Pride of Anglia - Ipswich Town Football Club

Tuesday, January 27

Barnsley v Ipswich Town

A preview of tonight's Coca-Cola Championship match Barnsley and Ipswich Town at Oakwell can be found here.

Sunday, January 25

Chelsea 3 Ipswich Town 1

Michael Ballack hit two, either side of Alex Bruce's close range effort, and Frank Lampard struck home a thunderous 35-yard free-kick to end Town's hopes of an extended cup run - and a cup upset - as Chelsea ran out 3-1 victors in yesterday's 4th Round tie at Stamford Bridge. Ballack gave Chelsea the lead after just 16 minutes, but any fears the 6,000 travelling Ipswich fans may have had of a thrashing were quickly dispelled, as Bruce turned home Own Garvan's free-kick to equalise just after the half-hour mark. Although the home side stepped things up a notch after the break it took a superb free-kick from Ballack on 59 minutes to restore their advantage. Lampard's stunning goal five minutes from time wrapped things up for the home side but Jim Magilton side can take a great deal of credit from a tremendous performance that we can only hope they'll be able to carry forward into the final third of this seasons league programme. Match statistics here.

Friday, January 23

Connections: Chelsea v Ipswich Town

Colin Viljoen, Craig Forrest, Jason Cundy, Jimmy Leadbetter, Mark Stein and Kevin Wilson are amongst a smallish number of players to have turned out for both the Chelsea and Ipswich senior sides. The later joined Ipswich from Derby County for GBP100,000 in January 1985. Nicknamed 'Jocky' (after the dart player of the same name) Kevin Wilson managed seven goals in each of his first two seasons in Suffolk as Ipswich dropped out of the top-flight. In the 86-87 campaign, as Town pushed for a quick return to Division One - eventually losing out to Charlton in the play-offs - he was ever present in the league weighing in with twenty goals. Manager Bobby Ferguson departed after failure against the Londoners and Wilson, out of contract and with no one to negotiate (John Duncan's reign was still a few weeks off), left for Chelsea for GBP300,000, a sum quickly absorbed in payments for the ill-advised Pioneer Stand. At Stamford Bridge he notched up almost 200 appearances and 55 goals between 1987 and 1992, helping Chelsea win the Second Division in 1989 and the Full Members Cup at Wembley a year later.

Chelsea v Ipswich Town

A preview of Saturday afternoon's FA Cup tie between Chelsea and Ipswich Town at Stamford Bridge can be found here.

Wednesday, January 21

'We couldn't beat Chelsea if they had only five players on the pitch'

There was only one team in it the last time Town met Chelsea in the FA Cup back in 1973. That team had all the play, created considerably more chances and ran circles around their injury-hit opponents. Unfortunately that team lost. More

Sunday, January 18

1969: Everton 2 Ipswich Town 2

Forty-Years ago today Bobby Robson made his Town managerial debut at Goodison Park...

The Toffee's had beaten the Blue's in the FA Cup 3rd round just two weeks previously and were still very much in the hunt for the league title. With the score level 1-1 a piece the first controversial moment of an incident pack encounter happened on 50'. Ray Crawford knocked Frank Brogan's cross into the net with an outstretched arm and amazingly referee, Mr M.A. Fussey, signalled goal. Jimmy Husband restored parity, and then in time added on Fussey awarded the home side a penalty. Alan Ball's spot kick hit the post and although he guided the rebound into the net the goal was disallowed - the England World Cup hero of three years earlier having touched the ball twice without it first having touched another player. Earlier in the game teenage striker Joe Royle had had appeals for a goal turned down as an Ipswich defender cleared the ball off the line - wonder what became of him! More

Saturday, January 17

Crystal Palace 1 Ipswich Town 4

Town closed the gap on the play-off places with a surprise 4-1 win at Selhurst Park this afternoon against a Palace side who had lost just one of their last nine league matches. Although Palace dominated proceedings early on Town had moved into a two goal lead in 27 minutes, first Owen Garvan and then David Norris finding the net for the Blues. Former Town man Alan Lee pulled a goal back before the half, but any hopes the Eagles may have had of a second half revival failed to materialise with sub Kevin Lisbie and a late own-goal by Clint Hill wrapping up a forth away victory for Ipswich. Match stats here.

