Norwich City hit the jackpot with £400k deal: View.
Norwich City found themselves in a rather challenging position back in the summer of 2009.
For the first time in 49 years, the Canaries found themselves facing the prospect of playing in the third-tier of English football, after relegation from the Championship the previous campaign.
After such a drastic fall, it is perhaps no surprise that the summer transfer window was a busy one at Carrow Road, with a whole raft of players departing the club.
Meanwhile, plenty more were brought in to try and help Norwich secure an immediate promotion back to the Championship in the 2009/10.
In some cases, the club would invest in transfer fees in order to bring in new recruits, and one such signing that came into that category, was Grant Holt.
Grant Holt joined Norwich after prolfic League Two spell
Late July 2009 saw the Canaries complete the signing of Holt from Shrewsbury Town, reportedly paying £400,000 to bring the striker to Carrow Road.
The previous campaign had seen him score 28 goals in 51 appearances in all competitions for Shrewsbury, as they missed out on promotion from League Two after defeat in the play-off final.
At the age of 28, Holt had already been around by the time he arrived at Norwich, having already represented 11 clubs at senior level before making this move.
Indeed, he has rarely stayed at any of those teams for more than two seasons in a row, before moving on to pastures new.
With his move to Carrow Road though, Holt certainly seemed to find a home where he could settle and thrive, for a bit longer at least.
Grant Holt thrived for the Canaries
The striker’s debut for Norwich was something of a baptism of fire, as his new side were thrashed 7-1 by Colchester United at Carrow Road on the opening day of the 2009/10 season.
That would lead to the sacking of manager Bryan Gunn, who was replaced by Paul Lambert, who left his role with Colchester to take charge of the Canaries.
Holt meanwhile, netted a hat-trick in a 4-0 thrashing of Yeovil Town in the first round of the League Cup to give Norwich some hope going forward.
He would also score a brace in Lambert’s first official game in charge – a 5-2 win over Wycombe Wanderers – to get his reign off to the perfect start with a first league victory of the campaign.
The striker continued to score throughout the course of the campaign, with 30 goals in 44 appearances in all competitions.
That included 24 in League One, many of which helped the club to some vital wins that ensured they secured an immediate promotion back to the Championship as title winners.
It was no surprise to therefore see Holt claim Norwich’s Player of the Year award, and he would continue his form the following campaign in emphatic fashion.
That step-up to the Championship certainly held no issues for the striker, or the club as a whole, as they stormed to a second consecutive promotion, with Holt again at the heart of it.
The striker scored 23 goals in all competitions to help them to a second place finish, a number of those goals again proving vital to some big wins.
Most memorable will no doubt have been the hat-trick he scored in the 4-1 thrashing of local rivals Ipswich Town.
