The Canaries were in the midst of a promising start to the 1989-90 campaign when they welcomed Southampton to Carrow Road for what turned out to be a thrilling afternoon for both sets of fans.
Included in a line-up stacked with City legends were Bryan Gunn, Ian Crook, Dale Gordon and Robert Fleck, with Dave Stringer the manager at the time.
The name that really stands out from this particular fixture is Robert Rosario, however. He equalised for Norwich in fine fashion after Paul Rideout had opened the scoring for the Saints, driving a half-volley into the top corner from 25 yards.
That goal became synonymous with Rosario and won ITV’s vote for goal of the season, before he poked home from close range to send NR1 into raptures and rescue a point for City.
Rideout had scored two first-half goals to give Southampton the lead going into the break, with future Premier League winner Tim Sherwood scoring to make it 2-2.
Rod Wallace’s double gave Chris Nicholls’ side hope of victory, but strikes from Fleck and Rosario made sure the spoils were shared.
Rosario described the goal as “an absolute peach” when asked about it post-match, and he almost wasn’t wearing yellow and green when it happened.
Just days before the fixture he’d been linked with a move to Manchester City, but signed a new contract to end speculation and returned from a rib injury to start the game.
Rosario was a fan favourite in his eight years at Norwich, having signed for the club from non-league Hillingdon Borough in 1983. He spent time on loan with Wolverhampton Wanderers during his City spell, before joining Coventry City for £600,000 in 1991.
He went on to play 27 league games for Nottingham Forest, before ending his playing career stateside in the USL.
He then managed Carolina Dynamo, the final club he played for, in 2001, with his son Gabriel an academy goalkeeper for Huddersfield Town, Reading and Atlanta United.
Rosario, now 57, stayed in North Carolina after playing and currently resides there as a football coach.
City finished 10th in the First Division at the conclusion of that 1989-90 campaign, with their bright start, going unbeaten for the first nine games, tailing off in the second half of the campaign.
Fleck finished as tied top goalscorer with Mark Bowen, who won the club’s player of the year trophy, in the league. The Scot scored the most outright in all competitions, however, netting five times in cups as Norwich reached the fourth round of the FA Cup and the third round of the League Cup.
They also competed in the now-defunct Full Members’ Cup, which was created after English sides were banned from European competition in 1985. It comprised the clubs occupying the top two divisions of the English football pyramid, but only survived for seven years before its demise in 1992.
Norwich made the quarter-finals of the competition on this occasion, beating Brighton & Hove Albion 5-1 in the second round before being knocked out by Swindon Town at the County Ground.
Other notable names in that City team included Ian Culverhouse, who served as assistant manager under Paul Lambert between 2009 and 2012, Mark Bowen, Ian Butterworth, Andy Townsend and David Phillips.
Also part of the squad were Ruel Fox and now-club ambassador Jeremy Goss, who were both key members of the team that famously made it to the UEFA Cup in 1993.
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