It's rare that the stars of modern football feel this accessible. Sporting director Ben Knapper stands in extended conversation with one fan for several minutes, a while after Norwich City's latest fans forum came to a close. His wife waits patiently alongside executive director Zoe Webber as the stragglers trickle out, while head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup speaks casually to local media on the balcony.
Webber herself had spent a good portion of her evening in conversation with fans, not just the structured kind with microphones, cameras and inquisitive questions, but in a friendly fashion post-event. The time mattered little to Thorup as he signed autograph after autograph, the queue seemingly never-ending as the clock ticked toward 8:30pm. There was nothing transactional about the pictures he took or the moments he spared; this was someone unweathered by decades of football talk.
By the time he reached his final interview of the night, the closing task of an eventful evening, he'd spread his message to thousands of Canaries fans. He'd expanded it for those who'd taken in his initial press conference, and reiterated it for those who somehow missed out. The importance of that communication was a theme of the forum, at The Forum, and in that sense Thorup will have been pleased.
Alongside Knapper and Webber he'd got through a variety of the topics fans are still unsure of, and reassured them of the importance of their support. Communication was a key theme (Image: Denise Bradle.