He Has A Whole Lot Of Bottle! Next Stop EFL For Norwood

If you believe what you read on social media, the Promotion Final’s winning goalscorer had a long Saturday night. A very, very long Saturday night.

One post in particular claimed the Tranmere Rovers striker was picked up at 9.30am on Sunday morning after a cool 17-hours of drinking, before heading back out not long after. At least he didn’t wake anyone up.

The sore head would prove to be worth it. The whole club had just shaken off a twelve month hangover of their own.

Saturday’s 2-1 ten man win over Boreham Wood took Rovers back into the Football League, a year on from defeat at the National Stadium to Forest Green. Norwood hopes it’s just the start.

He said he was looking forward to “getting the chairman’s bank card out” as he left the press wanting to hear more from the colourful 27-year-old.

By the sounds of it he had a rather good night. It’s doubtful whether he had to put his hands in his pocket once.

He said: “The main thing in our minds when we walked into Wembley again was that whatever happens we just couldn’t let 15,000 people down again.

“We did last year and it took an awful lot of getting over. It was a very long summer but this was our time and that way the players came together after we went down to ten men inside the first minute was incredible.

“It was horrible last year but we have finally done it and that’s all you can ask. The worry for us was being down for a third year and not getting back up. You see it so often, if you don’t win back your Football League place quickly, you can get stuck.

“It was a brilliant final and it meant so much to score the winner in front of the fans. They were fantastic, they gave us extra legs when we were two short.”

Striker Norwood has certainly done the hard yards to to reach the EFL.

Starting at local club Eastbourne Borough, he was noticed by Forest Green Rovers in 2010 after a small stint at Exeter. He scored a goal every three games in Nailsworth but has bettered that at Tranmere where he has netted 46 goals in 107 appearances.

His latest is the biggest of his career, and one of the most important in Rovers’ history.

“It’s just relief really,” he continued. “On a personal level this is my ninth season at this level. You always think ‘it’ll happen one day’ but you start to wonder, especially after last year.

“It’s so big for everyone here. We did it the hard way, but we tend to! When I headed the ball it seemed to take forever to get over the line. When it did I just lost it!

“Now we want the club to really push on, we’ve seen teams go on to good things after winning promotion from this division and maybe that momentum can take us forward, you never know.

“It’s been a great season, especially the last three or four months. We’re just delighted to be going up and what a way to do it.”