Ahead of this weekend's Sky Bet Championship fixture at home to Middlesbrough, former Canary Keith O'Neill spoke to our matchday programme, OTBC, about his time at both clubs.
With a foot firmly in both camps, former Republic of Ireland international Keith O’Neill has fond memories of representing Norwich and Middlesbrough.
Keith O’Neill certainly picked a good time begin his Norwich City career, the summer of 1992 saw the 16-year-old Dubliner start his apprenticeship with the Canaries.
Suffice to say Norwich City was certainly the place to be in the early 1990s, but for teenage prospect O’Neill, the start to his career could have been entirely different with Norwich having to fend off interest from other clubs who were keen to nurture and develop the young Irishman’s talent.
"Arsenal was the first club I went to as a kid." explained O’Neill.
"I went there regularly on trials and for training in the summer holidays and again at Easter time and Christmas time. When I first arrived in London, I’d never even been on a plane before and it was all quite daunting for a young kid travelling on his own and being without his parents for the first time – it was a big deal, but it was a bit scary," he added.
When not making his trips to north London to hone his skills with the Gunners, O’Neill continued to finish his education while plying his trade within the youth set-up at Home Farm and after an impressive showing in a match against Norwich City, his footballing career suddenly took a different route.
"The way Norwich looked after me from the off was just amazing. It was a nicer place to be, and it just felt like home – I felt safer and every time I went over to Norwich as a kid the sun was shining!
"As things progressed, I just got a better feel at Norwich and felt a lot better about the chances of going through the ranks and getting into the first team at Norwich than I did at Arsenal."
You can read our exclusive interview with Keith in full in our matchday programme against Milddlesbrough. You can purchase HERE or from one our vendors on a matchday.
Words: Peter Rogers
