In his two spells at Carrow Road, Graham Paddon made 340 appearances
( only two as substitute) and scored 37 goals. At the time of
his departure to Millwall in December 1981, he was in twelfth
place of Norwich list of all time league appearances with 290
league games. An energetic player with a strong shot, he played
on the left hand side of the Norwich midfield linking with various
City striking partnerships.
Originally with Coventry City for whom he made 5 appearances,
he was signed by Ron Saunders for £25,000 in October 1969.
An important component in the City side that won the 1971/72 Division
Two title and promotion to the top flight for the first time in
Norwich's history. He was exchanged for Ted MacDougall of West
Ham in December 1973 and won the FA Cup against Fulham in 1975
and reached the European Cup Winners Cup final the following year.
He rejoined Norwich in November 1976 and stayed there until December
1981 when he joined Millwall although he had spent time in the
USA with the Tampa Bay Rowdies. After five appearances for Millwall,
scoring once, he moved to Hong Kong but returned to run a country
pub in Norfolk and a leisure centre at South Walsham. He joined
Portsmouth as reserve team coach and youth team supervisor in
August 1985. He moved to Stoke City as Assistant manger in December
1989 later becoming caretaker manger. He returned to Fratton Park
in May 1991 as Portsmouth's Assistant manger and later Reserve
Team coach. He lost his position at Fratton Park in 1995
Graham has been scouting for Derby and has acted as a consultant
in Yemen. To assist him in his search for new work, he has begun
to advertise on the internet.
After a period scouting for Oldham and coaching in the USA, he
joined Brunei side DPMM as coach.
Paddon passed away unexpectedly on 19th November 2007. Many of
his former teammates paid tribute including Doug
Livermore who also recalled Paddon's contribution to the Canary
cause with fondness.Graham was an excellent player, I
will never forget his three goals at Highbury against Arsenal
in the League Cup quarter final when we won 3-0 in 1973. He was
a major influence in the promotion side of 1971-72 under Ron Saunders.
We always kept in touch since we met as players at Norwich 36
years ago. He was a great man and a good friend who will be sorely
missed by all those who knew him.