Ipswich Town Football Club — The Tractor Boys from Portman Road
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Ipswich Town Football Club, better known as The Blues, or The Tractor Boys, is an iconic club founded in the 19th century. It had merged with Ipswich Rugby Club to give the name to a club that boasts of Sir Bobby Robson as a former gaffer.
They have won both the English League title and the European title in their illustrious history. Ipswich Town also has the distinction of never losing at Portman Road in a European Competition. Their major scalps from Europe include the likes of Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona, as well as the two Milan clubs.
Ipswich Town has a long-standing East Anglian rivalry with Norwich City, with 148 derbies between the pair since the start of the 20th century. The derby is oft-called the ‘Old Farm derby’, a comical take on the ‘Old Firm Derby’ played between bitter Scottish rivals Celtic and Rangers. The team which wins the ‘Old Farm Derby’ is honoured with the informal title “Pride of Anglia”. The Football Fan app thrives on banter between age-old famous rivalries, something which both the East Anglian and the Scottish clubs can look forward to.
The club got the moniker of The Tractor Boys, incredibly, by their own set of supporters! It was coined when Ipswich was competing against bigger, money-laden clubs in the Premier League. The name, though, is a fitting tribute to the agricultural heritage of Suffolk’s Ipswich.
Outside the United Kingdom, Ipswich Town has a strong bond with German club Fortuna Düsseldorf, with Fortuna fans visiting Portman Road and Ipswich fans following suit to the Merkur Spiel-Arena to show their support during home matches. On the Football Fan app, both sets of supporters can share their stories in the form of videos and pictures, strengthening the bond further.
Ipswich Town Football Club has its Supporters’ Club footprint in countries like Australia, Canada, Cyprus, Italy, N Ireland, Norway, Serbia, South Africa and Sweden, showcasing the incredible support this football club enjoys all across the globe. In line with, “Bringing Global Football Fans Together” is what the Football Fan app is aiming to achieve.
Ipswich Town has also made a mark in pop culture, with several team players sharing the screen alongside Sylvester Stallone and Pelé in the 1981 prisoner of war film Escape to Victory. Kevin Beattie and Paul Cooper stood for Michael Caine and Sylvester Stallone respectively in the football scenes.
The incredible highs…
Sir Bobby Robson had a strong effect on Ipswich Town, making them do things unthinkable for them during the eighties. Robson’s boys famously beat Manchester United 6–0 at Portman Road in the 1979–80 season, a game where the United goalkeeper saved three penalties to save further embarrassment.
Ipswich’s UEFA Cup victory in 1981 saw them thrashing French club St Etienne 4–1 en route to the finale. St. Etienne was captained by the legendary Michel Platini, no less. Sir Bobby Robson’s demand soared after this success and was famously offered the job by Manchester United, though it ultimately went to Ron Atkinson. Robson later went on to manage the likes of Barcelona and the English national team.
In the mid-nineties, George Burley, the manager now, was struggling, with Ipswich suffering a then Premiership record defeat of 9–0 at the hands of Manchester United, on their way to relegation.
Ipswich went down to the Championship, but Burley did incredibly well to get them to three consecutive promotion semi-finals. Albeit, even more incredibly, they lost all three of them. They finally did return to the Premier League in 2000, after coming back spectacularly to beat Barnsley 4–2 at Wembley. The Tractor Boys were back with the Big Boys, yet again. Fans wanting to relive those moments can sign up for the Football Fan app, where we have curated a special video highlight of this glorious football club.
As fate would have it, they performed admirably against the “Big Boys”, or the so-called Big 4 — Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool. Ipswich even managed to beat Liverpool, and drew with the other three, in a season where they managed to finish fifth, missing out on a spot in the premier European Cup to Liverpool on the last day of the season. Burley was duly awarded for his heroics, though, as he took home the Premier League Manager of the Year Award.
…and the incredible lows
The success parties did not continue the following season, however, as the team were left fighting to avoid relegation in December. They did slightly better in January and February, but it wasn’t enough, and Ipswich Town Football Club slipped back again to the abyss of the Championship. That is the last the Premier League has seen of The Tractor Boys, a wait of almost two decades now.
After Burley, Ipswich Town experimented with Joe Royle, Jim Magilton, Roy Keane, Paul Jewell, Mick McCarthy and Paul Hurst, but with limited success. They now have someone at the helm who the Ipswich Town faithful did not take an immediate liking to, and for obvious reasons. Paul Lambert, a veteran of Premier League football club management, is the former manager of bitter rivals Norwich City.
The fans’ disappointment amplified after Ipswich Town went down to a place they wouldn’t have in their worst nightmares — third-tier League One. This also ended Ipswich’s record-breaking 17 years stay in the Championship.
Lambert has remained as manager and showed glimpses of his managerial ability by taking the club to the top of the league multiple times last season. But just like this great club’s roller-coaster history, their season ended in agony, with a finish outside the Top 10. The dreams of a promotion crushed most disappointingly.
Can Ipswich Town get back to where they feel they belong?
A straightforward answer — definitely yes! We are talking about a club which has seen glory over giants of beautiful games such as Manchester United, Barcelona, Real Madrid, and the two Milan behemoths. A club which did not lose hope after three consecutive disappointments, and grabbed success the fourth time — coming from behind. This a testament of the club’s character, something which is mirrored by the passionate supporters at the Portman Road.
What Ipswich Town and Paul Lambert require currently is the ‘George Burley’ formula, with a touch of inspiration from Sir Bobby Robson’s era. Burley was the manager when things were looking down, and he got them back with the elite. That is what Ipswich Town require at this point in time. Burley, an Ipswich player-legend himself, had a good eye for a player, which was evident with his value-for-money bargain buys from lower leagues. Burley worked well with an exciting blend of youth players like Darren Bent (who arguably had his best years at Portman Road), as also experienced players. He instilled the winning mentality in his squad and a never-say-die attitude. And they eventually did not just reach the elite division but also showed the Big Boys what Ipswich Town Football Club is all about.
If Paul Lambert can bring that fire and character, along with the technical nous he already possesses, the League One 2020–21 season could be Ipswich’s for the taking, this time right till the final whistle.
