Norwich announce former Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls as chairman

Norwich City have announced that former Labour Cabinet Minister and Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls is to become the club's new chairman.

The 48-year-old is a lifelong fan of the Premier League side and will take up his post with immediate effect.

And Balls, who was a Labour MP for 10 years before losing his Morley and Outwood seat by just 422 seats at the last General Election, will join his fellow Directors at Carrow Road for the visit of Aston Villa on Monday.

He will undertake his non-executive role in an unpaid capacity and will continue with his duties as a Senior Fellow at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and a Visiting Professor at King's College, London.

Balls told the Norwich website: "It's an honour and a privilege to be asked to join the Board of Directors at Norwich City as Chairman. 

"From the moment my dad first took me to watch City from the terraces at Carrow Road in 1973, my earliest ambition was to play for the club I loved.

"But the next best thing is to become Chairman of Norwich City, and do what I can off the pitch to help City succeed on the pitch. 

"The club's immediate priority and focus is, of course, the retention of our hard-earned Premier League status, and the hard work of my fellow Directors and all of my colleagues at the Club means Norwich City is in great shape on and off the pitch going into 2016. 

"With that foundation, the challenge for all of us at Norwich is to go from the up-and-down fortunes I have known since I was a boy to an era of sustained success, and I will be proud to play my part in that."

The club's joint majority shareholders Delia Smith and Michael Wynn Jones issued a statement which read: "We're absolutely delighted to confirm that Ed Balls is the new Chairman of Norwich City. 

"His economic know-how and experience, coupled with his passion for all things Norwich City, will be a major asset for the Board, and we're excited about working closely together with Ed, David McNally and the other Directors in this new era for the Club. 

"Ed will work closely with all of us on the short, medium and long-term strategy to shape the future of this great football club."

The Canaries are 17th in the Premier League standings at the moment, one place above the drop zone, albeit only on goal difference.