Date: 23rd October 2016 at 5:53pm
Written by:

The name Michael Theoklitos is one that many football fans will not have heard of, but it is one that will remain with Norwich City supporters for all the wrong reasons.

Rewind back to a lovely summer afternoon on August 8, 2009, and the Canaries are facing Colchester United in League One, hoping to make an immediate return to the Championship.

Optimism among the supporters was very high, but it was soon dashed after a dismal performance and City’s new Australian goalkeeper was at the heart of it all.

Theoklitos had a nightmare between the sticks and let in five before half-time, flapping at the first and pushing the second to Kevin Lisbie to tap home.

The Norwich defence did not do a lot to cover themselves in glory, but it really was a horror show from the Australian and one that cost him dearly.

The Canaries went on to lose the game 7-1, with two supporters throwing their season tickets at then manager Bryan Gunn – a move they would come to regret.

Whilst Norwich bounced back quickly, the same could not be said for Theoklitos as his time at the club was over in March 2010, having not played since the Colchester debacle.

In another unusual twist, Colchester manager Paul Lambert decided to take over from Bryan Gunn just weeks after inflicting the embarrassing defeat on the Canaries.

The new boss decided to give Theoklitos one more chance to prove his worth, including him in the squad for the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy game at Gillingham.

It was a move that backfired as Theoklitos missed the bus and that signalled the end of his time in Norfolk, despite his claims he “got his wires crossed.”

The Gillingham bus fiasco summed up his time at the club and it was no surprise when he made a rather swifter than hoped return to A-League football with Brisbane Roar in March 2010.

The shot-stopper has been there ever since and has re-established himself as one of Australia’s top goalkeepers, winning an award in the 2010/11 season.

He also set a new record for going 876 minutes without conceding a goal, quite a contrast to his disastrous spell in East Anglia. This was not the only thing to change though.

Rather bizarrely, in 2012, he opted to change his name to Michael Theo. The reason sited was that everyone always called him Theo, opposed to Theoklitos.

News of this soon filtered back to Norfolk and was met by a somewhat predictably humorous reaction, with Theo’s former club then flying high in the Premier League.

It would be fair to say that the Canaries have been yo-yoing between the top two leagues of English football since and are certainly in a better place than that dismal day against Colchester.

As for Theo, it seems that he has slowly rebuilt his career and, at the age of 35, will soon be retiring with a good reputation down under.

Having only played one game for Norwich, you would think that he would be quickly forgotten. The name Michael Theoklitos [or Theo] will always remain with many Canary fans though, just not for the right reasons!Norwich City News

 
Brought to you by Shoot!

Comments are closed.