Norwich City honorary life president Michael Wynn Jones dies at 85

Norwich City have announced the death of honorary life president Michael Wynn Jones at the age of 85. In a statement issued on September 28, the club said he died peacefully at home on Monday morning. Wynn Jones, the husband of television cook Delia Smith, had served alongside her on Norwich's board for 28 years before becoming an honorary life president.

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The club expressed its sadness at his death and extended condolences to Delia, Tom and his wider family, friends and loved ones. Norwich also passed on the family's gratitude to the community nursing team at St Elizabeth Hospice in Ipswich for the care they had provided. The announcement asked that the family's privacy be respected.

Wynn Jones's long association with the running of Norwich entered a new phase in October 2024. According to the club's statement at the time, shareholders approved resolutions at an extraordinary general meeting at Carrow Road that allowed a restructuring of the club's share capital. Those decisions also brought his and Smith's time as directors to an end.

The couple then took up honorary life president roles, with the board formally thanking them for their contributions over almost three decades. Their departure from the board was announced alongside approval of Richard Ressler's appointment as a director. Norwich listed Mark Attanasio, Ressler, Tom Smith and Zoe Webber as the board members going forward.

The October 2024 announcement also set out the next stage of investment by Norfolk Holdings, the group led by Attanasio. Newly created preference shares were to be allotted to the group, with one class eligible for conversion into ordinary shares from March 1, 2025. The club said that conversion would take Norfolk Holdings' ordinary shareholding to approximately 85 percent.

Reporting carried by Head Topics and attributed to the BBC described a life beyond football in journalism and publishing. Wynn Jones worked for the Daily Mirror and The Spectator before establishing his own publishing company. He and Smith lived near Stowmarket in Suffolk, and their years at Norwich included several promotions to the Premier League.