Canary Challenge November Update

What’s in a name, boi?

Well well well, who’d have thought it? Four wins on the bounce! What a brilliant week for our loyal away fans – 1,650 at Derby and a sold-out allocation at Bristol City, and nine goals in two games with two clean sheets. We move into the November international break in good heart and good shape; apparently we’ve got the same number of points as on Boxing Day last year, with seven games to go before our Boxing Day fixture.

I’m very fond of the Canary Challenge started by our esteemed Secretary back in the mists of time. It’s a unique competition, and though plenty of pundits make their predictions before the season starts, the Canary Challenge format keeps teams accumulating points and assessing performances throughout the season – maybe more about that in the Christmas update.

One aspect I admire is the inventiveness of our entrants in dreaming up their team names. Some quote – or, indeed, misquote – song lyrics; ‘24 minutes from Tulsa’ is surely a misquote of the Gene Pitney classic.

As ever there’s a good selection of names based on players’ names, including Makama Chameleon, Mcleansweep, MacDougall’s Risers and Mario’s Left Foot – and probably my favourite this year, Gone Fishering. As ever, our current manager appears in a few: St Clement and King Phil of Norwich.

Some team names are a play on words, my favourites this season being Real Ale Madrid, Paderborner Dreaming, Split Infinitives United, Currant Account and Give Me Hope Joe Hannah. Others are almost philosophical, with ‘Introduction to Finality’ and ‘No I in Wymondham’ making me smile. Some go for literary references: Alice Through the Looking Glass is a CS Lewis reference, and Infernal Grass Combing Lubbers comes from Treasure Island, I believe.

It’s good to see the name ‘Hathor’ this year. Hathor is the pride of the Wherry Yacht Charter Trust’s fleet, and is usually based at How Hill during the summer. Who doesn’t love a wherry? Staying with the regional theme, we have Kett’s Rebels, Cockney Lass and Kernow’s Army.

Then there are the just plain daft ones, like Tena Lady, All Legs No Brain, Free Parking, Drop A Gear And Disappear, Mad Cat Woman of Reepham and Nappy Birthday, but I think they’re all great.

After 15 games the top of the Canary Challenge has moved on, with a clear 80-point difference between the top and bottom. The top four are:

1st Kernow’s Army (91)

2nd Nappy Birthday (80)

3rd Faye Kett (74)

4th Gone Fishering (71)

As ever the full weekly table is published here https://www.canariestrust.org/canary-challenge

We’d like to thank Acorn Wealth Management for sponsoring this year’s first prize of £250, and the anonymous donors who’ve sponsored the second and third prizes of £100 and £50 respectively.

Most of our fundraising is used to help support the Community Sports Foundation and the brilliant work they do. You’ll find Canaries Trust members volunteering at the Supporters Hub on matchdays, so do come over and say hello if you see us.

If you didn’t enter this season’s Challenge and you’d like to help us raise funds, you can enter our monthly On The Draw City (OTDC) competition, with two cash prizes every month and additional exclusive prizes donated by the club every six months. OTDC entry details are here: https://www.canariestrust.org/on-the-draw-city