59 Fun Facts About Ipswich Town

Ipswich A.F.C. became Ipswich Town in 1888 after merging with a club that played which sport?

Rugby: the association club merged with Ipswich Rugby Club in 1888 to become Ipswich Town, then stayed amateur for another 48 years, turning professional only in 1936.

Ipswich were elected to the Football League in 1938 in place of which club?

Gillingham finished bottom of the Third Division South and lost the re-election vote to Ipswich, who had turned professional only two years earlier.

Which manager replaced Scott Duncan at Ipswich in August 1955 and later won the league title with the club?

Alf Ramsey took Ipswich from the Third Division South to champions of England in seven seasons, then won the 1966 World Cup as England manager.

Newly promoted Ipswich won the league title in 1961-62, their first top-flight season, ahead of which runners-up?

Burnley scored 101 league goals to the champions' 93 that season but still finished three points behind the newcomers.

After beating Floriana in their first European tie in 1962, Ipswich lost to which eventual champions?

AC Milan won the first leg 3-0 and went on to lift the 1963 European Cup, though Ipswich won the return 2-1 at Portman Road.

Which manager was in charge when Ipswich conceded 121 league goals and went down in 1964?

Jackie Milburn, the Newcastle United great, saw his side finish bottom with nine wins from 42 games, and he resigned early the following season.

Bill McGarry left Ipswich after winning the 1967-68 Second Division to manage which club?

Wolves took Bill McGarry in November 1968, and Ipswich replaced him with Bobby Robson, a 35-year-old just sacked from his first job in English management.

Steve Stacey, Ipswich's first black league player, was signed in 1968 from which Welsh club?

Wrexham had made Stacey, the Bristol-born son of an African-American GI, a league player in 1966; he joined Ipswich in September 1968 and later emigrated to Australia.

Ipswich beat Manchester United 6-0 in 1979–80 despite United keeper Gary Bailey doing what?

Saving three penalties, one of them a retake, could not rescue Gary Bailey: Paul Mariner scored a hat-trick and United finished the season two points short of the title.

Which Dutch pair did Robson bring to Ipswich in the late 1970s?

Arnold Mühren and Frans Thijssen gave Ipswich a passing midfield, and in 1981 Thijssen was voted Footballer of the Year as the club won the UEFA Cup.

Who scored the only goal of the 1978 FA Cup final for Ipswich against Arsenal?

Roger Osborne celebrated so wildly that he felt faint and was substituted at once, having just won Ipswich the only FA Cup in their history.

Which club did Ipswich beat 3-1 at Highbury in the 1978 FA Cup semi-final?

West Bromwich Albion fell behind early to Brian Talbot, who was hurt scoring and had to go off, yet Ipswich went on to reach their first FA Cup final.

Ipswich's 6-1 FA Cup win at Millwall in 1978 was held up in the first half by what?

Crowd violence spilled from the terraces onto the pitch after George Burley's early goal; the referee insisted the tie be finished, and Ipswich went on to score six.

Ipswich won the 1981 UEFA Cup 5-4 on aggregate over which Dutch club?

AZ Alkmaar won the second leg 4-2 in Amsterdam, so Ipswich lifted the trophy on a night they lost, saved by a 3-0 win at Portman Road.

In the first leg of the 1981 UEFA Cup final, who opened the scoring for Ipswich from the penalty spot?

John Wark, a midfielder, scored in both legs of the final, having hit four in one match against Aris Salonika in the first round.

On the way to winning the 1981 UEFA Cup, Ipswich won 4-1 away at which French club starring Michel Platini?

Saint-Étienne scored first in the quarter-final first leg, but Ipswich replied with four, two of them from Paul Mariner.

Which club won the 1980-81 league title despite losing to runners-up Ipswich both home and away that season?

Aston Villa lost to Ipswich three times that season, twice in the league and once in the FA Cup, yet finished four points clear at the top.

Which Ipswich player doubled for Michael Caine in the football scenes of Escape to Victory?

Kevin Beattie played Caine's football scenes and, by his own account, beat Sylvester Stallone at arm-wrestling during the shoot.

Bobby Robson left Ipswich in July 1982 to do what?

Manage England: Robson left after 13 years at Portman Road and took the national side to the 1986 World Cup quarter-finals and the 1990 semi-finals.

Terry Butcher, the last key player from the 1981 side, was sold after the 1986 relegation to which club?

