Commons: Happy memories of playing against Norwich
By: Laura Brannan on 23 Jul, 2012 07:42
THE visit of Norwich City this Tuesday (July 24) will bring back some special memories for Kris Commons, who enjoyed some of his earliest footballing moments against the Premiership side.
Back when Commons was a teenager trying to establish himself in the top-flight of the game in England, he made a massive impact for his side, Stoke City, by scoring against Norwich in a Championship match.
He´s now looking forward to welcoming the Canaries to Celtic Park for the first pre-season fixture in Paradise, and expects a difficult test in the process.
"I always remember playing against them when I was at Stoke City, as a kid, especially because my first ever professional goal was against them," he told the official Celtic website. "I was 17 at the time and we were in the Championship.
"I picked the ball up just beyond the halfway line and played a little one-two with the forward and slid it into the bottom corner.
"Norwich were always a big team when they were in the Championship. They were always up there fighting for promotion so this was a big deal for me. I´ll never forget playing against them."
Commons was one of the older and more established squad members to travel down to Carrow Road in May this year for Adam Drury´s testimonial, and he enjoyed the experience, despite the 2-0 defeat.
He witnessed the fans form a friendship that evening and considering the ties which already existed between the clubs, he wasn’t surprised to see the good feelings spill out to the stands.
"It was nice to go down there and play that game for Adam Drury in his testimonial," he continued. "There was already a connection because of the two managers - Paul Lambert was at Norwich at the time and then Neil Lennon obviously, both being ex-team-mates, but it was nice to form an even stronger bond that night.
"The fans were magnificent the whole way through the game and I think both sets responded to each other well."
Norwich proved to be difficult opponents for Celtic then, and considering their impressive 12th place finish in the Premiership they will be looking to do just as well, if not better, this year.
Commons knows they will be coming to Celtic Park on a mission to prepare for what lies ahead under their new management, and believes the Hoops will have to be on their toes.
"It was good to play Premiership opposition and Norwich proved they are no easy pushover in the top division," he said. "It will be another good test for us and another good indication as to where we are in terms of preparation.
"We have a lot of big games coming up and this is definitely one of the big ones. People will earmark Inter Milan and Real Madrid but Norwich is another massive one.
"I´m not going to look at any and say one is going to be harder than another. They will all be big tests for us."
Celtic's pre-season match with Norwich City is at Celtic Park this Tuesday, July 24 (KO: 7.45pm).
The match against Norwich City is a season ticket game but match tickets are on general sale, priced £15 for adults and £5 for concessions.
Tickets can be purchased online, by calling 0871 226 1888* or by visiting the Celtic Ticket Office.
Tickets are also available in the following Celtic retail outlets: Argyle Street, Sauchiehall Street, Clydebank, Coatbridge, East Kilbride
Season tickets are available and can be purchased by visiting the Ticket Office or calling 0871 226 1888* and choose option 1, option 2
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EMAIL: homematches@celticfc.co.uk
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