Goalkeeper Joe Lewis is a Norfolk born and bred Norwich City fan – and admits the thought of ever leaving his boyhood favourites never crossed his mind.

That was until Peterborough United came calling – and Lewis departed Carrow Road without ever having played a senior game.

Now 32, Lewis has found home at Aberdeen, where he is captain of the Scottish Premier League club – not something he envisaged back in January, 2008.

“I am a Norwich fan, still am, and coming through Norwich, in my head all I ever wanted to do was play for Norwich - sign for Norwich, play for Norwich, play for Norwich for my whole career, and that is probably the naive outlook I had on it,” said Lewis, a former pupil at Bungay High School.

Lewis had come through the ranks at City and regarded loan spells at Stockport and Morecambe as part of his natural progression into first team contention .

“When I was going out on loan it was all part of my process towards getting into the Norwich first team and establishing myself there and then, all of a sudden, it doesn’t happen.”

Peterborough were ready to pay a club record £400,000 for Lewis who admits, in an interview with PoshTV, that he wasn’t prepared for what was to come.

“The reality kicked in – very few footballers stay at one club and then I found myself in a situation where there as a bid accepted for me, just like that – no talk of it, no build-up and then you have a few days to decide what you are going to do,” he said. “It wasn’t something I was ready for, or expecting to have to make that decision - but, when I sat down and thought about it and realising my opportunities at Norwich were going to be limited, there was no better move for me in terms of Peterborough ... not knowing a lot about the club but just looking from the outside before I signed, thinking it is a club that is ambitious, really positive, a lot of good noises throughout.”

Lewis made 167 league appearances for Posh, helped them to promotion to League One months after his arrival and then up to the Championship a year later – a feat they repeated in 2010. He joined Cardiff – then managed by former Norwich City defender Malky Mackay - in 2010 before moving to Aberdeen four years ago.