked me that day, Eoin Hand, who is probably best known for managing the Republic of Ireland.

First captain: Peter Jackson, who is now in his second spell as manager at Huddersfield.

First goal: It was a free-kick for Huddersfield that somehow found the back of the net and is one of just three to date. I’m not exactly a prolific scorer! I’d rather talk about the opening goal I scored for Southampton against Manchester United in a game we ended up losing 2-1. My dad was going to have a £5 wager on me being the first scorer at odds of 66-1 but couldn’t find anywhere at Old Trafford to place a bet. He wasn’t best pleased afterwards!

First honour: I represented England at under-18 level and was also part of the FA’s School of Excellence at Lilleshall. I was there with people like Ian Walker, Trevor Sinclair and Andy Cole.