Wes Hoolahan

Premier League Career: Norwich City (2011-2014, 2015-2016)

He might be 35 now but Wes Hoolahan continues to figure prominently for Norwich City. Hoolahan graced all four of the Canaries’ recent campaigns in the Premier League and upto the end of November 2017, had featured eight times in the 2017-2018 SkyBet EFL Championship under the guidance of manager Daniel Farke.

Hoolahan also has won 40 caps for the Republic of Ireland and scored the Irish’s first goal of the 2016 European Championships against Sweden. He started his career in his homeland with Shelbourne, who were the leading force in Irish football for a long spell at the turn of the millennium. He had a brief spell in Scottish football with Livingston before moving south into the English game, first with Blackpool in 2006 on a season-long loan deal. Blackpool were in League One at the time and would earn promotion via the play-offs to the Championship. Hoolahan impressed in his loan spell, scoring nine times and would sign a two-year permanent deal with the Tangerines in the summer of 2007 despite a ugly contract war with Livingston which ultimately left FIFA to decide where his future lay. The world’s football governing body would eventually side with Blackpool.

In June 2008, he moved to Norwich City and has played for the East Anglian side ever since. He didn’t score for the club until January 2009 and it was a disappointing debut campaign in the yellow shirt as injuries took their course. Norwich ended the season being relegated to League One. His form dramatically improved when Paul Lambert came in as manager in September 2009 as Hoolahan became a driving force in Norwich’s rise from League One to the Premier League with back-to-back promotions. He scored 21 goals in that period, including a first career hat-trick at home to Sheffield United in December 2010.

In August 2011, Norwich City were back in the Premier League for the first time in seven years. Hoolahan will always remember the opening day of the 2011-2012 campaign as he scored their first goal back in the top-flight in the 1-1 draw away to Wigan Athletic. He stayed loyal to the club as Norwich finished a solid 12^th and 11^th in their first two seasons back in the top-flight.

His loyalty though was severely tested during the January 2014 transfer window. Having started just six times under Chris Hughton’s management in 2013-2014, he became frustrated with his lack of first-team opportunities. Aston Villa, now managed by Paul Lambert were seriously interested in acquiring Hoolahan’s services. Villa had two bids rejected and the midfielder even tried to force the move through by handing in a transfer request. Norwich refused to buckle, turning down the request by the player. Two months later, he scored the opening goal in a match between the two teams at Villa Park and refused to celebrate his strike. This attracted criticism from journalists and Norwich supporters. He later told the club’s website: “I certainly didn’t mean to disrespect anybody with the celebration and I’m sorry if anyone’s taken it the wrong way because I was over the moon with my goal.”

That was his only goal of the 2013-2014 season and Norwich suffered relegation back to the Championship. Despite the previous frustration in being denied a move away from Carrow Road, he extended his contract in August 2014 and started more frequently under the management of both Neil Adams and Alex Neil. This resulted in a second promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs.

Goals followed in 2015-2016 in home matches against AFC Bournemouth, Everton, Liverpool FC and West Ham United which earned Norwich five points but it wasn’t enough to avoid an immediate relegation back to the Championship. His performances continued to win rave reviews and he was voted the club’s Player of the Season in 2016-2017, despite the Canaries missing out on the play-offs.

Currently Norwich’s longest-serving player, Wes Hoolahan is far from finished yet.