Kevin Drinkell

Drinkell began his career with hometown club Grimsby Town where he scored 89 goals in 272 games. His goals got him noticed by other clubs and in 1985 Norwich City manager Ken Brown signed him for a fee of £90,000. Norwich were rebuilding their squad after relegation from the first division and had looked set to sign striker Trevor Senior from Reading, however when he opted to stay with the Royals they turned their attention to Drinkell. The fee was set by a Football League tribunal and the figure angered Grimsby, who considered his value to be much higher. Drinkell quickly proved that Norwich had indeed got a bargain. In his first season at Carrow Road he scored 22 league goals as Norwich won the Second Division championship. With the Canaries being Football League Cup holders, Drinkell would also have experienced UEFA Cup action that season had it not been for the ban on English clubs in European competitions arising from the Heysel disaster in May 1985. It won him the Golden Boot for being the division's top scorer as well as the first of two consecutive Norwich City player of the year awards. His goalscoring form continued in the First Division. His most memorable goal for Norwich came in a match against Liverpool on 11 April 1987 at Carrow Road. Liverpool were reigning league champions and were looking to regain the title. The score was 1–1 late in the game, when Drinkell picked up the ball at the edge of the area and hit a fierce shot from a difficult angle past…

Grimsby Town

Third Division: 1979–80 Fourth Division runners-up: 1978–79 Norwich City

Second Division: 1985–86 Rangers

Scottish Premier Division: 1988–89 Scottish League Cup: 1988–89 Falkirk

Scottish First Division: 1993–94 Scottish Challenge Cup: 1993–94 Individual

Grimsby Town Supporters Young Player of the Year: 1977 Grimsby Town Supporters Player of the Year: 1983 Norwich City Player of the Year: 1985–86, 1986–87 Norwich City F.C. Hall of Fame inaugural member: 2002