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Ipswich Town F.C.
Ipswich Town Football Club (also known as Ipswich, The Blues, Town or The Tractor Boys) are an English professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2008, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn professional until 1936, and were subsequently elected to join the Football League in 1938. They play their home games at Portman Road in Ipswich. The only fully professional football club in Suffolk, they have a long-standing and fierce rivalry with Norwich City in Norfolk, with whom they have contested the East Anglian Derby 134 times since 1902.[1] Ipswich won the English league title once, in 1961–62, and have been runners-up twice in 1980–81 and 1981–82. They won the FA Cup in 1977–78, and the UEFA Cup in 1980–81.
History
The club was founded as an amateur side in 1878. Ipswich were known as Ipswich A.F.C. until 1888 when they merged with Ipswich Rugby Club to form Ipswich Town Football Club,[2] the team won a number of local cup competitions, including the Suffolk Challenge Cup and the Suffolk Senior Cup.[3] They joined the Southern Amateur League in 1907 and, with results improving steadily, became champions in the 1921–22 season.[4] The club won the league a further three times, in 1929–30, 1932–33 and 1933–34, before becoming founder members of the Eastern Counties Football League at the end of the 1934–35 season. A year later, the club turned professional and joined the Southern League, which they won in its first season and finished third in the next.[5] Ipswich were elected to The Football League on 30 May, 1938, and played in Division Three (South) until the end of the 1953–54 season, when they won the title and promotion to Division Two. The club were immediately relegated back to Division Three (South) the following year at the end of a poor season, but made better progress after Scott Duncan was replaced as team manager by Alf Ramsey in August 1955. The club won the Division Three (South) title again in 1956–57, and returned to the higher division. This time, Ipswich established themselves in Division Two, and as the division champions, won promotion to the top level of English football, Division One, in 1960–61.[5] 
Statue of Sir Alf Ramsey at Portman Road. Robson led Ipswich to two major trophies and several seasons in top flight European football. The successful period began in 1973 when the club won the Texaco Cup and finished fourth in the league, qualifying for the UEFA Cup for the first time. By the late 1970s, Robson had built a strong side with talent in every department, introducing the Dutch pair Arnold Muhren and Frans Thijssen to add flair to a team that featured British internationals including John Wark, Terry Butcher and Paul Mariner. Ipswich regularly featured in the top five of the league and in the UEFA Cup.[9] At their peak in 1980 they beat Manchester United 6–0 at Portman Road, a game where United goalkeeper Gary Bailey also saved three penalties.[10] Major success came in 1978 when Ipswich beat Arsenal at Wembley Stadium to win their only FA Cup trophy,[11] the triumph was followed by a UEFA Cup victory in 1981. The club also finished as league runners-up in 1981 and 1982.[12][13][14] 
Statue of Sir Bobby Robson at Portman Road. Lyall's successor, George Burley, was unable to turn team performances around, and Ipswich suffered a Premiership record defeat, 9–0, at Manchester United, on their way to relegation.[23][24] Back in the second tier of the league, Burley led the club to three consecutive promotion playoffs, but they were to endure defeats in all three semi-finals. Ipswich finally returned to the Premiership in 2000 after coming from behind to beat Barnsley 4–2 in the last Division One playoff final at Wembley Stadium.[5] Ipswich performed well in the Premiership in their first season with Burley's side finishing in an impressive fifth place—being pipped by Liverpool on the last day of the season for a place in the Champions League. Consolation was a UEFA Cup place and FA Premier League Manager of the Year Award for Burley.[25] This spell in the top division ended after two seasons and the loss of income due to relegation led to the club going into financial administration.[26] There was the minor consolation of again qualifying for the UEFA Cup, this time via the UEFA Fair Play ranking, and Ipswich survived two ties before losing in the second round proper to Czech side FC Slovan Liberec.[27] A poor start to the season, culminating in a 3–0 defeat at Grimsby Town, meant that Burley was sacked in October 2002 after nearly eight years as manager.