An expensive new stand had squeezed the budget even as Thijssen and Wark were sold.

Which manager took Ipswich up as Second Division champions into the first Premier League season?

John Lyall had been sacked by West Ham in 1989 after their relegation; three years later he won the Second Division title with Ipswich.

Ipswich suffered a then Premier League record 9-0 defeat in 1995 at which ground?

Old Trafford saw Andy Cole score five of the nine, yet Ipswich had beaten Manchester United 3-2 at Portman Road earlier that season.

Which club did George Burley's Ipswich beat 4-2 in the 2000 Division One play-off final?

Barnsley led through an own goal by Ipswich's goalkeeper, but Ipswich hit back to win after losing play-off semi-finals in each of the three previous seasons.

In 2000-01 Ipswich finished fifth, pipped to a Champions League place on the final day by whom?

Liverpool took the last Champions League place by winning on the final day while Ipswich drew at Derby; George Burley was still named Manager of the Year.

How did Ipswich qualify for European football in 2002 despite being relegated from the Premier League?

Through the UEFA Fair Play ranking, relegated Ipswich entered the 2002-03 UEFA Cup and won two ties before losing on penalties to Slovan Liberec.

Which Ipswich-born academy graduate was sold to Newcastle United in 1999 for £6 million?

Kieron Dyer spent eight years at Newcastle and came back to Portman Road on loan in 2011, twelve years after the sale.

Which businessman bought an 87.5% stake in Ipswich in December 2007, investing around £44 million?

Marcus Evans took on the club's £32 million debt as part of the takeover, and his company's name was on the shirts from 2008 to 2018.

Which former Manchester United captain managed Ipswich from April 2009 until his sacking in January 2011?

Roy Keane's first full season began with 14 league games without a win, and he was sacked midway through his second.

Which manager, sacked in October 2018 after less than five months, had the shortest reign of any permanent Ipswich boss?

Paul Hurst won one of his 14 league games after arriving from Shrewsbury, and Ipswich were relegated at the end of that season.

Which former Norwich City manager was in charge when Ipswich dropped into the third tier in 2019?

Paul Lambert had taken Norwich from League One to the Premier League, but at Ipswich he could not prevent a first drop to the third tier since 1957.

The US group that bought a majority stake in Ipswich in April 2021 was called what?

Gamechanger 20 Limited pooled money from the US investment firm ORG and from the Three Lions fund, run by three co-owners of the American club Phoenix Rising.

Kieran McKenna joined Ipswich in December 2021 from which role?

First-team coach at Manchester United, McKenna was taking his first job as a manager, and he won his first game 1-0 against Wycombe.

Which club beat Ipswich's 98 points to the 2022-23 League One title?

Plymouth Argyle finished on 101 points, three clear of Ipswich, while Sheffield Wednesday's 96 was only enough for third place and the play-offs.

Ipswich's 2024 promotion made them the first club since which to go from League One to the Premier League in successive seasons?

Southampton did it in 2011 and 2012; Ipswich, 11th in League One two years before, followed them with two runners-up finishes.

Which manager did Ipswich hire from Strasbourg in June 2026?

Gary O'Neil signed a three-year deal after Kieran McKenna stepped down, weeks after winning promotion back to the Premier League.

What animal dominates the Ipswich Town crest designed by supporter John Gammage in 1972?

A Suffolk Punch horse was chosen because Gammage wanted something exclusive to the county and judged the breed 'a most noble and highly respected creature'.

Which musician and lifelong Ipswich fan became the club's shirt sponsor in 2021?

Ed Sheeran, who grew up in Suffolk, first signed for one year to cover the men's and women's shirts, then renewed the deal for 2022-23.

In 1890 Ipswich became one of the first clubs to use what at Portman Road?

Goal nets, by the club's own history, arrived while the ground was still a cricket field: East Suffolk Cricket Club shared it until the football club took over in 1936.

Which report led Ipswich to replace Portman Road's last terraces with seats in the early 1990s?

The Taylor Report, written after the Hillsborough disaster of 1989, recommended all-seater grounds, and Ipswich converted both ends of Portman Road in the summer of 1992.

Portman Road staged its first senior England international in 2003, a 3-1 win over which country?

Croatia were beaten in front of 28,700 as England toured club grounds while Wembley was being rebuilt.

