Delia: 'We've put all our earnings into this'

East Anglian derby: Canaries flying high as their TV cook figurehead raises the stakes with passion and prudence

In these days of footballing fly-by-nights and dubious types with a hawk's eye on the main chance, Delia Smith is a rare breed, unequivocal in her desire never to shed that distinctive yellow-and-green plumage. "We're Norwich 'til we die," declares the TV cook, who together with her husband Michael Wynn Jones, is majority shareholder of the Nationwide First Division club.

That is some statement of dedication, considering that her counterpart at Wolves, Sir Jack Hayward, has only just, reluctantly, allowed himself to be prised from chairmanship of his beloved Wanderers, and that at the age of 80. As the woman known universally by her Christian name is a mere 62, it gives her many years to recant at leisure. Some chance. The determination of Delia, who pronounces that "cooking gives me the most satisfaction and football the most frustration", to see City back among the élite is manifest. It is eight seasons since City were a Premiership club.

Around Carrow Road, there's a swagger of self-approval these days, a condition which has only periodically been observed over the last decade. True, the Norfolk club progressed to the play-offs last year, only to be beaten by Birmingham in the final. But that had to be savoured in the context of their East Anglian rivals, Ipswich, not only participating in the Premiership but competing in Europe the same season.

The Canaries, in second place before yesterday's games, and the Tractor Men, in fourth, meet at lunchtime today at Carrow Road. At stake will be more than local honour. Certainly Norwich's moves in the transfer market in recent days, signing two forwards, Matthias Svensson from Charlton and Peterborough's Leon McKenzie, has demonstrated their commitment to a potent promotion attempt. That pair could be joined permanently for £750,000 by Darren Huckerby, who has returned to Manchester City after a highly successful loan period.

That transfer would be financed by the £1.5m Norwich hope to accumulate from a share issue. "If we can't get Huckerby, we would be in a position to move for other players," says Smith. "We have pledged that any money raised will go straight to the manager so he can strengthen the squad. It won't go to clearing debt."

Debt. That dreaded word. It begs the question, just quite how mad do you have to be to involve yourself in a professional football club? "Last season was difficult [Norwich finished eighth]," Smith says, "and we knew we'd have to strengthen the squad, but we are still fighting the results of the ITV Digital collapse, which contributed to our trading loss of £4m last year. That's what we're battling against."

Still, she could always sell out if needed. "I can't see Michael and I ever selling - unless it was really going to benefit the club in some way. Which is not to say we don't have all kinds of strange offers. There are a lot of strange people out there trying to get into football clubs. We had one from a man who said he was a life-long supporter of Norwich and would like to buy it for £5m and be chairman. We said, 'No, it's not for sale', so he said, 'Right, I'll go and buy Ipswich'. We haven't heard that he has."

There is a tendency for supporters to imagine that a club owner like Smith - an iconic TV name whose features beam at you from her best-selling bibles, including Delia's How To Cook volumes, in every bookshop - has merely to delve into her purse to reinforce the side. Not so, though the financial input she and her husband have made has been considerable. "On Saturday, when Darren Huckerby scored two goals, and set up two more, they were all chanting, 'Get your chequebook out, Delia'," she says, with a laugh. "Football takes over about half of my life, although I do keep up the day job. And we do take it deadly seriously. I think everyone can see that we're both absolutely passionate. Michael and I have put all our money, our life's earnings, into it."

Everything? "Well, quite a lot. We've been board directors for seven years and if you tot it up, the shares we've bought and everything else, it comes to about £7m." Delia has also endowed Carrow Road with her own specific expertise and personality. Catering and the assorted spin-offs are obviously a personal interest, and these days you will find food and wine workshops and gourmet evenings which swell club income.

She adds: "It is a beautiful game, but when you read about what happens to some clubs, you do see how silly it gets. This can be a crazy, crazy business. I sometimes think to myself, 'What the hell do you think you're doing?' "

Which is why some First Division chairmen harbour apprehension about a new life in the Premiership. "We don't have any concerns about it, because we have already planned what we would do. We would allow a certain amount of money, and no more. If we went down we'd have to use the [TV] money to strengthen the squad, and hopefully go back, as Charlton did. The number one priority is that the football club survives and that we don't go into administration.

"We would definitely go for it. You've got to for the supporters. It's obviously quite hard to stay up in the Premiership without money, but success can be achieved with teamwork and spirit, can't it? Ipswich managed it for one season, purely because they had the team and the spirit. What went wrong was probably Europe qualification, when they started spending on players. We'll learn from that. We are great friends with David Sheepshanks [Ipswich chairman] anyway, and we have discussed it already."

Nothing like being able to rely on some good neighbourliness. Just not today.