Canary Account raises nearly £290,000

Norwich City Football Club has netted nearly £290,000 this season - and more than £2m since 1997 - thanks to fantastic saves from fans.

The money has been raised through Norwich and Peterborough Building Society's Canary Account scheme.

At Saturday's game against Watford, N&P operations director Martyn Willgress presented the soccer club with a cheque for a record £289,481.

N&P's 6ft-tall moggy mascot, Splat the Cat, and the club's Cap-tain Canary were on hand to help.

By holding a Canary Account, season ticket holders renewing their ticket for next season in the Norwich and Peterborough Stand can claim 5pc off the price and, new for this year, account holders in other stands can claim 2pc off if they renew before March 31.

N&P's Canary Account was launched in June 1997 and pays a cash bonus to the club each year as well as offering benefits to fans.

The cash sum Norwich City receives from the building society is equivalent to 1pc of the average total balance held in the account during the previous 12 months. Saturday's cheque brought the total handed over to £2,084,051.

Mr Willgress, a lifelong Canaries' fan, said: “We're delighted with how well the Canary Account is working for fans and for the club. This is illustrated today with the highest ever payment made to Norwich City, taking the total to over £2m. This really highlights what a special relationship the club has with its supporters - and long may it continue!”

Norwich City's director of sales and marketing, Andrew Cullen, said: “Today's cheque takes the total raised to date to over £2m and we cannot thank enough both the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society and our supporters for their outstanding support for the Canary Account.

“The club's successful relationship with Norwich and Peterborough Building Society now stretches back over 13 years, making it one of the longest established sponsorship partnerships in UK football. We are looking forward to working with N&P for many more years to come.”

Canary Account holders are offered easy access to their money without notice or loss of interest. They are also entitled to one free standard mortgage valuation when applying for a mortgage with N&P, once the account has been held for six months or more.