[28] First team coach Tony Mowbray was given four games as caretaker manager, winning once, but he was ultimately replaced as manager by the former Oldham Athletic, Everton and Manchester City manager Joe Royle, who had played for local rival Norwich City.[29] Royle inherited a side struggling near the Division One relegation zone, but revived fortunes such that the team narrowly failed to reach the playoffs.[30] The 2003–04 season saw the club come out of administration and continue to challenge for promotion back to the Premier League.[31] They finished that season in fifth, but were defeated in the playoff semi-finals by West Ham United.[32] Narrowly missing automatic promotion in 2004–05, Royle took Ipswich once more to the play-offs, but once more they lost to West Ham United in the semi-finals.[33] 2005–06 saw a campaign plagued by injuries and Ipswich finished a disappointing 15th — the club's lowest finish since 1966.[34] Joe Royle resigned by mutual consent on 11 May 2006.[35] A month later, Jim Magilton was officially announced as the new manager and former Academy Director Bryan Klug was appointed to assist as first team coach.[36] In 2007 Ipswich became the first carbon neutral football club in England following a collaboration between the fans and the club's main sponsor e.on.[37] In November 2007, the club were involved in takeover discussions with both businessman Marcus Evans and former Birmingham City F.C. director David Sullivan.[38][39] In December 2007, Evans completed his takeover of the club, purchasing an 87.5% stake in the club, investing around £44m which included the purchase of the club's existing £32m debt.[40] The club agreed a sponsorship deal with the Marcus Evans Group on 20 May 2008, lasting until 2013, the longest in the club's history.[41] As of Dec 2007, the club had a board of twelve directors, including David Sheepshanks, Holly Bellingham,[42] and Kevin Beeston.[43] Previous directors include former Chairmen Patrick and John Cobbold,[44] both of Tolly Cobbold; Harold Smith; and Richard Ryder.[45][46][47] Colours and crestOne of Ipswich Town's nicknames is The Blues, stemming from their traditional kit, which is predominantly blue. Since turning professional, Ipswich have used a number of alternate (or away) colours, including white, orange, red and black vertical stripes, claret and green, cream and black vertical stripes and dark blue and claret.[48] 
Crest used from 1972 to 1995. The crest was modified in 1995 after consultation with a Supporters Forum, with the turrets of the Wolsey Gate moved to the top of the crest, the yellow background changed to red, the Suffolk Punch given a more dominant physique and the F.C. expanded to Football Club. Three stars were added to the sleeve of the teams away shirt for the 2004–05 season,[50] and also to the home kit for the 2005–06 season.[51] These stars were added to represent the three major trophies which Ipswich Town have won; the FA Cup, the UEFA Cup and the old Division One. The stars were relocated directly above the crest when the shirt was redesigned prior to the 2007–08 season.[52] In 2006, the club donated 500 orange and blue and white shirts to children in Iraq.[53] Stadia
Panorama of Portman Road, facing the North Stand The first stand, a wooden structure, was built on the Portman Road side of the pitch in 1905. In 1911 the roof was blown off,[55] and the ground was later commandeered by the British Army for the duration of the First World War. The club turned professional in 1936, and work began on the first bank of terracing at the north end of the pitch. The following year, on the back of winning the Southern League, a similar terrace was built at the southern "Churchmans" end. All sides were terraced by 1954, and floodlights were erected in 1959 for use in lower light conditions.[55] The two-tier Portman Stand was built along the east side of the ground in place of the existing terraces in 1971, and the west stand, then known as the "Pioneer Stand" as a result of the club's sponsorship by the electronics company Pioneer Corporation, was converted to all-seating in 1990.[55] 
