Pride of Anglia - Ipswich Town Football Club
since 1878
Do You Remember ... Sunday 8th May, 1994
The Great Escape!
When John Lyall's Blues won the Second Division Championship for the third time in the club's history in 1992, it marked the end of an era for English football. Why? That August, after over 100 years of being the top League competition in England the Football League gave up that title to the newly formed FA Premier League, and Blues were therefore one of its founder members. The season began exceedingly well and by the New Year were in fifth place, having lost only two out of 22 League games. A post-Christmas slump saw Blues finish the season in 16th place, but the following season the fans had renewed optimism as Blues won their opening three games and were perched near the top of the table. One of the best teams in the land, perhaps..?
Well, not quite. In August 1993 the talismanic Jason Dozzell was sold to Spurs, and Blues lost an influential playmaker and one of their top goalscorers. Throughout the season Blues struggled to find the back of the net and their final goal tally of just 35 in 42 games - the lowest in the division that season - illustrated what everyone knew. New signing Ian Marshall's goal haul of 10 was twice that of his nearest conteneder - Chris Kiwomya - and three of those had come in those opening three games!
During 1993-94 Town became known as a hard-battling team of limited resources as they struggled to grind out results. After the opening three wins, Blues went 8 games without a win, dropping into the bottom half of the table. Points had to be won somehow, and head coach Mick McGiven opted for cautious formations, particularly away from home. This did nothing for Blues' image nationwide and they soon found themselves the butt of the national press, very difficult to take given the Club's standing over many years as "everyone's favourite second club."
By early March, when Arsenal came to town, Blues were languishing in mid-table and had just been knocked out of the FA Cup by Endsleigh League Wolves. By the end of the game Blues had been humiliated, humbled and embarrassed, as they suffered their biggest home defeat, 5-1, since Derby won by four goals in a meaningless end of season game in 1976. A 3-1 defeat in the next home game against QPR did nothing to improve matters and had fans clamouring for McGiven's head to roll.
Things continued to go from bad to worse and a failure to win any of their last eleven games ensured that Town's already poor season was to have a dramatic ending. With the last two games against the top two sides in the country - Manchester United and Blackburn Rovers - everyone knew it would be a tough finish to the season. A spirited fight against the Champions-elect from Manchester saw Chris Kiwomya give Town the lead, but the largest crowd of the season went home frustrated as United won 2-1 leaving Blues on the brink of relegation. Alex Ferguson complained about the long grass but Mick McGiven responded that, "Alex saw the pitch in the morning and thought it was one of the best he had seen. It cannot have changed that much."
On the final day of the season, the title had already gone to Old Trafford, with Kenny Dalglish's Blackburn Rovers assured of second spot – their highest placing for 80 years. The situation at the other end of the table, however, was anything but clear. With Swindon already relegated, any two from five Clubs could go down and Town's visit to Blackburn, needing a win to be sure of avoiding relegation, was looking like a tough prospect. The surprise package among those in trouble was Everton, who started the day in a relegation place, in danger of losing their place in the top flight after 40 years.
For Chelsea, who faced relegation-threatened Sheffield United, £1.6 million striker Mark Stein (pictured) was expected to make his first appearance for 10 weeks after damaging ankle ligaments.
Blues began the final day of the season just one position above the relegation places. The game at Ewood Park was a tense affair, and a goalless first half just added to the tension. With England international keeper Tim Flowers in the Rovers goal it was never going to be easy for the visitors to score. As the game wore on Town created several chances but were unable to convert. At the other end of the pitch Craig Forrest had to save well from an Alan Shearer header, and Mick Stockwell made a goal-line clearance to keep Blues on level terms, before a heated appeal for a Blackburn penalty made a few Blues hearts miss a beat. On hearing that Everton had turned a 2-0 deficit against Wimbledon into an unlikely 3-2 win, courtesy of some notably poor goalkeeping by Hans Segers, Blues fans knew that with Sheffield United drawing at Chelsea and Southampton winning at Upton Park, they would be relegated unless their team could win.
Blues tried all-out attack in the final few minutes and a David Linighan header was scrambled away before Ian Marshall's overhead kick went over the crossbar. In a heart-stopping end to the season, news filtered through that down at Stamford Bridge with only 30 seconds left on the clock, Chelsea' Mark Stein had scored a late, late winner, meaning that a draw would be good enough for Blues and put Sheffield United down. The final few minutes at Ewood Park yielded no goals and the game ended 0-0, but that point was good enough for Blues to finish ahead of Sheffield United, by the narrowest of margins, and avoid relegation.
Three years later, Mark Stein came to Portman Road on loan and, because of the events of 7th May 1994, was ensured a hero's welcome every time he set foot on the pitch!
Ian Hunneybell