Former Norwich City striker Viv Busby has died aged 74.

Busby played for Norwich between 1976 and 1977 after leaving the Cottagers, where he played a key role in their run to the FA Cup Final in 1975 alongside England World Cup winning captain Bobby Moore. 

After scoring 38 goals in 143 appearances at Craven Cottage, he joined Norwich where he scored 11 goals in his opening 18 matches at Carrow Road. 

That run of goalscoring form included a fine hat-trick over Leicester City in a 3-2 win in the First Division under John Bond. He played 26 games in total for the Canaries before moving to Stoke after falling out of favour and frustration with injuries.  

City turned to Busby to replace Ted McDougall after he moved to Southampton, and he required some convincing to move to Carrow Road, as he explained in 2020.

“I wondered what I’d done wrong. Alec didn’t mess about, he said that Bondy (John Bond) had been on to him and that Norwich were interested in signing me as they needed a striker to replace Ted MacDougall.

“I wasn’t interested in moving and said so. I was happy at Fulham and didn’t feel as if I wanted to go anywhere else. But Alec wouldn’t listen, he went on to say that things were starting to happen at Fulham, new people were getting involved at the club and he thought that meant he probably wouldn’t be there himself for very much longer. He summed it all up by saying, ‘personally speaking, Viv, I think you should go’.

“What could I do? I went up to Norwich to have a chat with Bondy and he sold the club to me. No problem. He was quite a character, a little bit of this, a little bit of that. But I could tell he wanted me at Norwich and that he was a manager who looked out for his players. So after not wanting to leave Fulham, it became an easy decision to do so in the end.

“I moved into a place near Long Stratton. There was a stud farm near us in the village which was really peaceful. We loved the country life we had up there, it was perfect as far as we were concerned, for bringing up our daughter.”

Eastern Daily Press: Viv Busby played for Norwich City in the 1970s under John Bond. Viv Busby played for Norwich City in the 1970s under John Bond. (Image: Newsquest)

Busby also had spells with Sheffield United, Luton Town and Wycombe Wanderers before ending his career in York after a spell in America. 

He moved into coaching after retirement, working under Denis Smith at Sunderland before managing Hartlepool United between February and November 1994, winning nine of his 40 matches in charge. 

In a statement, Fulham said: 'The cub is saddened to learn of the death of former player Viv Busby. Everyone at the club would like to offer our condolences to Viv’s wife Barbara, and all his family and friends at this sad time.'