An incredible five years.
Thus Teemu Pukin time at Norwich City is described by a journalist from The Athletic sports website who specializes in the club Michael Bailey. According to Bailey, Puki became a special player in the span of five years in the entire club’s 121-year history. The Finn’s reputation in East England is unblemished, and the player’s relationships are fine with everyone.
– When it comes to such a good player, this has certainly been one of the cleanest relations between supporters and player ever. That makes Teemu a really special person in the club’s history, Bailey tells Urheilu.
Puki’s Norwich career ended in tears on Monday against Blackpool. The Finn was replaced from the field after about 80 minutes of the game. Norwich lost at home 0–1. However, according to Bailey, Monday was about the farewell, not the result.
– For every supporter, today was all about Teemu. It was just about his last game, a chance to thank him and his goals. In the midst of disappointments, everyone wanted to thank the player, who is a true legend in the club, Bailey remembers the final match of the season.
The team’s season was difficult, and there was no contribution in league games for a long time. Supporters have been frustrated with the club’s actions over the past two years. Puki’s balance in the last Norwich season was ten goals and seven assists. According to Bailey, this does not dim Puk’s position in the city.
– Some have played at the club longer, but his influence is on the same level as anyone else’s, says Bailey, who watched his first match at Carrow Road in 1989.
An emotional farewell
Puk had a few chances against Blackpool to add more goals to Norwich City’s history books. However, the Finn couldn’t get any closer to the goal post. The supporters paid attention to the Finn throughout the match, and the unreserved warmth did not go unnoticed by Puki.
– It was great to get such a farewell from the fans and players. The hardest part was when I was substituted from the field for the last time. I cried a little, and I will remember that forever, Pukki said in an interview after the match.
Finnish flags were visible in the stands at Carrow Road, as well as a huge sheet addressed to Puki before the match. During the match, the audience sang Puki’s name and a familiar praise song for Finns. The Finn was visibly sensitized already in the middle of the match.
The forward hugged his teammates and thanked the crowd as he was substituted off the pitch. Bailey had a quick chat with the Finn after the match. The feelings were still on the surface even then.
– He became sensitive for a moment and was unable to speak properly, the reporter reveals.
Pukki regretted in an interview after the match that he didn’t get many of the goals he wanted. It didn’t bother Bailey after the match.
– It does not matter. He is a great person and everyone here knows it. Now everyone had a chance to thank him for the great years, Bailey expressed.
With such a sheet, Teemu Pukki was noticed before the match on Monday.
One of the great club legends
Pukki twice lifted Norwich City to the English Premier League. He also won the Championship’s top scorer, and charmed the supporters of the club’s former head coach Daniel Farken during an offensive winning style of play.
– Teemu was a really good player in a really good team, so he will always be remembered, Bailey says about the supporters’ attitude towards the Finn.
According to Bailey, supporters or the club never had problems with Puki. The journalist reveals a descriptive example of the conversation he had with the attacker. Bailey and Pukki talked after last season, when the team was relegated from the Premier League.
– He told me that it might feel right for him to move on, and as if he deserved to move on. However, Teemu was important for Norwich’s promotion dreams, Bailey repeats the conversation.
The Finn stayed with the club for one more season.
Bailey sums up the last couple of years for Norwich City as a difficult period. The team couldn’t get Farke to follow Dean Smith’s or the current head coach by David Wagner under the best of Finnish. At the same time, the team went from the long-lasting success of the Championship to the middle class to 13th place.
– The recent times have not been easy for Teemu either. I think he wants to spend time with his family, take a little break from football and then think about the future, Bailey reveals.
For the journalist who has written about Norwich City for more than 15 years, Puki’s departure marks the end of an era. Bailey remembers Puki’s first league goal in the club’s shirt against Middlesbrough in autumn 2018.
– Teemu scored a goal about a week after my father died of cancer. He didn’t get to see Teemu in action, Bailey says.
According to him, everyone in Norwich wishes nothing but the best for Puki in the future.
Bailey has enough memories of the 33-year-old Finn. In 2019, a British journalist was able to go to Finland to write a story about Puki and interview the player’s family and loved ones. The story is still one of the editor’s own favorites.
– I’ve seen many players in this club, but it’s hard for me to come up with a nicer and more influential one than Teemu.