‘I actually...’ - Former Bristol City man reveals he nearly joined Norwich City early in his playing career

Former Bristol City winger David Cotterill has revealed he nearly joined Norwich City before leaving Ashton Gate for Wigan Athletic as a youngster. The ex-Wales international landed his first Premier League move with the Latics back in 2006.

He rose up through the youth ranks with the Robins and went on to play 66 games in all competitions, chipping in with nine goals, before embarking on an eventful career around the country.

Cotterill, who is now 34-years-old, has retired from the game after making 446 appearances. He also played for the likes of Sheffield United, Swansea City, Portsmouth, Barnsley, Doncaster Rovers and Birmingham City.

Speaking on the Undr the Cosh podcast, he has said he nearly moved to Norwich during his playing days: “When I signed for Wigan, we (Bristol City) played a game on Sky in the last couple of days of the transfer window. We played against Northampton and we went down to ten men.

“I think we won 2-1 or 3-1 and as soon as we had a player sent off, at the time I was dribbling past one player and two players and I was on fire. I won a penalty and won another one, I took one of the penalties and scored. My agent said after your performance I think you’ll secure a move over the next coming days.

“I went away with Wales on international duty and Norwich’s chief executives came down and I actually signed for Norwich that day. The chief executive came down and I met him at a hotel in Cardiff. When I jumped on the Welsh team bus to go to training, Bristol City’s chairman rung me and said ‘we’ve accepted a bid from Wigan, a Premier League team, you can go and chat to them as well’.”

“My agent kept the papers from Norwich because he knew a Premier League team was coming in. Norwich were Championship at the time and I signed for Wigan under Paul Jewell. At the time, John Toshack was raging, Robert Earnshaw and Carl Robinson said you should have signed for Norwich for your development.”

Cotterill hung up his boots back in 2018 but has since come out of retirement to feature for the likes of Barry Town United and Newtown in the Cymru Premier. He made 34 caps for Wales during his playing days and played alongside the likes of Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey.