Exclusive Mike Phelan interview on his Norwich City spell

As a player, Phelan's contribution at City was worthy enough of being named in the hall of fame. He achieved promotion, a fourth-placed finish in the First Division, and an FA Cup semi-final and was captain during a four-year spell.  

For a local lad from Burnley who was daunted by that first trip to East Anglia, it was a move that could not have gone better. His connection to the club became so fond that it lured him back at two different points during his illustrious coaching career where Phelan won it all. 

This was just a fleeting visit to lead a coaching masterclass for the Norfolk FA, but Phelan squeezed in a chat to reminisce about his memories of life at Carrow Road. 

"I have fond recollections of Norfolk and Norwich. I travelled down from my home in Burnley to Norfolk again, and it brought back plenty of memories. There are still the same tractors on the same roads," he said. 

"By the time I joined Norwich as a player, it was an extension of my education as a football player from Burnley. Living in Burnley and at home, it was my first real endeavour to be who I am today, really. 

"The time I had here as a player was really successful. We had a great team, good players, promotion and then battling against the bigger boys in the higher echoleons of the game. 

"We were some team, and we could take teams on. I've got great memories down here."

It was only four years, but both parties made a huge impression on the other. The smile that was worn by Phelan throughout a 20-minute conversation reminiscing on his time at Norwich painted a clear picture of his feelings for the club. 

That isn't what he expected when he swapped Lancashire for Norfolk and Burnley for Norwich as a young man. 

It is the move that he attributes to shaping him as a man and a professional footballer, even earning an England cap in 1989 owing to his performances at Carrow Road. 

"I achieved a lot down here and it was probably a little bit unexpected for a Burnley boy coming down to Norfolk," Phelan said. "It felt like the end of the world on that first trip down here. 

"I remember agreeing to sign and going back home, because we didn't have mobile phones, and telling people I was signing for Norwich. It was like, 'Wow, you've made a big decision'. 

"Everything happened for me well. I made some good friends down here - some past and some present, one of my daughter was born down here and she's a Norfolk bumpkin which is something to be proud of. 

"I really enjoyed myself here. Every time I come back, which isn't often, it feels like yesterday." 

In a pre-technology world, a move to Norwich and leaving his family was a massive step for a 23-year-old. 

Despite some nerves and the need for adaptation to a completely different type of area - Phelan made a success of it on the pitch. 

Phelan in action for Norwich against Wimbledon in November 1988. (Image: PA Images)

"To be honest, when somebody says that Norwich are interested in signing you, as a local lad from Burnley, the first thing you do is 'where is Norwich?'

"You know about other football clubs, but Norwich was as far removed as clubs could be. But I was really proud when I joined Norwich. At that time, they had just been relegated and had won the cup but were out of Europe. Everything was a little bit chaotic. 

"Then you come to Norwich and go on a promotion run straight away with some players that were already there and some which were added. We blasted the league that year and got into the big time again. 

"It was a great year that first year, and then we built on that. That first year was a great season on the field and a massive learning curve off it. I was staying in certain places and sleeping on mattresses. 

"A good friend of mine who is still involved in football, Dennis van Wijk, who was a player then, we had many a time together dossing about Norfolk and enjoying the football but enjoying life as well." 

Phelan was part of a midfield containing Trevor Putney, Andy Townsend and Dale Gordon - a key part of the side that finished fourth in the first division in the 1988/89 campaign. 

He admits he wanted to stay in Norfolk 'forever', but a change of circumstances with the club saw him opt to join Manchester United, where he would go onto win the FA Cup, Cup Winners' Cup in 1991 and League Cup in 1992. 

But that success was aided by Norwich and Phelan believes that spell and the influences he worked under propelled him onto that stage. 

"Norwich made me a better player. I took the things that I had and moved into something new. Ken Brown was the manager, Mel Machin was the coach, and then it was Dave Stringer. These people added something extra to my mentality and I wanted to absorb all of that. 

"I connected with Norfolk so for me, it was a place that I could have stayed forever. I had a family, football and a great environment. Why would you want to move on?

"Circumstances change, and we got to the stage of contracts, and a few things changed, and I made the decision that I may need to try something else. I took that move back to the north west and Manchester United."

Mike Phelan has had three seperate spells at Norwich City - the most recent back in 2014 alongside Neil Adams. (Image: Newsquest)

Phelan's affection for Norwich and memories of the area brought him back to Norwich on two occasions, first in 1995 alongside Gary Megson and then again 20 years later after getting the call from Neil Adams during his brief tenure at the club. 

Even though neither spell ended with great success, the 61-year-old has no regrets about returning to Carrow Road and admits it was his heart that made it impossible to turn down the offer in 2014. 

"At the end of my career and the opportunity to go back to work at Norwich with Gary Megson, I always had coaching in mind. Little did I know the turbulence at the time, but I knew Gary and what he was trying to do—there were good times and not-so-good times," he said. 

"That only lasted a short period of time. I was just starting out as a coach but the opportunity came to move again with Gary to leave Norwich but to step up the ladder from reserve team football to senior football, it was a step that I had to take. 

"Then to get a third opportunity at coming back with Neil Adams, that was out of the blue but that was another opportunity to have another go. I was more experienced at the time and could give that to Neil. 

"Again, it was rocky at the time and wasn't stable but these are the choices you make. Ultimately, it was coming back to where I was really happy and that was the reason I did it. To apply myself and see what we could achieve. 

"It didn't work out, but it progressed after that, and sometimes you take a step forward and then a step back. It is the nature of the beast." 

- Phelan was speaking to the Pink Un during a fleeting return to the county as part of a Norfolk FA Coaching Masterclass at Wroxham FC in association with Davies Sports