Ipswich Town Football Club - Tractor Boys

Ipswich Town History

2006-07 Season

14th in the Championship
League Cup: 1st round: Peterborough United a. Lost 4-2 on penalties
FA Cup: 5th round: Watford a. 0-1

Highlight:
3-1 win over Norwich City, 19/11/06

Low Spot:
1-5 defeat at home to Ipswich Town, 14/10/06

Good:
Dan Harding
Didn't fit in at Leeds but his uncompromising defending was sorely missed at Elland Road after moving on to Ipswich. Harding is an old fashioned full back who doesn't take prisoners and his consistency was invaluable to a team generally lacking that quality.
Sylvain Legwinski
Added a touch of class after moving from Fulham and his influence on a young side was evident. Scored some cracking goals and was the chief creative source of the side.

Bad:
Dean Bowditch
Another season in which the young forward failed to make any serious impression.
Matt Richards
Is he a defender or a midfielder? Nobody seems quite sure and whether Richards will ever make either position his own is debatable. The Portman Road crowd certainly aren't convinced.

In Brief:
Losing the first three games suggested this might be a testing season for Ipswich but four wins in the next five raised optimism.
Jim Magilton's young side, not surprisingly, lacked real consistency, however, and the team never stirred from mid table. There were enough positive results to raise hopes of a promising future though and the loan signing of Franny Jeffers showed what some added quality could do to the side.
Four defeats in January ended any prospects of a play off challenge although the most galling defeat of all was the unlucky defeat at Watford which ended their FA Cup run in the 5th round.
Hopefully the clubs' excellent youth system will be rewarded over the next couple of seasons with a genuine promotion challenge.

Ipswich Town - Club History

Ipswich Town Football Club was formed in 1878 after a meeting at the Town Hall. The club did not gain entry into the Football League until 1938, however, when they were elected into Division Three South.

The clubs' first season of note came in 1953-54 when they were champions of Division Three South and also made the 5th round of the FA Cup before losing 6-1 to Preston North End. They managed only one season in Division Two before being relegated, however.

Two seasons later, in 1957, Ipswich were again crowned champions of Division Three South and made a better fist of life in the second division this time around.

With Alf Ramsey in charge the club acclimatised before winning the Division Two title in 1961. Incredibly they then went on to top the first division table at the end of their first season in the top flight to be crowned league champions.

Crucial to the sides success was the prolific strikeforce of Ray Crawford and Ted Phillips. The pair scored 69 league goals between them in the second division in 1960-61 and managed 61 in the first division the following season.

Winning the title gave Ipswich an early taste of European competition as they took their place in the European Cup of 1962-63. They defeated Floriana Valletta of Malta 14-1 on aggregate before going out to AC Milan on a 4-2 aggregate in the second round.

This was an ageing side and the success did not last. Indeed Ramsey left the club on a definite downward path when he took over the England managers job in 1963.

Ipswich were relegated back into Division Two in 1964 and stayed four seasons before being promoted to the top flight as champions in 1968. Bobby Robson took over as manager the following year and led the club forward for thirteen splendid seasons.

They qualified for European competition in nine seasons out of ten from 1973-74 and managed to win the UEFA Cup in 1980-81.

Ipswich defeated Aris Salonika of Greece (6-4 on aggregate), Bohemians Prague of Czechoslovakia (3-2), Widzew Lodz of Poland (5-1), St Etienne of France (7-2), FC Cologne of West Germany (2-0) and AZ 67 Alkmaar of Holland in the final (5-4).

The attacking midfielder John Wark set a goalscoring record with fourteen goals in that seasons competition.

Domestic success during this period came in the shape of the 1978 FA Cup. Ipswich knocked out Cardiff City, Hartlepool United, Bristol Rovers, Millwall and West Bromwich Albion before beating Arsenal 1-0 with a Roger Osbourne goal at Wembley. The scoreline did not do justice to their superiority on the day, however.

Ipswich blew a good chance of winning the league title in 1975 when a late slump saw them finish 3rd behind Derby County and they also fell away in the latter stages in 1981 to finish 2nd behind Aston Villa. The demands of fighting on three fronts in 1981 probably cost the club their chance of the title. They were knocked out of the FA Cup at the semi final stage as well as going on to win the UEFA Cup.

They finished as runners up again the following season, 1981-82, behind Liverpool to confirm their status as one of the countries finest sides.

Star players such as Mick Mills, Kevin Beattie, Brian Talbot, Trevor Whymark, David Johnson, Terry Butcher, Arnold Muhren, Frans Thijssen, Paul Mariner, Alan Brazil and Eric Gates all served the club with distinction during this golden period.

The clubs status diminished after Robson left to become England manager in 1982. They were relegated into Division Two in 1986 and although they reached the play offs the season after they lost out to Charlton Athletic in the semi finals.

Promotion did not arrive until 1991-92 when Ipswich won the Division Two title to claim a place in the first ever Premier League.

Ipswich were relegated from the Premier League in 1995 and did not return until 2000. They had reached the play offs for four seasons running before gaining that promotion.

In 1997 they lost in the semi finals on away goals to Sheffield United, were beaten by Charlton the following season at the same stage, went out on away goals again in 1999 to Bolton Wanderers before actually beating Bolton in the semis the year after and clinching promotion with a 4-2 victory over Barnsley.

The club enjoyed a superb first season back in the Premier League finishing 5th and qualifying for the UEFA Cup. The following season they collapsed, however, and suffered relegation.

Despite reaching the play offs in the past two seasons Ipswich have yet to find a way back to the Premier League, losing out to West Ham United in the semi finals on both occasions.

The club have benefitted from an outstanding youth system in recent years which has allowed them to cash in on the likes of Kieron Dyer, Titus Bramble, Richard Wright, Darren Ambrose and Darren Bent.

The production line is still running smoothly as their triumph in the 2005 FA Youth Cup shows.

The clubs best effort in the League Cup has been to reach the semi finals which they managed in both 1982 and 1985. Their hopes of glory were dashed by Liverpool in 1982 and by their East Anglian rivals Norwich City in 1985.

Ipswich did manage to defeat Norwich to claim the Texaco Cup in 1973, however.

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