Global Canaries Day

Global Canaries Day

In readiness for International Canaries Day, the Trust has been catching up with several of our amazing international fan groups to get their latest news and views. We are particularly pleased that some of the far flung groups will have members actually in attendance at Carrow Road this season, so give them an extra loud cheer as they march past in the traditional half time parade.

Brazilian CanariesThe Brazilian Canaries are back at Carrow Road! Lucas La Torre, the founder of the group has managed to bring Francisco, Janaina and André together for the trip to Norwich. Lucas stated: "This will be our first time together in real life. There is no better place than Carrow Road for that!". Francisco is in a celebratory mood and says: "I'm really happy that my dream to come to Carrow Road is real now!" and André concluded: "It will be very special to share this moment with my friends".

Greek Canaries

Greek Canaries are a relatively new group and leader, Fanis Alexandris cannot personally attend this year but four of their members will be prodly marching with their club flag.

Fanis states: ‘Regarding this season, we believe that it is a transitional period in many areas for the team both on and off the pitch and that we should keep the positives and develop them while improving any weaknesses should be a priority for next season. Certainly, returning to the Premier League is something that all of us who love this Team want, but we must be as ready as possible in order to avoid an experience like the one we had last time’.

This year we certainly did not have the stability we would like and many times, despite the distance we have, we felt the disappointment of the fans for the fact that we may have had a victory in our hands but in the end did not get the three points.

Above all, we cannot fail to give credit to the team's fans who have been to every stadium where the team played this season.

Italian Canaries

Roberto Bergonzi writes: The season may not have been brilliant with results but the passion is still the same. Exciting victories made us dream. Ruinous falls have not made us lose the desire to follow our colours. You win or you lose but we are forever Yellows!

Our own lineup will be full. From Bergamo we will all be present, in Norwich we will meet our other Italian friends from other parts of Italy.. Now we look forward to repeating the half-time parade. The audience applause we received last year is still in our hearts. We will bring new ‘gadgets’, strictly in Italian style! OTBC!

Syrian Canaries

We managed to catch up with Ali Zirtat: ‘We are fine, things are gradually getting better. Due to the recent circumstances we've been through before and are going through now, we currently cant hold any fan activities or gatherings. We can't even watch the team's matches, live.

For the past fourteen years, war has been causing great suffering for Syrian citizens. Injustice, corruption, poverty and displacement have prevailed. The Assad regime and his family, who were in power for over fifty years, committed these acts by practicing dictatorship, sectarianism and by stealing the vast majority of resources and money from the Syrian people.

December 8th 2024 will be a date that Syrians will never forget as it marks the moment when the criminal regime of Al-Assad left the Country, leaving behind a land that had been heavily violated by war. As of now, we have fresh, renewed optimism fuelled by our belief that Syria will experience a better future thanks to the efforts of Syrians who have demonstrated unity and love over recent years. The rebuilding of the Country will take a significant amount of time, but I am sure that we, the people, will persevere and prevail.

.

We were able to overcome the incredibly difficult circumstances we faced and to forget about the pain this all caused, thankfully due to several factors. Norwich City’s increasing care and contact is perhaps the most intriguing example. We have been following the Team with love and passion ever since we founded Syrian Canaries in 2019, receiving a lot of love and support from our friends at the Canaries Trust as well as the Club itself.

As part of our renewed optimism, we really do hope to be able to visit Carrow Road to watch a game live for the very first time and to be able to meet the players and fans – this remains one of our biggest dreams. We fully believe in the Norwich fans, especially those that showed us so much love and generosity in 2022 with the

Trust’s ‘Shirts for Syria’ campaign. As things recently stood and with support from the Club and the Trust, we were hoping that a few of us would be able to travel to England to attend the Global Canaries weekend at the end of the season. Unfortunately, the necessary bureaucratic systems in our respective countries were not yet ready to mobilise in this new more positive environment. We now hope to visit  next season!

There will be many things to organise ranging from travel visas, flights and accommodation to ensuring the Syrian Canaries flag is replaced with new Syrian flag as its background. This will allow us to proudly parade this around the pitch at the end of next seaon, hopefully sharing celebrations of promotion and to be able to say ‘thank you’, in person to all the fans that supported us when things were so difficult.

