Ahead of this weekend's Sky Bet Championship opener at home to Millwall, former Canary Kenny Brown spoke to our matchday programme, OTBC, about his time at Carrow Road and at The Den.
Having begun his career at Carrow Road before representing Millwall and later joining the Lions’ coaching staff, Brown is currently academy manager at West Ham United.
While family connections tie Kenny to Norwich City and West Ham, his respect and enthusiasm for Millwall runs equally as strong.
"Of course, I’m proud to have played for both clubs (Norwich City and Millwall) and have great affinity for both," acknowledged Brown.
"I did my apprenticeship at Norwich and made it through to the first team, plus of course I had dad’s long association with the club so there will always be a great affinity for Norwich as it gave it gave me a great grounding for my career.
"I played for Millwall and while I was only there for two seasons, I really enjoyed it – especially the first season.
"I went back to Millwall in a coaching capacity and was head of coaching there for six years, so it is certainly a club I have fond memories of, and I still have friends at the club. I can only ever speak well of Millwall as it has been a big part of my playing and coaching career but equally there is never any forgetting where it all started at Norwich. I class myself as fortunate to have played for both clubs."
Long before making his Canary debut from the bench in a 2-1 victory over Oxford United in November 1986, Brown had become immersed in all things yellow and green from a young age as he watched his father coach and then subsequently manage the Canaries.
"Obviously we moved up from Bournemouth as a family when dad worked with John Bond and I went to school in Thorpe before getting my apprenticeship,” recalled 58-year-old Brown.
"I’d grown up with it and I enjoyed it. I went in at youth team level as one of the first of the YTS trainees – we had a good group and I’m still in touch with a couple of the players now, obviously you can’t keep in contact with everyone but just recently I spoke with Phil Chapple who’s now back at Charlton heading up their recruitment."
You can read our exclusive interview with Kenny in full in our matchday programme against Millwall. You can purchase HERE or from one our vendors on a matchday.
Words: Peter Rogers
