Norwich City urged for Carrow Road expansion with 35,000 capacity idea mooted | OneFootball

Norwich City have boasted healthy crowds for well over a decade - even when the Canaries were in League One

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Norwich City have been called to expand their current stadium by adding a tier to one of the stands at Carrow Road.

It has also been claimed that the Canaries fanbase was big enough to support an expansion of Carrow Road up to 35,000, with it confidently predicted that Norwich would continue to sell out their home allocations.

Since returning to the Championship in 2010 the Canaries have enjoyed average attendances above 25,000 each season – as side from the COVID impacted campaigns.

Norwich City should look to expand Geoffrey Watling City Stand

A modern-day expansion of Carrow Road has long been mooted, with a suitability study first carried out in 2012, during the Canaries’ longest consecutive stint in the Premier League this century.

That report suggested the current capacity of 27,150 could be increased by another 7,000, but no concrete plans were ever finalised as it relied upon the Canaries establishing themselves in the Premier League.

More concentrated efforts have been made by the board since 2023, but plans were paused last summer with the club feelings costs were too high in their current situation.

Just as Football League World's Norwich pundit Zeke Downes identified, the main target for expansion would be the Geoffrey Watling City stand, the smallest and one of only two single-tiered stands at Carrow Road.

Beyond getting more punters into the ground, the redevelopment would also allow Norwich to update the directors’ boxes and hospitality facilities based in the City stand.

Asked what he would change about his side’s current ground, Zeke told FLW: “I think that we need another stand on top (of the City stand) - so another layer, because (the stadium) it's got three (stands) that have double layers, but there's one that's just the one.

“I would imagine that we would still pretty much hit (full) capacity as we have done all my life.

“So if it was expanded to say 35,000, I would imagine that we would be able to actually do that (continue selling out capacity).”

Norwich City need promotion to the Premier League in order to expand stadium

However, despite Zeke’s wish of expanding Carrow Road, the lifelong Canaries fan agreed with the board’s decision to put plans on hold until it became financially viable.

Norwich are set for a midtable finish under Johannes Hoff Thorup this season, sitting 14th with eight games to go, meaning the Premier League football required to fund any expansion to the stadium is still someway off for the Canaries.

Zeke restarted: “But I guess that sort of thing only happens when you're in the Premier League and you're doing well, as it's obviously gonna cost a lot of money.

“So I know that has been in the plans previously, but with the fact that we are a yo-yo club, we can't really afford to do that sort of thing.”