Very sad news, one of City´s very best managers, flamboyant character which came across in his management style, the whole ´pass and move´ theory began with him, and as others have said, he should never have left us, something he openly admitted many times, himself. R.I.P
Can any of you on here old enough to remember, remember when City went to Man city after Bond had left us, it was the first time we'd played each other and he was desperate to beat us, which they did, 1-0 if memory serves, and he was so pleased he leapt over the top of the players tunnel and crashed down onto the concrete below. When interveiwed to see what had happened his son said "i think he just fell off his wallet, he'll be fine" Pissed myself laughing when it happened. Agreed he was a very significant manager for this club, a bit like Redknap in a way? R.I.P John Bond
Not only great for us but great for football. He took over Bournemouth and made them wear the AC Milan strip and look and play good. He got them noticed and that gave them the impetus. He came from that WHU era which played entertaining football when that was all that mattered rather than titles and CL qualification. Including Malcolm Allison who revolutionised training methods and attitudes to diet and performance (even though he drank like a fish and smoked cigars). Bonzo also had to endure Arthur South as Chairman and it was no surprise when he left. He regretted it later as has been said and said he would have ridden a bicycle from where he lived just to manage Norwich again. They were the innocent days of football, apart from terrace violence, and I yearn for a return to those days. Its never going to happen but reflection is a wonderful thing and John Bond was wonderful as well. He made people notice us and realise Norwich wasn't the complete sleepy backewater that was promoted. RIP
Echo all of the above statements. I remember once, we were getting beat 0 - 4 at home to Wolves, and the Wolves fans were singing, "Bondy, give us a wave...." He stood up from the dugout, turned to the away fans, waved and bowed, then sat back down. Can't imagine any manager doing that nowadays. Thoughts are with his family at this sad time. RIP John Bond
My god life is real spooky at times! I had this vivid dream about John Bond at the weekend, don't ask me why as it was completely random! Low and behold I now know the very sad news of his passing! A very flamboyant character and in my opinion he helped put Norwich City on the footballing map back in the 70s! RIP
A quick question is Ron Saunders still alive? East Anglian football in the 1970s was a real hotbed even more so than today (much owing to our decline) but back then you had Ron Saunders and John Bond up against our own Bobby. A great decade and a time when the EA Derby actually meant something!
I'd echo that Warky, according to Wikipedia Ron Saunders is 79 and still with us http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Saunders P.S. Funny how you say that the EA derby USED TO mean something, I wonder why
He was Norwich manager and they were one of the better teams to watch when I was first allowed to stay up as a kid on a Saturday night and watch Match of the Day if I'd behaved myself! One of the truly great characters of that era. RIP.
Long before my time But I've only ever heard him talked about affectionately. Rest in peace, and thank you for making a difference to our football club. OTBC
After dwelling on this post since it started I actually feel somewhat gutted that I will not be at Carrow Road tonight to pay my respects, to the point that it I am hurting a bit inside! I started watching City when John Bond was at the helm and as Redruth pointed out, this was a wonderful time to be a football fan (ignoring the thugs) as it was "just" football at that time. Many happy memories from that era have come flooding back tonight, memories I owe to that brilliant man
Shame that (with all due respect to Donny), tonight's game is not a bigger fixture with a bigger crowd to acknowledge JB's contribution to NCFC. Perhaps today's sad news might encourage those who were debating whether or not to go to turn up ?
I truly hope this does bring out "my generation" (and older) of supporters tonight to give him the appreciation he fully deserves. I also hope the team will respond accordingly and smash the granny out of Donny
I have uni commitments so I can't go unfortunately. I hope there are more tributes when we play Liverpool so people who can't go tonight can pay their respects on saturday.
A very sad loss. Bondy took over shortly after I started going to Carrow Road and really turned the club around - both in style of play and the general atmosphere at the club. I was at Maine road when he jumped over the fence and damaged his ankle. However it wasn't after the league game, it was the fourth round of the FA Cup when they smashed us 6 -0. He was desperate to console his son who had had a stinker of a game for us. Forgot about Kevin's remarks that Chippie quoted. I would go for applause tonight - more in keeping with the character of the man. So glad i am going to CR tonight - first game of the season for me.
