IAN Crook is hoping his Japanese club Avispa Fukuoka will allow him to return to Norwich for this Sunday's Greatest Ever event at Carrow Road. Crook is assistant manager to Pierre Littbarski who he had previously worked with at Sydney FC in Australia.

"We are in a crucial part of the season and we are under a bit of pressure to get some results. I have had to spend a few days in Australia recently packing our house there, so getting the time off might be a bit tricky but I would love to be back in Norwich for this event and the club here knows it is an important event. To be honest, I was a bit surprised to be one of the nominees. It is a great honour," said Crook.

Crook joined Norwich from Spurs in 1986, one of five players to join from the north London club in a short space of time. "Ken Brown and Mel Machin kept coming down and picking people out the reserve team. I had been at Spurs from the age of 11. I followed Garry Brooke and Ian Culverhouse, then came Mark Bowen and John Polston," said Crook.

In his time at City he became a fan favourite and came to love the club and the area. In one famous incident he actually signed for Ipswich Town, buying kit for his children, before changing his mind and returning to Norwich. "Norwich had given me a free transfer. I love Norwich as a place and didn't want to move so the only clubs I was considering were Ipswich and Peterborough. It was a difficult time as I didn't want to go and my family were well settled. Mike Walker came to the club and turned it round and I ended up staying."

Walker was a big influence on Crook. "Mike came along at the right time for me. He gave me more responsibility and if he hadn't come I would probably have shifted on. We got into Europe and came third in the Premiership, which were great achievements. John Deehan was an excellent assistant to Mike. It was a good team."

The UEFA Cup run is a special period in Canary history, but Crook says that it probably wasn't his Greatest Ever moment. "Everyone looks at the Bayern game, but the best game for me was winning against Arsenal 2-1 in the last game of the season away from home. One of the newspapers had described us as a gathering of first division rejects and third and fourth division misfits. For us to finish fifth was unbelievable. Our run in Europe didn't surprise me. We had a good team. At the beginning nobody fancied us."

After Norwich Crook played in Japan and Australia before a knee injury ended his career. Since then he has coached in Japan and Australia as well as American Samoa in the World Cup qualifiers for a month. "Of the 202 FIFA nations, American Samoa were ranked 201st. They had never won a match, they had been beaten 31-0 by Australia, they had never even scored a goal. In my first match we were 2-1 down at half time having scored our first ever goal. The lads didn't want to play the rest of the match, they wanted to end it there they were so happy," said Crook.

Looking at the nominated players for the Greatest Ever Crook reflects that there are some great players and some great servants for the club in the list. But he picks out Martin Peters as being special. "I think he was probably the best player to have played for Norwich. I was a West Ham supporter as a lad so of course he was a hero for me, but it is special for Norwich to have had a World Cup winner. Chris Sutton was probably the best player in my time at the club. He made a huge difference for us," said Crook.

Norwich City FC's Greatest Ever is a celebration of the Greatest Ever players that have played for Norwich City. The culmination of this celebration will be the unveiling of Norwich City's Greatest Ever XI, as voted for by the fans, on the pitch at Carrow Road on Sunday, May 18. The Club will be welcoming a great number of our footballing legends back to what promises to be a very special occasion. Currently 27 of the player nominees have confirmed they will be attending the event on May 18.

Live on-stage there will be performances from world renowned music acts, including Jamelia, X-Factor finalists Rhydian, Ray Quinn and Ben Mills, plus Killer Queen and local indie band Huck. This will be a full day of entertainment with doors opening at 1.30pm and the show finishing at about 7pm.

Tickets are still available for Sunday, May 18 and can be bought from the ticket office in The Mall or from Carrow Road. Tickets can also be bought on-line at www.canaries.co.uk/greatestever or by calling call 0870 444 1902.

Ticket cost from £25 for Adults, £15 for concessions, and from £10 for under 12s. For hospitality packages call 01603 218704.