Name: Chris Martin
Date of Birth: 4th November 1988
Position: Striker
Club: Norwich
Previous Clubs: Luton(loan)
International caps: England U19 6(3)
A player who has majorly benefited from the East Anglian sides relegation to League One as he has become a first choice striker, and subsquently attracted the attentions of top flight clubs as he closes in on twenty five goals for this season.
The season didn't start as planned for the promising Martin, he was dropped after Norwich lost their opening game 7-1 at home to Colchester, but a change in management, Colchester manager Paul Lambert took over Bryan Gunn at Norwich!, saw him recalled and he has not looked back since.
He took no time to make an impression after being recalled, netting after 16 seconds on his comeback game away at MK Dons, and he has netted twenty more times including a four goal haul in Norwich's 7-0 FA Cup win over Paulton Rovers.
After penning a long term deal at Carrow Road, taking him through to the summer of 2013, in January of this year, he has carried on finding the net and scored the crucial late winner just two weeks ago that saw Norwich defeat rivals Leeds 1-0 at Elland Road and put the Canaries 11 points clear at the leagues summit.
Success is not new to Martin, the striker made his debut weeks after his 18th birthday when a string of impressive reserve and academy performances, including two Man of the Match performances in the Youth Cup, left the management with no choice but to include him in the matchday squad. He found his feet straight away and netted five times in his first six weeks as a professional, making him a fans favourite.
His career somewhat stalled after that a he failed to net in his last dozen games of the season and then, with Glenn Roeder now in charge at Carrow Road, played only ten times during the following season, without scoring. Roeder wasn't impressed with the striker and seemed to indicate that he was going off the rails, publicly questioning his effort, commitment and asking why he had been banned from near enough every pub in his hometown of Beccles.
A loan move to League Two Luton followed for 2008/9 and even with all the financial problems the Hatters had, including a massive points deduction basically condemning them to relegation even before the season kicked off, Martin got his career back on track and finished far and away as top scorer, with 13 goals, an impressive stat for a side that were rooted to the bottom of the league throughout the season and had got rid of all their high earners in a bid to save the club.
The best moment of the season, and possibly his career, was at Wembley in that season as he scored the winner in the 3-2 win over Scunthorpe in the Football League Trophy Final. The goal was a fantastic effort and earnt him the 'Goal of the Season' award.
He played a number of games for England U19's and netted on his debut against Turkey in March 2007.