Rowe, who hadn’t made a competitive start prior to this season, netted five goals in as many matches in both the Championship and the Carabao Cup to help City record an impressive start to the new campaign.
@NorwichCityFC‘s @Jonathanrowe__ has been awarded the EFL’s Young Player of the Month for August!#EFL
— EFL (@EFL) September 15, 2023
His form also saw him called up to an England U20 training camp and earned him plenty of plaudits. Rowe won City’s own Player of the Month award with Gabriel Sara picking up the award across the league.
Rowe becomes the first Norwich player since Max Aarons in November 2020 to win the award – and the fifth since its creation in 2009 with Chris Martin (2010), James Maddison (2018) and Jamal Lewis (2018) the other winners of the award whilst with the Canaries.
The winger netted against Hull, Southampton, Millwall and Huddersfield to help Norwich race out of the blocks this season. His last-gasp winner away at Loftus Road helped them progress to the second round of the Carabao Cup with a 1-0 win over QPR.
His run of five goals in as many matches during the first month of the campaign is the best since Percy Varco in 1927 to achieve the feat for City.
David Wagner has set Rowe a target of finding consistency in his game, and although he failed to score in City’s 2-1 defeat to Rotherham United earlier his month, he did record the assist for Christian Fassnacht’s goal.
The young winger is riding the crest of a wave at present and has netted 30pc of City’s Championship goals this season.
“Especially doing it at a young age, it’s good motivation for the future to see where it can take you,” he told the EFL. “It’s left me kind of speechless. This has come from all my hard work last year and I’m reaping the rewards of the work I put in behind the scenes.
“There are different factors that add to the motivation, but all of those injuries last season played a big role in my start to the season. I took the off-season extra seriously and carefully regarding my health.
“I made sure I came back in great shape and I knew my ability, so I let my football do the talking and I’ve ended up with five goals and one assist. I class myself as an ambitious guy, so I’m striving for even more.”
The award caps off a stunning month of progress for the youngster – who suffered a series of serious injuries that kept him sidelined for the 2022/23 campaign.
Ankle, hamstring and a stress fracture issues left him frustrated but made him hungrier to hit the ground running this time around.
Rowe was reduced to a handful of appearances off the bench at the end of last season; he is determined to make up for lost time.
“I played an Under-21s game and I scored in the first game, so I was happy. All the mental toughness that I had to develop at 19 was finally rewarded. I played another game to get my fitness back up before I joined the first team again, then I pulled my hamstring. After that, I was thinking, ‘you can’t be serious?’
“Being completely honest, I’m just happy to be on the pitch at the moment. After last season, there was a lot of missed time,” Rowe said.
“This is my first proper season with the first team. But when I’m on the pitch that’s where I get my joy of the game, playing good football.”
Rowe grew up in Wembley just a stone’s throw from the national stadium and ever since, his aspirations have been to one day to reach those heights within the game.
“We once got a trampoline in the back garden and I’d jump on the trampoline and see a clear view of Wembley!” he laughed.
“Between my garden and the stadium, there’s a train track and that’s the only separation between my house and the stadium. When there was a game going on and someone scores a goal, you can hear the atmosphere from inside the house even the doors are closed.”
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