Norwich City hit transfer success at Leeds United's expense - he won't be forgotten at Carrow Road | OneFootball

Jonny Howson had been a Leeds United hero during tough times when Norwich City stepped in and took him to the Premier League in January 2012.

Leeds United fans were less than impressed when their club sold Jonny Howson to Norwich City in January 2012, and the midfielder went on to prove why, at Carrow Road.

It is one of the realities of football that there can be a gap between the hopes and expectations of fans and players. For the fan, the game is about loyalty, but most players are fully aware of the fact that their careers don't last forever, and that they have to make the most of any opportunity to play at the highest level.

At the start of 2012, Leeds United were a mid-table Championship club which Norwich were in the Premier League, and this brought about the sale of one of Leeds' own.

The departure of Jonny Howson to Norwich City in the January transfer window caused an extremely angry reaction at Elland Road, but Howson would go on to prove that the Canaries had made the right decision in persuading the midfielder to swap his hometown team for the higher division.

Jonny Howson was a rare bright spot for Leeds United during tough Elland Road period

Jonny Howson was one of Leeds' own, and broke into their first team at a time when the club's supporters needed a player like that more than most. Born in nearby Morley and raised through the same academy system that brought through James Milner, Aaron Lennon and Danny Rose, he made his full debut for them against Hull City in December 2006 and won the Man of the Match award for his troubles.

But these were extremely difficult times for the club. They struggled in the Championship all season, and their relegation to League One - the first time in their history that they'd fallen that low - was confirmed at the start of May when they collapsed into administration and picked up a ten-point deduction, following several years of financial difficulties.

It took Leeds three years to get back to the Championship, but Howson stayed at Elland Road.

He was in their team when they beat Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford in the FA Cup in January 2010 and came off the bench to score the first goal in the 2-1 win against Bristol Rovers that secured their return to the Championship at the end of that season. And the following year, he was their captain when they held Arsenal to a 1-1 draw at The Emirates Stadium in the FA Cup.

He was made the club captain at the end of the 2010-11 season, but his time at Elland Road was coming to an end.

In signing Jonny Howson, Leeds United's loss was Norwich City's gain

By the 18th January 2012, Leeds were in 11th place in the Championship table when the news dropped that Howson would be leaving the club. At this time, Norwich City were a Premier League club and they'd made an offer which Leeds had, according to their statement at the time, "reluctantly accepted."

The statement explained that they had accepted it "on the basis that the player only has six months of his current contract remaining and has expressed a desire that he would like to play Premier League football at the earliest opportunity."

Howson had been in negotiations with the club over an extension and were only three points from a play-off place, but the need to cash in proved too much to resist and promotion at the end of the season was a very long way from guaranteed.

Norwich, by contrast, were 9th in the Premier League and had finished 11th the previous season following promotion from the Championship, but this didn't prevent Leeds fans from venting their fury at club owner Ken Bates.

"It makes it harder when you see a reaction like that. You realise you mean something to them," Howson said at the time, "I was the club captain and from the area, but it was me that was still wanting to play in the Premier League and, from the club's point of view, I would have done the same thing if I were in their shoes."

Howson quickly established himself in the first team at Norwich and, having made 225 appearances in all competitions for Leeds over the previous five years, he would go on to make 188 appearances for the Canaries before moving on to Middlesbrough in the summer of 2017.

His time at Carrow Road wasn't always plain sailing. Norwich were relegated from the Premier League in 2014 and, having got promotion back through the play-offs at the first attempt, again in 2016. But despite staying at Middlesbrough until the end of the 2024-25, it remains the case that Norwich City were the only club for whom he played Premier League football.

Leeds United would eventually make it back to the Premier League in 2020, but their loss of Jonny Howson in January 2012 was a reflection on the position of both them and Norwich City at that time.

In the unsentimental world of the professional game, clubs are judged on where they are in the league system. Jonny Howson wasn't going to get into the top flight with Leeds at that point, and much though it hurt the Elland Road faithful to lose him, it was a decision that he had to take, and their loss was definitely Norwich's gain.