Frank Norberg

Frank Norberg

Personal information
Irish name	Prionsias Norberg
Sport	Hurling
Position	Right wing-back
Born	1948 BlackrockCork,Ireland
Died	20 February 2018 Passage WestCounty Cork,Ireland
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Club(s)
Years	Club
	Blackrock
Club titles
Cork titles	5
Munster titles	4
All-Ireland Titles	3
Inter-county(ies)*
Years	County	Apps (scores)
1969-1973	Cork	5 (0-0)
Inter-county titles
Munster titles	1
All-Irelands	0
NHL	1
All Stars	0
*Inter County team apps and scores correct as of 12:43, 8 April 2018 (aged 69).

Jeremiah Francis Norberg(1948 – 20 February 2018), known asFrank Norberg,was an Irishhurler.Hisleagueandchampionshipcareer with theCorksenior team lasted four seasons from 1969 to 1973.

Born inBlackrockCork,Norberg was raised in a strong hurling family. His grandfather,Jer Norberg,won anAll-Irelandmedals with Cork in 1893.

Norberg first appeared for theBlackrockclub at juvenile and underage levels, before eventually joining the club's senior team. In a hugely successful career he wonAll-Irelandmedals in 1972, 1974 and 1979. Norberg also won fourMunstermedal and fivecounty championshipmedals.

Norberg made his debut on the inter-county scene when he was selected for the Cork minor team in 1966. He enjoyed one championship season with the minor team in which he was anAll-Irelandrunner-up. He subsequently joined the under-21 team, winning back-to-backAll-Irelandmedals in 1968 and 1969. By this stage Norberg was close to the Cork senior team and he made his debut during the1969 Oireachtas Cup.Over the course of the following four seasons he won oneMunstermedal and oneNational Leaguemedal.

Biography

Frank Norberg was born inBlackrockCounty Corkin 1948. The possessor of a most unusual surname, his ancestors settled in Ireland after leavingSweden.Norberg was born into a family deeply associated withCorkhurling. His grandfather,Jer Norberg,won anAll-Irelandtitle with Cork in 1893.

Playing career

Club

Norberg played his clubhurlingwith the famousBlackrockclub inCork.He enjoyed some success at underage levels before winning his firstsenior county championshiptitle in 1971. This started a great run of success for the club, as ‘the Rockies’ later converted this county win into aMunsterclub title as well as anAll-Irelandclub title. In 1973 Norberg won his second county medal with Blackrock. Once again this win was converted into subsequent Munster and All-Ireland club honours. The success continued in 1975 with Norberg winning a third set of county and provincial honours with his club. 'The Rockies' narrowly missed out on a third All-Ireland title after a defeat byJames Stephensof Kilkenny. A fourth county medal followed for Norberg in 1978, however, he missed the club’s Munster and All-Ireland victories. He won a fifth county medal in 1979 and later collected his fourth Munster club title.

Minor & under-21

Norberg first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of theCorkminor team in 1966. That year he enjoyed his first success when he secured aMunstertitle following a 6-7 to 2-8 defeat ofGalway.Cork later facedWexfordin the All-Ireland final. After a thrilling 6-7 apiece draw, Norberg's side were narrowly defeated in the replay by 4-1 to 1-8.

Two years later in 1968 Norberg was a small member of the Cork under-21 team. He secured aMunstertitle in that grade following a 4-10 to 1-13 defeat ofTipperary.An All-Ireland final appearance soon followed withKilkennyproviding the opposition. An entertaining followed which eventually saw Cork triumph by 1-18 to 5-9. It was anAll-Irelandunder-21 title for Norberg.

In 1969 Norberg was still eligible for the under-21 grade. He added a second Munster title to his collection that year before later lining out in a second consecutive All-Ireland final. Wexford were the opponents and after a high-scoring game Cork emerged as the winners by 5-13 to 4-7. It was Norberg's second consecutive All-Ireland under-21 title.

Senior

Following his performances in the minor and under-21 grades Norberg joined the Cork senior hurling team in 1971. He was a non-playing substitute that year, however, Cork enjoyed little success in the championship.

In 1972 Norberg was appointed captain of Cork. After guiding his team to theNational Hurling Leaguetitle, Norberg later lined out in his first Munster final.Clarewere the opponents and a rout took place as Cork recorded a huge 6-18 to 2-8 victory. It was Norberg's firstMunsterwinners’ medal.The game was not without incident as Norberg picked up a groin injury in that game and for a time it looked likely that his season was over. He missed Cork's subsequent victory overLondonin the All-Ireland semi-final, however, he recovered in time to lead out his team against Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final. With time running out Cork were cruising to victory and lead ‘the Cats’ by eight points. Norberg had to be substituted during the game due to injury, however, a victory seemed certain. A Kilkenny fight-back saw the team draw level with Cork and score a further seven points without reply to capture a 3-24 to 5-11 victory. It was a huge blow to a Cork team that seemed destined for victory.

The loss was a double blow as on the same day the Cork Minors were also defeated by Kilkenny, where another Norberg - Frank's younger brother John - also represented Cork.

Norberg was relegated to the substitutes' bench again in 1973 before leaving the inter-county set-up at the end of the year.