Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Maurice Norman [1] | ||
Date of birth | 8 May 1934 | ||
Place of birth | Mulbarton, England | ||
Date of death | 27 November 2022 | (aged 88)||
Position(s) | Defender | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | ( Gls) |
1952–1955 | Norwich City | 35 | (0) |
1955–1966 | Tottenham Hotspur | 357 | (16) |
Total | 392 | (16) | |
International career | |||
1962–1964 | England | 23 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Maurice Norman (8 May 1934 – 27 November 2022) was an English footballer who played nearly 400 times in the Football League as a centre half for Norwich City and Tottenham Hotspur. At international level, Norman won 23 caps for the England national team. [2]
Norman was born in Mulbarton, Norfolk. He began his career at Norwich City, and played 35 league matches for the Canaries between 1952 and 1955. [2] Despite such a short career with the club, he was elected into the Norwich City Hall of Fame in 2002. [3] He signed for Tottenham Hotspur in November 1955 for a £28,000 transfer fee, that also included the return transfer of Ireland international striker Johnny Gavin to Norwich. [4] Norman played his first game for his new club against Cardiff City, and stayed at White Hart Lane until 1965, making 411 first-team appearances and scoring 19 goals for Spurs. He was an integral part of Bill Nicholson's Double-winning Tottenham team of 1960–61 that went on to retain the FA Cup in 1962, and win the 1963 Cup Winners' Cup. [5]
At international level, Norman made 23 appearances for England, including in the 1962 World Cup. He was also a member of the England squad at the 1958 World Cup, but did not play. [5] He suffered a double fracture of tibia and fibula playing for Spurs against a Hungarian Select XI in November 1965, [6] [7] which brought a premature end to his career. [5]
In 2014, Norman was diagnosed with vascular dementia. [8]
Norman died from cancer on 27 November 2022, at the age of 88. [8] [9]
Near the end, too, came an unfortunate accident to Norman, a pure mischance, when he fell going for a heavy tackle, was taken from the field on a stretcher, and thence to hospital with a fractured leg.