As fans of our beloved Team, we note that they are not at their best so far this season. However, we see this as ‘normal’ given the amount of change at the Club. We have to remain patient and give the Club more time to develop and be able to sustain its rightful place back in the Premier League.

NIYP

The Trust is proud to be growing its support the Norwich International Youth Project (NIYP) which is an independent, small charity, based in the centre of Norwich and  supports young asylum-seekers and refugees (11-25 years-old) in Norfolk. Established in 2002, they continue to welcome young people from over twenty different countries across the World. Our young people usually arrive in Norfolk after an incredibly difficult journey, without any family or friends. They arrive without knowing anyone, and face loneliness, language barriers and poor mental health. At NIYP, they address these issues by providing a familial-like environment for these isolated young people, through a weekly youth group, where young people help  cook a shared meal, play sports, games and do creative activities. We also hold fun and friendly English classes, and run an annual activity programme including wellbeing workshops, beach trips and a yearly residential! Our staff and group of dedicated volunteers also provide one-to-one individual support on a wide range of issues, such as employment, housing, money and health. All their work is centred round the values of: community, integration, wellbeing and education. We hope to be able to get a group of the NIYP members to join the half time parade today, so please give them a warm welcome and help nurture some future Norwich fans!

AmeriCanaries

Marc Foster tells us: ‘It’s been a fairly quiet season for the AmeriCanaries, in some ways matching the fate of Norwich City. Like Norwich City our fortunes have risen and fallen with the health of our hero Josh Sargent. When he hits the floor we collectively hold our breath, not only for the fate of Norwich but for the US National Team as well.

The growth of the AmeriCanaries remains slow and steady, increasing about 40 in the past year. Our number hovers around 670, representing 44 of the 50 states, lacking just Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Rhode Island, and Wyoming. States with the largest memberships include Michigan (52), California (51), Texas (46), New York (38), and Florida (28).

Though International Canaries Day is today, we’ve had several supporters make it over for games already this season. The early announcement for the match is nonetheless much appreciated, and with any luck our brethren will be well-represented.  I regret not making the trip myself. As a middle/high school soccer coach, I have little control of my team’s schedule, and alas we have a tournament this weekend.

Here’s to a great end of the season, a productive summer transfer window where Norwich keeps Josh Sargent, and the renewed hope of a great season come August’!

Japan Canaries

Shunsuke Tomii runs Canaries Japan and is a Norwich City fan base in Tokyo, Japan. They have about 2000 followers.

Our aim is to increase the number of Norwich City fans in Japan by posting Norwich-related articles as well as match reports in Japanese. We meet once a year in different locations in Japan as well as organising some match events with others from the EFL fan base.

This has been the first season for the ‘all-new’ Canaries. It’s been a bit of a frustrating season as we often score first but cant kill the game off. Still, It’s a joy to see young players starting to make an impact in a game and there is so much potential in this team ready for next season!

Canaries of the Great Lakes

Mattew Conti writes: ‘I would absolutely love to visit Norwich and of course Carrow Road...it's not on the cards for me this season - but hopefully in the near future. Definitely a bucket list item for me!

Great Lakes Canaries are steady in membership, though admittedly I have noticed interest 

does wane a bit when the lads aren't in the Premiership, as it takes more effort to stay as involved in a longer season that's not as accessible on television in the ‘States. 

That said, after last season's ‘P6’ and promotion playoffs we had hopes for more of the same in 24/25. With a new head coach, a lot of unknowns. A decent stretch early on got our hopes up - but then sinking back down the table made a recovery into the top 6 a tough task. Very excited to see how well Borja Sainz has played - and of course we still love our boy Josh. Now, hoping for a strong finish, good health-and good vibes going into next season. 

As our group is spread across a large geographic area - our group of AmeriCanaries has not been able to meet in-person for a couple years - and even when we do, it will always be a lot of travel for some. Facebook and text messaging helps keep us chatting though. OTBC!