Carrow Road at 80: how Norwich built ‘eighth wonder of the world’ in 81 days

Norwich City abandoned their Nest stadium in 1935 amid safety concerns and broke it up to help construct a new ground. West Ham were the first visitors and this week return for a friendly to mark Carrow Road’s 80th birthday

Between 1908 and 1935, Norwich City plied their trade at a ground called The Nest. A more appropriate name for the home of the Canaries there could not have been. The Nest was a singular venue, even by the gloriously idiosyncratic standards of yesteryear. It was wedged where a football ground really had no business being, into a disused chalk pit formerly known as Rump’s Hole. Which again, in titular terms, was not too far wide of the mark.

The Nest was a cramped, ramshackle midden. This is not to say it didn’t have oodles of character, and wasn’t blessed with a certain period charm. But an architectural triumph it was not. Space surrounding the pitch was at a premium. Terraces and stands were erected at freeform angles, vying for space with houses and steep banks, squeezed into whatever gaps were available. Running alongside one portion of the pitch was a 50-foot high concrete retaining wall. Behind the wall, a cliff. On top of the cliff, a precariously positioned terrace. It was singular all right.

Related: Liverpool’s Andre Wisdom close to joining Norwich on a season-long loan

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