Saturday's FA Cup fifth-round tie at Stamford Bridge is a perfect example of how money has changed the face of football over the last decade. For better or worse, two clubs who once competed on level ground are now poles apart on planet football. The Canaries' last two trips to The Bridge have ended in 4-0 defeats, and most of the smart money will be on a similar result, despite all the perceived 'romance of the cup.' A need to be careful Norwich manager Peter Grant concedes that a thrashing could happen if they're not careful. "We'll be going to Chelsea looking to win, but we have to keep the door closed at the back and not give them opportunities. If we do we could find ourselves a laughing stock," he said. Locking the door on the likes of Didier Drogba and Andrei Schevchenko won't be an easy task, but it's one that Dion Dublin is relishing in his current role at centre-back. "I'm now 37, coming up to 38, I never though I'd get the chance to play a Premier league side again, I'm just going to enjoy it," he said. "I enjoy my football anyway, but I'll enjoy it even more playing against a team of that size," he added. Nearly 3,500 Norwich fans are expected to make the journey to the King's Road to watch the Canaries try to fell the West London giants. Listen to live match commentary on this website, on BBC Radio Norfolk and e-mail your FA Cup fifth-round fans' photos to norfolk@bbc.co.uk Looking back Many will remember the time when getting hopes of a result there were less speculative. Back in the early-to-mid 1990s, supporting Norwich City meant tuning in to watch Match Of The Day to see the Canaries competing on a level footing with most clubs in the top-flight of English football. One such day in October 1993 saw Norwich come away from Stamford Bridge with a 2-1 win thanks to goals from Ruel Fox and Chris Sutton. By the end of 1993/94 just two points and two places separated Norwich City and Chelsea, who finished 12th and 14th respectively, unfortunately for Norwich they were relegated the following season. Skip forward 11 years to 2004/5 and the picture is very different. In their first season back in the Premiership Norwich City's turnover had jumped to a seemingly incredible £37.5m - incredible in the eyes of many Canaries' fans anyway. But then Norwich hasn't experienced it's own Russian revolution. In the summer of 2003 Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea FC and Chelsea Village PLC from Ken Bates, changing the financial face of English football for the foreseeable future. In 2004/05 Chelsea saw £122.6m go through the accounts, all of it at an affordable loss. For all her attributes, Delia Smith could only dream of being able to bring such riches to the Canaries. |