Average and peak attendances from 1936. Success on the pitch lead to further investment in the infrastructure, with the club spending over £22 million on redeveloping both North and South stands, resulting in a current capacity of 30,311. In the past ten years, statues of both Sir Alf Ramsey and Sir Bobby Robson have been unveiled outside the stadium.[56][57] The playing surface at Portman Road is highly regarded and has been voted best pitch in the league on a number of occasions.[58] The current groundsman, Alan Ferguson, has received a number of accolades, including both Premiership and Championship Groundsman of the Year.[59][60] SupportersDuring the 2005–06 season, Ipswich Town recorded an average attendance of 24,252, approximately 80% of available capacity, the fourth-highest attendance in The Championship.[61] The highest attendance of the season was 29,184 in the local derby against Norwich City.[62] Locally, much is made of the informal title "Pride of Anglia". Fans variously claim the title for either winning the East Anglian Derby, finishing highest in the league, having the better current league position, having the more successful club history or for reasons without any apparent logical basis. The club's main local rival is Norwich City. When the two teams meet it is known as the 'East Anglian Derby', or, informally, as the 'Old Farm Derby', a comic reference to the 'Old Firm Derby' played between Scottish teams Celtic and Rangers.[63] Over the 134 matches played against Norwich City since 1902, Ipswich boasts the better record, having won 45% of the matches to Norwich's 37%.[1][64] A recent nickname for Town is "The Tractor Boys", which was coined during the club's brief successful period in the Premiership (2000–01) when the team regularly competed against more fashionable clubs. The nickname is an example of self-deprecating humour referring to Ipswich's agricultural heritage.[65] The origins of the nickname are not certain, but the first generally-accepted use of the nickname appeared at a losing away game at Birmingham City late in the 1998–99 season, with the home fans chanting "no noise from the Tractor Boys", a name which stuck.[66] Barracking by supporters of more established Premiership clubs during Town's spell in the Premiership lent the ironic chant: '1–0 to the Tractor Boys' increased potency and publicity, and the nickname is commonly used by the media.[67][68] Town manager Jim Magilton commented in the local press that he disliked the nickname, saying that it conjured up, "images of carrot-crunching yokels";[65] while players such as Matt Holland accepted the chant with good humour.[65] Statistics and records
League positions since 1938–39 season. Coloured horizontal lines indicate league divisions. The club's widest victory margins in the league have been their 7–0 wins against Portsmouth in the Second Division in 1964, against Southampton in the First Division in 1974 and against West Bromwich Albion in the First Division in 1976. Their heaviest defeats in the league were 10–1 against Fulham in 1963 and 9–0 against Manchester United in 1995. Ipswich's record home attendance is 38,010 for a sixth round FA Cup match against Leeds United on 8 March 1975. With the introduction of regulations enforcing all-seater stadiums, it is unlikely that this record will be beaten in the foreseeable future. The highest transfer fee received for an Ipswich player is £6.5 million, from Newcastle United for Kieron Dyer in July 1999, while the most spent by the club on a player was £4.75 million for Matteo Sereni from Sampdoria in July 2001 following the club's successful qualification for the UEFA Cup.[69] Players
Current squad(team captain) (club captain) Out on loan
Notable playersPlayers of the YearTowards the end of each season, a player is voted as "Player of the Year" by the fans. Managers
Honours
Ipswich Town in popular cultureA number of Ipswich players featured alongside Sylvester Stallone and Pelé in the 1981 prisoner of war film Escape to Victory, including John Wark, Russell Osman, Laurie Sivell and Kevin O'Callaghan. Other Ipswich Town players stood in for actors in the football scenes - Kevin Beattie for Michael Caine, and Paul Cooper for Sylvester Stallone.[73] Notes
ReferencesExternal links
bg:?? ?????? ???? ca:Ipswich Town Football Club da:Ipswich Town F.C. de:Ipswich Town el:???????? ????? es:Ipswich Town Football Club fr:Ipswich Town Football Club ko:???? ?? FC id:Ipswich Town F.C. it:Ipswich Town F.C. he:????????' ???? lb:Ipswich Town FC lt:Ipswich Town FC nl:Ipswich Town FC ja:???????????FC no:Ipswich Town FC pl:Ipswich Town F.C. pt:Ipswich Town Football Club ru:?????? ???? simple:Ipswich Town F.C. sh:Ipswich Town F.C. fi:Ipswich Town FC sv:Ipswich Town FC tr:Ipswich Town zh:??????????? Source: Wikipedia | The above article is available under the GNU FDL. | Edit this article
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