It's farewell, but never goodbye: Why Will Norris will forever remain in Portsmouth folklore

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Will Norris’ Pompey farewell deserved more than a half-empty Ewood Park on a bitterly cold Wednesday evening.

There had long been a sad inevitability over his departure, capped by the ignominy of being shunted into the role of third-choice keeper.

It was a slow, lingering Fratton Park demise for the man who had started every one the Blues’ games in their League One title triumph, the sole member of John Mousinho’s squad to boast such a distinction.

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Such had been the consistent high levels of his performances, Norris earned the distinction of being named in both the PFA and EFL’s League One Team of the Year.

By October 5, he didn’t even warrant a place on the Blues’ bench, with the much-travelled Jordan Archer preferred as the promoted Nicolas Schmid’s back-up.

As ever, these matters are far from straightforward. By all accounts, the former Burnley man hadn’t taken his first-team omission well behind the scenes, rather understandable following 56 successive league starts.

Then, having been exiled from the first-team squad for 17 successive matches, Norris was back from the cold, replacing the injured Archer for last month’s trip to Blackburn.

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It was a hard watch observing him warm up pre-match in front of an alarmingly low crowd of 13,703. The painful vision of this popular Pompey title-winner reduced to fringe bench duty remains lodged in the memory.

It would prove to be his final involvement in Mousinho’s side - and, on Monday’s transfer deadline, the 31-year-old secured his escape route to Wycombe.

Pompey’s sensible desire to evolve and develop into a side capable of surviving in the Championship signalled heart-breaking summer departures for Sean Raggett, Joe Rafferty and Joe Morrell.

Norris, though, remained first choice, starting the opening eight league matches and earning man-of-the-match in two of them - Luton and Sheffield United.

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Will Norris’ final Pompey involvement was at Blackburn last month. Pic: Jason Brown/ProSportsImagesWill Norris’ final Pompey involvement was at Blackburn last month. Pic: Jason Brown/ProSportsImages
Will Norris’ final Pompey involvement was at Blackburn last month. Pic: Jason Brown/ProSportsImages | Jason Brown/ProSportsImages

Barely five months earlier, Norris and Mousinho had embraced following the clinching of the League One title on an emotionally-charged Fratton Park evening.

The former Cambridge United man was a pivotal presence in that success, with his outstanding distribution from the back often dictating Pompey’s tempo and build-up play.

Indeed, the goalkeeper had set the bar so high that, on occasional lapses when he kicked the ball into touch, there would, rather harshly, be groans of despair from supporters.

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Nonetheless, Norris was a huge figure in the Blues’ dressing room, an immensely likeable, energetic individual, whose mischievous character perhaps never quite translated into his interviews.

A huge cricket fan, he could regularly be found with bat in hand during impromptu net sessions with his fellow goalkeepers in front of the main Portakabin at their Hilsea training ground.

Of course, many Pompey fans were introduced to his off-field persona during those iconic title-winning celebrations at O’Neill’s, with Norris among the most overexuberant of the celebrating players.

Then it was over. Having reached a mutually-agreed settlement on the remaining 18 months of his contract, he moved to Wycombe, no doubt eyeing another League One promotion.

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Yet Norris has indelibly written himself into Pompey folklore along fellow trophy-winning goalkeepers Ernie Butler, Dick Beattie, Alan Knight, Shaka Hislop, David James, David Forde and Craig MacGillivray.

It’s farewell, but truly never goodbye.

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