Ipswich Town F.C.

Ipswich Town F.C. was started as an amateur team in 1878 and was called "Ipswich A.F.C."^[2] The club played a lot of games in the local area and won several cup competitions.^[3] In 1936, they became a professional club and joined a league called the "Southern League" which they won in their first season. In 1938, they were elected to join The Football League and played in "Division Three (South)" until the end of the 1954 season, when they were promoted to "Division Two".^[4]

In 1961, Ipswich Town won their division and were promoted to the highest level of English football, "Division One". The club went on to win this division the next season. This let them play in European football competition, The European Cup the following season. Two years later, they were sent back to "Division Two" where they stayed for four years before being promoted to "Division One" again, in 1968. Soon after, Bobby Robson became the manager of the club and led them to success in both English and European football. In 1978 Ipswich won the FA Cup at Wembley Stadium, beating Arsenal F.C. 1–0. Further success came in 1981 when Ipswich defeated Dutch team AZ Alkmaar.^[5]

Bobby Robson was asked to become manager of the England national football team in 1982 so he left the club. Ipswich did not do well in the following seasons and were relegated to "Division Two" in 1986. They remained here until 1991 when they won the division and promotion into the new English Premier League. Three seasons followed, including a 9–0 defeat by Manchester United F.C.in their last season, along with Crystal Palace's loss to Liverpool the joint biggest defeat in Premier League history.^[6][7] In 1995 Ipswich were relegated once again and stayed in second division of English football until they were promoted in 2000 after they beat Barnsley in the play-offs at Wembley 4–2.^[4]

In their first season in the Premier League, Ipswich finished fifth; This meant they qualified to play in the UEFA Cup the next season. Although the club played well in the European competition, they were poor in the Premier League. At the end of that season they finished bottom and were relegated to Division One, now called Football League Championship.^[4] Ipswich were relegated to League One after the 18/19 season, finishing last in the championship.^[8]

One of Ipswich Town's nicknames is The Blues.^[9] This is because the traditional kit the players wear is usually mostly blue. When Ipswich play against other teams who also wear blue, they change to an alternative kit, sometimes called an "away" kit. The "away" kit has been different colours including orange, white, red and black vertical stripes. Currently, the away kit is plain white.^[10]

The crest which is on the shirts and shorts of the kit shows a horse, with one hoof resting on a football. Underneath the horse is a river—this represents the River Orwell which flows through the town.^[11]

Ipswich Town play their home games at a stadium called Portman Road. The club started playing games here in 1884.^[12] The stadium can hold over 30,000 people. Outside the ground there are statues of both Bobby Robson and Sir Alf Ramsey.^[13][14]

In 2003, England played a game against Croatia at Portman Road.^[15] England won the game 3–1.^[16] The England youth team has also played at the stadium several times.^[17]

Other sports have been played at Portman Road, including athletics, hockey and American football. The stadium has also been used for events other than sports. It was first used for concerts in 1990 by Tina Turner, ^[18] and subsequently in following years by Elton John,^[19] R.E.M.,^[20] Red Hot Chili Peppers,^[21] and Rod Stewart.^[22]

Local fans call the team "Town" because it is a shortened version of the team name. Some people also call Ipswich the "Tractor Boys". This nickname is used a lot by newspapers.^[23][24] Many Ipswich fans use this name as a joke rather than letting it be an insult.

The main rival of Ipswich Town is Norwich City who are based in Norfolk. When these two teams play, the game is called the "East Anglian derby". The derby is usually referred to as the 'Old Farm' derby, a take on the 'Old Firm' derby played in Scotland between Glasgow Celtic and Glasgow Rangers (now 'The Rangers').^[25][26]

Mick Mills holds the record for Ipswich league appearances. He played 591 matches between 1966 and 1982. The club's top league goalscorer is Ray Crawford, who scored 203 goals between 1958 and 1969. Ted Phillips holds the record for the most goals scored in a season, 41 in the 1956–57 season. Allan Hunter has played the most international games while at the club, making 47 appearances for Northern Ireland.

The club's widest victories in the league have been their 7–0 wins against Portsmouth in 1964, against Southampton in 1974 and against West Bromwich Albion in the First Division in 1976. Their biggest defeats in the league were 10–1 against Fulham in 1963 and 9–0 against Manchester United in 1995.

The highest number of people to watch Ipswich at Portman Road is 38,010 for a sixth round FA Cup match against Leeds United on 8 March 1975.

The largest amount of money received for an Ipswich player is £6.5 million, from Newcastle United for Kieron Dyer in July 1999. The most the club has spent on a player was £4.75 million for Matteo Sereni from Sampdoria in July 2001.^[27]

Kieran Mckenna is the manager of Ipswich Town. He replaced Paul Cook. Cook joined Ipswich Town in 2021, after Paul Lambert. Lambert' moved to Ipswich Town from Stoke City in the Premier League, where he spent 4 months in charge.

Two managers of Ipswich Town have gone on to become the manager of the England national football team. The first was Sir Alf Ramsey. He also won the World Cup for England in 1966. The second was Sir Bobby Robson who got England to the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup. George Burley became manager of the Scotland national football team in January 2008, for 22 months.

Name	Nationality	From	To	M	W	D	L	Win %
Mick O'Brien	Ireland	29 May 1936	11 August 1937	39	25	9	5	064.1
Scott Duncan	Scotland	12 November 1937	7 August 1955	505	205	113	187	040.6
Alf Ramsey	England	8 August 1955	30 April 1963	369	176	75	118	047.7
Jackie Milburn	England	1 May 1963	8 September 1964	56	11	12	33	019.6
Bill McGarry	England	5 October 1964	23 November 1968	196	80	62	54	040.8
Bobby Robson	England	13 January 1969	18 August 1982	709	316	173	220	044.6
Bobby Ferguson	England	19 August 1982	17 May 1987	258	97	61	100	037.6
John Duncan	Scotland	17 June 1987	5 May 1990	161	73	29	59	045.3
John Lyall	England	11 May 1990	5 December 1994	231	77	75	79	033.3
George Burley	Scotland	28 December 1994	11 October 2002	413	188	96	129	045.5
Joe Royle	England	28 October 2002	11 May 2006	189	81	48	60	042.9
Jim Magilton	Northern Ireland	5 June 2006	22 April 2009	148	56	41	51	037.8
Roy Keane	Ireland	23 April 2009	7 January 2011	81	28	25	28	034.6
Paul Jewell	England	13 January 2011	24 October 2012	86	30	18	38	034.9
Mick McCarthy	Ireland	1 November 2012	10 April 2018	279	105	78	96	037.6
Paul Hurst	England	30 May 2018	25 October 2018	15	1	7	7	006.7
Paul Lambert	Scotland	27 October 2018	28 February 2021	113	37	28	48	032.7
Paul Cook	England	2 March 2021	4 December 2021	44	13	17	14	029.5
Kieran McKenna	Northern Ireland	20 December 2021	Present	79	44	23	12	055.7

Ipswich Town won the top division once (when it was called Division One) in 1962. The club has won the FA Cup once, in 1978, when they defeated Arsenal F.C. 1–0. The club has also won the UEFA Cup once in 1981.^[28]

Former positions