Frank Norberg

Infobox GAA player
code= Hurling
sport = Hurling


name = Frank Norberg
irish = Prionsias Norberg
fullname = Frank Norberg
placeofbirth = Cork
countryofbirth = Ireland
dob =
dob =
height =
nickname =
county = Cork
province = Munster
club = Blackrock
clposition = Right corner-back
clubs =
clyears =
clapps(points) =
clcounty =
clprovince=
clallireland =
counties = Cork
icposition = Midfield
icyears = 1972
icapps(points) = 5 (0-0)
icprovince = 1
icallireland = 1
allstars =
clupdate =
icupdate =

Frank Norberg (born 1948 in Cork, Ireland) is a retired Irish sportsperson. He played hurling with his local club Blackrock and with the Cork senior inter-county team in the 1970s.

Early life

Frank Norberg was born in Cork in 1948. The possessor of a most unusual surname, his ancestors settled in Ireland after leaving Sweden. Norberg was born into a family deeply associated with Cork hurling. His grandfather, Jer Norberg, won an All-Ireland title with Cork in 1893.

Playing career

Club

Norberg played his club hurling with the famous Blackrock club in Cork. He enjoyed some success at underage levels before winning his first senior county championship title in 1971. This started a great run of success for the club, as ‘the Rockies’ later converted this county win into a Munster club title as well as an All-Ireland club 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 by James Stephens of 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.

Inter-county

Norberg first came to prominence as an inter-county hurler in 1966. That year he played on the Cork minor team that won the Munster title, however, an All-Ireland medal at that level eluded him. Two years later in 1968 Norberg was playing with the county’s under-21 team. Once again he collected a Munster title, however, at this level he also won an All-Ireland medal. In 1969 Cork made it two-in-a-row with Norberg collecting another set of Munster and All-Ireland under-21 titles.

Norberg’s performance with his club brought him to the attention of the senior selectors in the early 1970s. He won a National Hurling League medal in 1972 and was also appointed captain of the team for the championship. The campaign got off to a good start with Norberg winning his first senior Munster title. In the subsequent All-Ireland final against Kilkenny Norberg had to leave the field during the game injured. In spite of this it looked as if Cork were cruising to victory over their old enemy. Unfortunately for Norberg, Cork froze and Kilkenny came back to win the match. Norberg was never selected for inter-county duty after his year as captain.

Teams