Pride of Anglia - Ipswich Town Football Club
since 1878
Do You Remember...
...when Blues went Double Dutch?
In the summer of 1978 Blues were the darlings of the football world, having just won the FA Cup for the first time in the Club's history, but Bobby Robson was always looking to improve the team what he did next would turn heads across Europe.
At that time few overseas players played in English football, the majority coming from the British Isles and the Republic of Ireland. At their AGM in the summer of 1978 The Football League relaxed the regulations on hiring overseas players and one of the first clubs to take advantage of this change were Tottenham Hotspur, who signed two Argentinian World Cup winners - Osvaldo Ardiles and Ricardo Villa - for the princely sum of £750,000. At the time this deal was cut Bobby Robson was holidaying with his family in the same hotel as Sir Matt Busby and over drinks and dinner the two men agreed that signing foreign players would be beneficial to the English game as long as they were of high enough quality and offered skills and expertise that were lacking in England.
Ipswich played on the continent in the pre-season and Robson heard that a left-sided midfield player at Twente Enschede, Arnold Muhren, was unsettled and wanted a transfer. Muhren began his career with the Ajax team who won the European Cup three times in a row in the early 1970s - the team of Cruyff, Krol, Haan and Neeskens. His brother Gerrie played in all three games and Arnold was a substitute in the 1972 and 1973 finals. Clearly a player of pedigree, Ajax wanted to re-sign Muhren but Twente's asking price of £150,000 was too high for them. By English standards at the time, it was a low price and Robson decided Muhren would be an excellent addition to the squad. Arranging for a small plane to fly to Amsterdam, Robson saw Muhren and terms were agreed, but Muhren's wife didn't want to leave Holland. A bit of persuasion was needed, and Robson flew Arnold and his wife over to Suffolk the following day, arranging with the pilot to fly over the scenic countryside and over the ground while a practice match was in progress - the players on the ground knew Robson was in the plane above and waved!
It took several more phone calls and a few days of anxiety before the Muhren's changed their mind and agreed to come to England. Arnold made his debut in the first home game of the season - against European Cup holders Liverpool no less! Liverpool won 3-0 that night and Muhren's memories of the game were that the ball kept passing him by from defence to attack. He must have wondered why he agreed to join Ipswich!
Muhren quickly became a favourite with the fans, and team tactics were modified to accommodate Muhren's passing style of play, which had previously been to reach the front players as quickly as possible, with the midfield and full backs following up quickly. Entertaining and successful, but not a style which made use of the new man's talents. Slowly, the team adapted to pass the ball through the middle, and within a short space of time Muhren's talents were being fully utilised. Possessing great vision and ability, Muhren's passing was comparable to that of his contempary Glenn Hoddle, and of David Beckham and Steven Gerrard in the modern game, and he was described by John Motson as being "the man with the velvet feet."
Robson's forays onto the continent were not yet complete. Arsenal had shown interest in local hero and midfield powerhouse Brian Talbot and in January 1979 a deal was agreed and Talbot went to Highbury for £450,000, a record fee for both Clubs at the time. Within a month Robson had signed a replacement - another Dutchman, Frans Thijssen - for less than half that amount, £200,000. Robson had long known of Thijssen - the latter had already played against Ipswich four times in the UEFA Cup in the mid-1970s! - and when Muhren was asked his opinion of his compatriot and former team-mate he replied, "he is a better player than I am." Robson needed no further encouragement and pressed FC Twente hard to complete the deal. Twente didn't want to sell Thijssen until the end of the season, but a harsh winter had meant that the Dutch League had been cancelled for six weeks and Clubs were finding it difficult to pay players' salaries. Thijssen's sale became a necessity for the Dutch club and Blues were the beneficiaries.
Thijssen's first game for Ipswich, before he had yet put pen to paper, was in Trevor Whymark's testimonial game against Norwich City. His next appearance against the Canaries came at Carrow Road two months later in which he scored the only goal of the game, and his first for his new Club. In sixteen League games in which the two Dutchmen played that season Blues lost only one, at Anfield, home of the soon-to-be League Champions.
Together they gave Blues a new way of playing. They complemented each other perfectly - Muhren was the passer, Thijssen the dribbler. Both were extremely talented and comfortable on the ball, in the way all Dutchmen seemed to be in the 1970s. The two players gave the side width - Muhren on the left, Thijssen on the right - and with the ever-improving John Wark in the middle, Blues had a fearsome midfield trio, one which the Dutchmen's former manager at Twente, Ton van Dalen, predicted would become "one of the most accomplished and feared in British football." How right he was.
By the end of that first season, the fans' appreciation of their new playmakers was shown by Muhren being voted the Supporters' Player of the Year. Thijssen won the accolade the following season, and he was also voted the Football Writers' Play of the Year in 1981.
In the 128 games Muhren and Thijssen played together for Ipswich, Blues won 72 and lost only 25, and they contributed 32 goals between them. No wonder they were held in such high regard, both when they played and in the years since. Both men now coach a new generation of players, passing on their considerable skills. Muhren plies his trade in Holland, whilst Thijssen has spent several years coaching in the Middle East.
Ian Hunneybell
Also during the 1978/79 season...
Sport
Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest breaks the British transfer record by signing the first million-pound player, Trevor Francis, from Birmingham City.
At the age of 36, Muhammad Ali won the world heavyweight boxing title for a record third time, beating Leon Spinks, 11 years his junior.
Norwich City achieved a new First Division record by drawing 23 of their 42 League games. Exciting times indeed for the Carrow Road faithful.
UK
Bulgarian defector Georgi Markov is killed in London by a poison-filled pellet, injected using an umbrella.
Public sector workers take part in the biggest strike since 1926, which leads to the downfall of Jim Callaghan's Labour government.
Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Airey Neave was killed by a car bomb as he left the House of Commons car park.
Tuvalu in the Pacific and Dominica and Saint Lucia in the Caribbean all gain their independence from the United Kingdom.
After 179 years, the British military leave Malta.
World
Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, the Archbishop of Krakow, becomes Pope John Paul II.
In Jonestown, Guyana, over 900 people committed mass suicide.
In December 1978, Spaniards voted for democracy and ended almost 40 years of dictatorial rule.
Ayatollah Khomeini returned form exile to Iran, and declared the Islamic Republisc of Iran in April 1979.
The Three Mile Island nuclear accident caused panic across America.
A Soviet bio-warfare laboratory at Sverdlovsk accidentally releases airborne anthrax spores, killing 66 people.
Entertainment
Sid Vicious, of the Sex Pistols, dies of a drug overdose in New York City.
Gali Atari and Milk and Honey win the Eurovision Song Contest for Israel, with their Hebrew song Hallalujah.
Boney M had the Christmas number one in 1978 with Mary's Boy Child.
Other Number Ones during the season included Olivia Newton John and John Travolta with Summer Nights, Village People with that perennial favourite YMCA, and Blondie's Heart of Glass, not forgetting the Bee Gees' Tragedy and Art Garfunkel's Bright Eyes.
The 1978 Oscars ceremony was held in April 1979, with The Deerhunter winning Best Picture and Jon Voight (father of Angelina Jolie) and Jane Fonda winning Best Actor and Actress for their roles in Coming Home.