This season’s Premier League curtain-raiser will see new boys Norwich City take on the Champions of Europe, Liverpool, at Anfield on August 9.

But while the hosts embark on their 28th successive season in the league, the Canaries are set to begin only their ninth term in the top-flight since its formation in 1992.

As Norwich fans look forward to seeing their side walk out at the likes of Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge over the next nine months, it would be easy to forget that 10 years ago the club had been relegated from the Championship and was planning for its first spell in the third-tier for 50 years.

With club legend Bryan Gunn at the helm, and 15 new transfers through the door, it looked as though a swift return to the Championship was inevitable. However, an opening day 7-1 drubbing at the hands of East Anglian rivals Colchester United left the Canaries bottom of the league and wondering where to turn next.

To the anger of many supporters, Gunn was sacked after just one league game and replaced by the man who, just 10 days earlier, had inflicted the club’s heaviest defeat in 16 years – Paul Lambert.

The decision was a masterstroke. Aided by the goals of Grant Holt and the creativity of Wes Hoolahan, Lambert galvanized the Canaries and guided them to the League One title. But that was just the beginning of a magical two years for the club.

With expectations low at the start of the 2010/11 Championship campaign, supporters were braced for the free-flowing attacking football of the previous season to somewhat subside. In fact, the opposite happened.

A 9-2 aggregate win over fierce rivals Ipswich Town and injury time winners against Reading and Derby County encapsulated a shockingly successful season for the Norfolk club, resulting in back-to-back promotions and a return to the Premier League for the first time in six years.

Nearly 10 years on since Norwich’s rollercoaster ride to the top of English football began, we at Shoot are taking a look back at the class of 2009-2011.

Goalkeeper: John Ruddy

The 6ft 4in stopper joined Norwich at the beginning of the 2010/11 campaign after Fraser Forster – a key member of the Canaries’ League One winning side – returned to Newcastle United after his loan in Norfolk expired. But Ruddy would prove to be a suitable replacement for Forster, playing every minute of the promotion winning season.

Defenders: Adam Drury

After joining the club in 2001, Drury would go on to make 326 appearances for Norwich until his departure in 2012. An ever-present member of the side that won back-to-back-promotions under Lambert, Drury scored his first goal for the club in five years in September 2010 when he netted in a 4-3 win over Leicester City at Carrow Road.

Michael Nelson

Nicknamed ‘The Admiral’ by Norwich fans in tribute to Norfolk-born Naval Officer Horatio Nelson, Michael Nelson will forever be synonymous with the club’s 2009/10 League One winning season. The tough-tackling central defender scored the winner against Charlton Athletic in April 2010 which confirmed the Canaries’ return to the Championship.

Elliott Ward 

The former Coventry City man made 39 league appearances during the 2010/11 campaign and formed a formidable centre-back partnership with Zak Whitbread. He scored his first and only goal for the club in a 2-1 win over Millwall at Carrow Road February 2011.

Gary Doherty

Named captain by Bryan Gunn at the start of the 2009/10 season, Doherty was stripped of the captaincy once Lambert took over at Carrow Road and told he had no future at the club. But after a number of injuries pushed Doherty into the starting line-up, he formed central defensive partnerships with Michael Nelson and Jens Berthel Askou which led him to winning third place in the club’s Player of the Season awards.

Russell Martin 

Affectionately known by supporters as the ‘Norfolk Cafu’, Martin was an instrumental member of both promotion seasons. He featured in all of the Canaries’ 2010/11 league games and scored the fourth goal in a 5-1 demolition of rivals Ipswich Town at Portman Road in April 2011, before finishing runner up in the Player of the Season awards.

Midfielders: David Fox 

Perhaps one of the more underrated players to feature during the 2010/11 campaign, Fox had a metronomic role within Norwich’s midfield. The Manchester United youth product played a key role in the Canaries’ second successive promotion and famously provided the assist for Simeon Jackson to seal a return to the Premier League in a 1-0 against Portsmouth at Fratton Park in May 2011.

Andrew Crofts

Throughout the 2010/11 season Crofts solidified his place in the City midfield, often being accompanied by Fox and Andrew Surman in Lambert’s favoured ‘diamond’ formation. The Wales international scored on his debut against Watford on the opening day of the season and also netted an impressive half-volley against Barnsley in February 2011.

Andrew Surman

Following his move from Wolverhampton Wanderers in June 2010, Surman would go on to make 22 Championship appearances for the Canaries in their promotion-winning season. The South African-born midfielder scored City’s opener during the crushing 5-1 defeat of Ipswich Town in April 2011.

Wes Hoolahan

One of the most technically gifted players to have donned a yellow and green shirt this millennium, the little Irishman formed an attacking partnership with Grant Holt which catapulted Norwich up the divisions. Known for his ability to unlock even the tightest of defences, Hoolahan scored 10 goals during the 2010/11 season, including the fourth in a 4-1 win over Ipswich Town in November 2010.

Henri Lansbury

After initially joining the Canaries on emergency 28-day loan in November 2010, the Arsenal youth product then extended his stay in Norfolk until the end of the season. With four goals in 23 appearances, including a last minute winner against Reading, Lansbury will be remembered as a key member of Norwich’s promotion-winning side.

Forwards: Dani Pacheco

The second loanee on our list, Spaniard Dani Pacheco only joined the Canaries for the final two months of the season but is considered something of a cult hero in Norfolk. After impressing on his debut against Scunthorpe, the former Barcelona youth product scored the final goal in the 5-1 thrashing of Ipswich Town.

Simeon Jackson

In most promotion seasons, there is usually a player who hits a rich vein of form towards the end of the campaign. In 2010/11, that was Simeon Jackson. A second-half hat-trick against Scunthorpe, a last-gasp winner against Derby and a promotion-winning header against Portsmouth during the last five weeks of the season helped Norwich to the top-flight.

Grant Holt

Arguably the poster boy for Paul Lambert’s tenure at Carrow Road, Grant Holt scored a combined 45 league goals over the 2009/10 and 2010/11 seasons, and finished his time in Norfolk as the club’s sixth highest all-time leading goalscorer. The powerful frontman will always be revered by fans for his hat-trick against local rivals Ipswich in November 2010.

Chris Martin

With the club since the age of 10, locally born Chris Martin mostly served as Holt’s understudy during the second promotion season. But the striker played a salient role in guiding the club from League One – scoring 17 league goals during the campaign.