Which player holds Ipswich's appearance record with 741 games between 1966 and 1982?

Mick Mills played 741 times for Ipswich, lifted the FA Cup as captain in 1978 and led England at the 1982 World Cup.

The 'Tractor Boys' nickname is often traced to a chant by which club's fans as Ipswich beat them 2-1 in 2000?

Leeds United fans are said to have sung 'We're being beaten by a bunch of tractor drivers'; the origin is uncertain, but Ipswich fans adopted the name.

The Ipswich-Norwich fixture is jokingly called the 'Old Farm derby' in reference to which rivalry?

Celtic v Rangers is Glasgow's Old Firm derby; 'Old Farm' changes one letter as a nod to East Anglia's farming country.

Fans of which German club make an annual trip to Portman Road to cheer on Ipswich?

Fortuna Düsseldorf supporters began visiting in the 2000s, Ipswich fans return the trip, and the friendship led the clubs to meet for the first time in 2015.

Which club paid Ipswich a then-record £37.5 million for Omari Hutchinson in August 2025?

Nottingham Forest paid almost double the £20 million Ipswich had given Chelsea for Hutchinson only a year earlier.

Which league did Ipswich Town join on turning professional in 1936?

Southern League champions in their first professional season, Ipswich were elected to the Football League only two years after leaving the amateur game.

Which Italian giants did Ipswich beat 1-0 at Portman Road in the 2001-02 UEFA Cup before losing the second leg 4-1?

Inter Milan fell to an Alun Armstrong goal at Portman Road; Armstrong scored again in Italy, but the hosts ran in four to go through.

Which Japanese electronics firm became Ipswich's first official shirt sponsor in 1981?

Pioneer stayed on the shirts until 1985 and gave its name to the rebuilt West Stand, known for years as the Pioneer Stand.

Which striker, who starred in the 1962 title win, is Ipswich's all-time record goalscorer?

Ray Crawford scored more than 200 goals for Ipswich, including five in one night when Floriana were beaten 10-0 in the European Cup.

Which trophy did Bobby Robson's Ipswich win in 1973, the season they first qualified for the UEFA Cup?

The Texaco Cup final was an all-East Anglian affair: Ipswich beat rivals Norwich City 2-1 in both legs.

Who succeeded Robson as Ipswich manager in 1982 and oversaw the 1986 relegation?

Bobby Ferguson, promoted from Robson's coaching staff, kept Ipswich in the First Division for three seasons, then left in 1987 after failing to win promotion straight back.

Portman Road's east side is named after which family, the club's former owners?

Cobbold family members chaired Ipswich for decades; in the family's telling, a day at Arsenal convinced club president Captain Ivan Cobbold that Ipswich should turn professional, as they did in 1936.

Ipswich beat which Johan Cruyff side 3-0 at Portman Road in 1977, only to lose the UEFA Cup tie on penalties?

Barcelona won the return leg 3-0 at the Camp Nou, Cruyff scoring twice, and then took the shoot-out 3-1.

Which four men were the first inductees of Ipswich Town's Hall of Fame in 2007?

Crawford, Mills, Phillips and Wark were presented to supporters at Portman Road before the opening game of the 2007-08 season.

Which Spanish club did Bobby Robson's Ipswich knock out of the UEFA Cup in 1973?

Real Madrid went out 1-0 on aggregate in Ipswich's first UEFA Cup tie: a single goal at Portman Road, then a goalless draw in Spain.

Which 16-year-old scored on his Ipswich debut in 1984 to become the top flight's youngest scorer?

Jason Dozzell was 16 when he scored on his debut in February 1984, a top-flight record; 32 years later his son Andre also scored on his Ipswich debut at 16.

Ipswich went straight back up in 2026 as runners-up to which Championship winners?

Coventry City won the title with 95 points; Ipswich took second by a point from Millwall after beating QPR 3-0 on the final day, a year after a 3-0 defeat at Newcastle confirmed their relegation.

Which manager left Ipswich by mutual consent in May 2006, a month before Jim Magilton took over?

Joe Royle had taken Ipswich to two play-off semi-finals after the club's spell in administration, then left amicably once a 15th-place finish gave Ipswich their lowest placing in forty years.

After promotion in 2025, Ipswich Town Women moved their home games to which club's stadium?

Colchester United's stadium became their home on a two-year deal because the Felixstowe ground where they won the title did not meet second-tier requirements.