Forward thinking at

Norwich City Football Club

April at Carrow Road always holds an air of hope and expectation. Head of Grounds, Adam Grantham, maintains the Canaries bounce back spirit.

In recent history, the club has either been vying for promotion or battling relegation from the Premier League. The 2022/23 Championship season is no different, with the Canaries two points off the Play-Offs with four games left. Whilst this a familiar position for the club’s players, staff and fans, it is the first full Norwich experience for Head of Grounds, Adam Grantham.

In October 2020, Adam was made redundant by Reading Football Club after sixteen years. Having ascended the ranks to Grounds Manager and overseen the build of the Madejski Stadium (currently the Select Car Leasing Stadium) and Bearwood Park training ground, he was still enjoying his role when his time was cut short.

He explains: “Covid hit us, and then there was a period of financial decisions by the club which involved me and about twenty other staff that were put on a list for redundancy. So, unfortunately, I was one of the casualties of that.”

“You do miss it. I missed the team as well, a good bunch of lads, a very hardworking bunch, and I was sad to say goodbye to them, really.”

“I took some time out, and it was a tough pill to swallow then. Obviously, just coming out of Covid and thinking, is there going to be anything for me?”

“I chose to stay in the industry, but as a technical consultant, which gave me a good grounding from the other side of the fence for a year. I didn’t choose to leave Reading Football Club, so my heart was still in grounds, and this was a great in-between job. However, I wasn’t finished in grounds, so it was great that

Norwich gave me that opportunity to get back into it again.”

Whilst Norwich was the job Adam was looking for, it was 166 miles away from his family and friends in Reading. The community of the club, their ethos and values all match his own, but the decision to move his life to Norwich was significant.

“It wasn’t an easy decision,” Adam explains. “Obviously, leaving family behind and my personal life changed quite drastically as well. So, coming this way on my own was quite daunting at the beginning.”

“There were a few doubts at the beginning, as you can imagine. Are the team going to be receptive to me? Are they going to take on my views? Is it going to be an uphill battle? Are the club going to back me? So, there were a lot of doubts in mind, but as time went on, everything started to slowly fall into place.”

“From a personal point of view, I’d say I was very unsettled at the start; coming into a new place and renting for a full year was tough because I had my own home in Reading. So, for me to go from that reality sort of hit home, I guess.”

“It was so disjointed. I rented three different places, and it was just trying to find that happy balance of working, going home, working weekends and bank holidays. There are things

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