When a large fire destroyed portions of Norwich City Football Club’s Carrow Road stadium forty years ago, football

fans remembered how distraught they were.

Supporter Kathy Blake of the Canaries Trust said she was “really upset” to see one of its stands left half-demolished.

The fire, which broke out at around 3:30 on October 25, 1984, did not injure anyone. The Canaries had to utilise a

three-sided stadium for the following two years as a result of the millions of pounds of damage it caused.

The ancient stand that smelt of “freshly-mown grass, cigar smoke, and embrocation” was something that Ms. Blake

claimed to be “fond” of.

The club’s 700 seats, boardroom, trophies, and changing areas were all inside the City Stand when the fire broke out

in the middle of the structure.

The 1930s stand was well alight when crews arrived. It spread over the whole of the ground, but up to 40 firefighters

were able to halt it.

When Bob Ledwidge, a freelance journalist from Norwich, received a call from the BBC in London, he was

dispatched to cover the fire for the Breakfast Time program.

“I have a vivid memory of holding my breath and running the length of the stand in order to meet my camera crew at the other end,” he said.

“Carrow Road was hemmed-in by industrial buildings in those days, and the narrow road behind the stand was the

only way I could get through from the Thorpe end of the stadium to the River End.”

An electrical malfunction was identified as the fire’s cause.

After inadvertently leaving an electric heater turned on in the stand the previous evening, former club staffer Dick

Cann admitted to the BBC in 2004 that he might have been at fault.

Nonetheless, the club claimed that the “world has moved on” and that the episode was “now of historical interest”.

“Really upset to see what had happened to my football ground,” Ms. Blake recounted.

Her words, “I was very fond of that stand,”

There was a scent to it, a mix of cigar smoke, newly cut grass, and embrocation. And I believe I would be transported

back in time if I could smell that scent now.”

Another Canaries Trust member, Lorraine Taylor, stated: “What was in that stand felt like a loss. since the directors

were there, it was the main stand, and everything.”

The stand was left structurally unsafe and a replacement stand was ready for the 1986-87 season, now known as the Geoffrey Watling Stand.

Greg Downs, a footballer for the club at the time, said playing to only three sides of fans caused an unusual atmosphere.

“It was a bit of a weird feeling when you went out there, because you’re so used to being enclosed,” he said.

“We would come out and it’s like, that feels a bit weird – there’s no noise coming from that side.”