Every second of every game – even for a man of football experience, this Norwich City season was the most special of campaigns for Tim Krul.
The 31-year-old Dutch goalkeeper played a handful of games as Newcastle United won the second tier back in 2009-10 but the scenes this season – both at Villa Park as the Canaries completed their Championship title win and throughout the campaign – have marked this out as something special.
“To play every second, to lift the trophy, to have the promotion at home last week, there are so many meant to be moments – my parents are in the crowd (at Villa Park); I think it’s the best season for me,” beamed Krul, well aware of the fact he arrived at Norwich as a free agent and with injury question marks after some difficult years.
“I finished fifth in the Premier League with Newcastle but to actually lift the trophy is what it’s all about.
“It’s a massive thing for me to play every second. There are a lot of people who wrote me off, and even last summer saying I couldn’t play more than 20 games any more.
“I was so eager to show people that was utter rubbish what they were saying. Every second of every game… This medal means a lot.
MORE: Aston Villa 1-2 Norwich City – How the Canaries claimed the Championship title
“I know we were playing it down when we went up last week, but it meant so much to us to finish off this season top. I think we deserve it. Everybody will look at the home fans here at Aston Villa – they applauded us off and everybody in the league realised we were the deserved champions.
“We’ve been so good all season. So many challenges have been thrown at us and to do it here, at Villa Park. A difficult game – I know they rested few players, but the players who came in wanted to show they were ready as well, so don’t take that for granted.
“The first 10 minutes, I think it was going too well. We went 1-0 up and we missed the sharpness to keep going – and the boss just said at half-time for us to get that sharpness back because against a team like this, you can’t just sit off.
“But we’ve played some great football and I think there were a lot of moments we can learn from for next year – because you can’t just relax. There is no moment like that. And it’s so nice we’ve faced stuff like that for the last few weeks.”
Next up, a final hurrah for the season with Bank Holiday Monday’s parade, civic reception and the small matter of Wesley Hoolahan and Russell Martin’s celebration game at Carrow Road.
“It’s a nice bank holiday weekend for the fans as well, because they’ve been there from the start. They’ve had a rollercoaster few years as well and to stand in front of them with the trophy and on that balcony, that’s what it’s all about.”
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