Friday, January 16

Crystal Palace v Ipswich Town

A preview of Saturday afternoon's Coca-Cola Championship fixture between Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town at Selhurst Park can be found here.

Tuesday, January 13

First day at the office for Bobby

Bobby Robson was by no means the Blue's first choice to succeed Bill McGarry as manager at Portman Road. Once it had been decided that caretaker Cyril Lea lacked the experience Ipswich went first to Frank O'Farrell, who would later become Manchester United's manager, and then Northern Ireland national coach Billy Bingham. Both men rejected the advances of the Ipswich board.

Robson - at the time employed by Chelsea manager Dave Sexton as a scout - was something of an afterthought but clinched the job because he so impressed Chairman John Cobbold and the directors when interviewed at a London hotel. And so, almost two months after McGarry's resignation, Robert William Robson became Town manager on Monday January 13th, 1969.

Here we have assembled a few cuttings from the local newspapers on that historic day forty years ago. More

Saturday, January 10

Ipswich Town 1 Sheffield Wednesday 1

Pablo Counago's eighth goal of the season earned Town a point in a 1-1 draw with Sheffield Wednesday at Portman Road this afternoon. Steve Watson had headed in Jermaine Johnson's cross to give the Owls the lead on 50 minutes, but Counago levelled the scores quarter of an hour later, nodding home from close range after Gareth McAuley's header had been saved by Lee Grant. Match statistics here.

Thursday, January 8

Connections: Ipswich Town v Sheffield Wednesday

Town manager Jim Magilton is one of over twenty players to have represented Ipswich and Saturday's visitors to Portman Road, Sheffield Wednesday, while coach Steve McCall and current Blues Alex Bruce and Alan Quinn have also turned out for both sides. Francis Jeffers, who moved to Hillsborough two summers ago in preference to Suffolk, is the only former Town man currently on the Yorkshire club's payroll.

Perhaps the pick of those twenty or so players is Dalien Atkinson who moved to Wednesday - then under namesake Ron Atkinson - for a paltry GBP450,000 in July 1989. Paltry when you consider that his next move - to Real Sociedad just over a year later - earned the Owl's a cool GBP1.7Million. Town earning nothing from the deal as no sell on clause had been negotiated. Dalien was top-scorer at Portman Road in the 1988-89 season, bagging 13 goals, but will probably be best remember for his exploits in the previous campaign in which he scored hat-tricks at Barnsley and at Portman Road in the 4-0 drubbing of Middlesbrough (captained by a certain Tony Mowbray).

Ipswich Town v Sheffield Wednesday

Eight months after Town rocked the footballing world with their entirely unexpected League Championship triumph, English football was rocked again but for very different reasons. The People newspaper revealed that three Sheffield Wednesday players Peter Swan, Tony Kay and David Layne, had been bribed to throw their game with Town at Portman Road on December 1st, 1962. Town won 2-0. The trio were later found guilty and sent to prison in January of 1965. We suspect that Saturday's game against the Owl's will create slightly less of a stir. Match preview here.

Wednesday, January 7

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Sunday, January 4

Ipswich Town 3 Chesterfield 0

League Two Chesterfield - reinstated earlier this week following defeat in Round 2 at the hands of Droyslden - were no match for Town at Portman Road yesterday, where goals from Jon Walters, Pablo Counago and Jon Stead eased the Blue's into the draw for Round 4. Match statistics here.

Friday, January 2

Connections: Ipswich Town v Chesterfield

While Saturday's FA Cup Tie between Town and Chesterfield may be the first ever meeting between the two sides, there are still plenty of connections between the Blue's and the Spireites in the form of at least fifteen players who have represented both clubs. Darren Currie (pictured) - 89 appearances and 9 goals for Town from December 2004 to July 2007 - joined the Derbyshire side in the summer, while current Blue's coach Bryan Klug made 34 appearances for Chesterfield in the mid-1980's. Other notable players to have turned out in the Blue and White of Ipswich and Chesterfield include David Hill, Georges Santos and Gus Uhlenbeek. More