Norwich City return to action on Friday night after their summer break.
The first pre-season game ahead of the new Premier League campaign will be along the A47 at King’s Lynn Town (7pm), managed by former City player and assistant manager Ian Culverhouse.
The match is already a sell-out, with all 1,600 tickets in a restricted attendance snapped up0.
For the City fans, it will be the first opportunity they get to applaud their heroes for last season’s efforts, which saw City finish top of the Championship.
And it will be the first time any fans have seen them ‘in the flesh’ since the Canaries home game against Cardiff in December, when 2,000 fans were allowed inside Carrow Road, where Covid restrictions were still in place.
City have yet to name their squad for tonight’s trip, but a number of first team players are expected to feature.
Their Euro 2020 players - Teemu Pukki, Tim Krul, Grant Hanley and Przemysław Placheta - may be given some extra time to recover from their summer commitments. Billy Gilmour is unlikely to make an appearance while Pierre Lees-Melou only flew into the country on Thursday. But goalkeeper Angus Gunn could well make his second Canaries 'debut'.
It is game one of a summer schedule that includes a mix of fixtures behind closed doors and open to the public.
Next week, City play Lincoln City, on Tuesday, and then have two matches against Huddersfield Town on Friday – all at Colney and all behind closed doors.
That’s followed by a game against Championship side Coventry City on Wednesday, July 28, at Chesterfield and then a trip to Bramall Lane to play relegated Sheffield United on Saturday July 31.
The first home game will be on Tuesday August 3 against Gillingham, with a trip to Premier League rivals Newcastle United on Saturday August 7.
Those games are open to fans, but it’s the Gillingham game that will be of most interest to City supporters. The club say an update on whether fans can attend the match will be made in line with continued government guidance. If the gates are opened, it could be City’s biggest home gate since the Premier League game against Leicester City way back in February, 2020, when a crowd of 27,010 saw the Canaries win 1-0.
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