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Russell Martin became a Carrow Road stalwart in his nine years at the club

The word 'legend' may be thrown about too often nowadays, but it barely scratches the surface of what Russell Martin means to Norwich City supporters.

Back in the 2009/10 season, City were a league below Peterborough United, but that did not stop them from swooping in to take one of their brightest young talents, as then 23-year-old Martin arrived on loan at Carrow Road in November 2009.

Martin soon made his move permanent as the Canaries chased a return to the Championship, and neither club nor player ever looked back as he played a crucial part in multiple promotions, and was the heartbeat of numerous defences in his near nine years in East Anglia.

He was a constant in an ever-changing team throughout his time at the club, and undoubtedly left as a modern-day club legend when he joined Walsall in 2018.

Martin achieved legendary status at Norwich City

The 2009/10 season began as a particularly low point in the Canaries' history, after they had sunk to the third-tier for the first time in 49 years following relegation from the Championship in the season prior, but the arrival of Martin can be seen as the beginning of a much more upwards trend in the years to come.

Then a right-back, he was initially signed on a two-month emergency loan deal from Posh as he linked up with Canaries boss Paul Lambert, who he had played under previously as captain of Wycombe Wanderers.

He signed a permanent, two-and-a-half year deal at Carrow Road upon the expiry of his loan spell, and became a regular in Lambert's side that season as they sealed promotion back to the second-tier as champions with relative ease.

Martin played all 46 league games, scored five goals and finished as runner-up in the club's Player of the Year awards in 2010/11 as Norwich did the unthinkable and achieved successive promotions, finishing second in the Championship under Lambert in a historic season for the club.

That meant a first taste of Premier League football for Martin, and he thrived as a key part of the Canaries' backline as they defied the odds to consolidate themselves in the top-flight by finishing 12th in 2011/12 under Lambert, and then 11th in 2012/13 under new boss Chris Hughton - their highest league finish since 1992/93.

The Scottish international was officially named club captain by Hughton in August 2013 just weeks after signing a new three-year deal, but the Canaries were relegated back to the Championship that season after finishing 18th, with Hughton sacked and replaced by Neil Adams in April in a last-ditch attempt to survive, to no avail.

Martin missed just one league game and was named in the PFA Championship Team of the Year in 2014/15 under Adams and new boss Alex Neil as Norwich bounced back to the top-flight through the play-offs at the first time of asking, but they could not build on it in 2015/16 and were again relegated back to the second-tier with one game to spare in 19th place.

He continued to play regularly as the club missed out on the play-offs by ten points on their return to the Championship in 2016/17, but struggled with a back injury at the beginning of the 2017/18 campaign and soon lost his place in new boss Daniel Farke's starting eleven, despite having signed a new deal that summer.

His lack of game time saw him join Rangers on loan in January 2018, and he featured in all but one of their league games after his arrival as they finished third in the Scottish Premiership, but the move was not made permanent.

Martin then left Norwich in August 2018 after his contract was terminated by mutual consent, with his Canaries career seemingly coming to an abrupt end after an outstanding 309 games for the club, which puts him 22nd on their all-time appearance list.

In a 2019 interview with podcast Talk Norwich City, he explained the nature of his departure, and how him and Farke were clearly not on the same page.

"I'd just signed a new contract, the plan was kind of in place with Stuart [Webber; director of football] and the club to start looking towards the end of my playing career and finish at Norwich with the hope of working there in whatever role," he said.

"That was the plan, but things don't always go to plan - Daniel had other plans - and it became fairly obvious, fairly quickly.

"It's difficult to become - not even a bit-part, I was totally out of it, training with the 23s - and I was trying to add value to them and help them, but it just became difficult.

"It was never personal, it was never a power issue - I still tried to play a role in the dressing room, but it was obvious that things were going to change, it was just about how long it would take to change and the club probably needed it."

It may have been an unwanted exit for the 32-year-old, but that certainly did not tarnish his great reputation with the Canaries fans, and he will always be remembered at Carrow Road for his strong leadership qualities and warrior-like performances, both of which contribute heavily to his status as a bonafide Norwich legend.

Russell Martin's post-Norwich career

Martin went on to see out his playing days at Walsall, where he took up a player-coach role, and then MK Dons, where he was a part of the 2018/19 squad that sealed promotion to League One and then quit playing in November 2019 to become their full-time head-coach.

He has become a widely-regarded manager in English football for his effective, possession-based style of play that saw the Dons have the third-highest average possession percentage in Europe in the 2020/21 season.

Martin was appointed by Swansea City six days before the first game of the 2021/22 Championship season, and led his side to become the first Swans team to complete the league double in the South Wales Derby's 110-year history, but could only finish 15th and 10th in his two seasons at the club.

He left Swansea to become manager of newly-relegated Southampton last June, and led the Saints to a club-record 25-game unbeaten run between September 2023 to February 2024, while they eventually finished fourth in the second-tier and beat Leeds United, and Daniel Farke, 1–0 in the play-off final to secure promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

The 38-year-old is yet to achieve legendary status at any other club than Norwich as yet, and it could take a number of years before he reaches that level for anyone, after all he did for the Canaries.