Sport in Norfolk

Anyone looking for a spot of raw passion will find that a match-day at Carrow Road, the home of Norwich City Football Club, can compare to any in the country for noise and colour.

Those thinking that people in Liverpool, Manchester or Newcastle care more about their team might reconsider when they find how regularly the Canaries sell out their 25,000 seat ground - - and the fervour which pours out in the media letters pages whenever the team is felt to be underachieving.

The Canaries have a regional identity every bit as strong as any of their bigger city rivals, partly as a result of the lengths taken by those in charge - superstar cookery writer Delia Smith among them - to establish the club's strong role in the community and to make match-days both family-orientated and user-friendly.

Whether a newcomer to the area or just passing through, a trip to Carrow Road is a Norfolk must!

Just a 40 minutes away on the coast, Great Yarmouth stages a long established annual outdoor summer sports tournament which boasts the greatest number of competitors - and the best prize money - of any British open event, again lasting three weeks in late summer.

Many of the thousands who come from all over the country to take part take full advantage of the busy summer programme at the popular holiday town's racing track-used by many owners and trainers to test out their horses for potential classic bids.

In fact, Yarmouth offers a dream situation for punters who can go directly from an afternoon at the horses to an evening at the dogs - the nearby greyhound stadium hosting three meetings a week throughout the year, including the prestigious East Anglian Derby in the autumn.

Just as exciting is a visit to King's Lynn Speedway, the worl'ds most unique motorsport with two teams racing against each other at speeds of up to 80mph with no brakes!

A very different atmosphere, but equally compelling in its own way, can be found at Hopton-on-Sea every January, when Potters Leisure Resort hosts the world indoor bowls championships.

For three weeks the nation's only purpose-built bowls arena is packed for a televised occasion which destroys most pre-conceptions of what the sport is all about. Players, most of them under 35, in brightly coloured uniforms and with matching woods, produce consistently phenomenal quality on a vivid blue rink - with the later rounds preceded by cabaret acts which whip the fans into a party atmosphere!