Ipswich W

Early years and entry to the Football League (1878–1954)

The club was founded as an amateur team in 1878 and were known as Ipswich A.F.C. until 1888 when they merged with Ipswich Rugby Club to form Ipswich Town Football Club. The team won a number of local cup competitions, including the Suffolk Challenge Cup and the Suffolk Senior Cup. After playing in the Norfolk & Suffolk League from 1899 and the South East Anglian League between 1903 and 1906, they joined the Southern Amateur League in 1907 and, with results improving steadily, became champions in the 1921–22 season. The club won the league a further three times, in 1929–30, 1932–33 and 1933–34, before becoming founder members of the Eastern Counties Football League at the end of the 1934–35 season. A year later, the club turned professional and joined the Southern League, which they won in its first season and finished third in the next.

Ipswich were elected to the Football League on 30 May 1938, and played in the Third Division South until the end of the 1953–54 season, when they won the title and promotion to the Second Division.

Promotion and First Division success (1954–1963)

The club were immediately relegated back to the Third Division South the following year at the end of a poor season, but made better progress after Scott Duncan was replaced as team manager by Alf Ramsey in August 1955. The club won the Third Division South title again in 1956–57, and returned to the higher division. This time, Ipswich established themselves in the Second Division, and as the division champions, won promotion to the top level of English football, the First Division, in 1960–61.

In the top flight for the first time, Ipswich became champions of the Football League at the first attempt in 1961–62. As English league champions, they qualified for the 1962–63 European Cup, defeating Maltese team Floriana 14–1 on aggregate before losing to AC Milan. Ramsey left the club in April 1963 to take charge of the England national team. Under his leadership the England team won the 1966 World Cup. He received a knighthood for "services to football" in 1967.

Decline and revival after Ramsey (1963–1969)

Ramsey was replaced by Jackie Milburn, under whose leadership fortunes on the pitch plummeted. Two years after winning the league title, Ipswich slipped down to the Second Division in 1964, conceding 121 league goals in 42 games – one of the worst-ever defensive records in English senior football. Milburn quit after just one full season and was replaced by Bill McGarry in 1964. The club remained in the Second Division for four years until McGarry guided Ipswich to promotion along with his assistant Sammy Chung in the 1967–68 season, winning the division by a single point ahead of Queens Park Rangers. During the summer of 1968, Steve Stacey, signed from fourth division team Wrexham, went on to make his debut on 14 September 1968 becoming the first black player to represent the club in the football league. McGarry left to manage Wolves and was replaced by Bobby Robson in January 1969.

The Bobby Robson era (1969–1982)

Robson led Ipswich to two major trophies and several seasons in top flight European football. The successful period began in 1973 when the club won the Texaco Cup and finished fourth in the league, qualifying for the UEFA Cup for the first time. In the 1974–75 season they reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup for the first time, losing to West Ham United after a replay, and finished third in the league. By the late 1970s, Robson had built a strong team with talent in every department, introducing the Dutch pair Arnold Mühren and Frans Thijssen to add flair to a team that featured British internationals including John Wark, Terry Butcher and Paul Mariner, although the Ipswich squad perhaps lacked the depth of established big clubs like Liverpool and Manchester United. Ipswich regularly featured in the top five of the league and in the UEFA Cup. At their peak in the 1979–80 season, they beat Manchester United 6–0 in a league game at Portman Road, a game where United goalkeeper Gary Bailey also saved three penalties. The defeat cost United two points – the margin which eventually separated them and champions Liverpool. Major success came in 1978 when Ipswich beat Arsenal at Wembley Stadium to win their only FA Cup trophy. The triumph was followed by almost winning the triple in 1980–81. Ipswich led the top division for most of the season and were on course to win a second league title plus FA Cup and European honours. However, injuries and fixture congestion (a squad of thirteen players played over sixty matches) took its toll and Ipswich ultimately came runners up to Aston Villa (a team they had beaten home and away in the league and in the FA Cup) and were semi-finalists in the FA Cup. Ipswich did win the UEFA Cup, however, in 1981 with a 5–4 victory over AZ Alkmaar in the two-legged final. The run to the final included a 4–1 win at Saint-Étienne, captained by Michel Platini. The club also finished league runners-up in the subsequent 1981–82 season.

Robson's success with Ipswich attracted the attention of many bigger clubs, and he was linked with the Manchester United job when Dave Sexton was sacked in May 1981, but the job went to Ron Atkinson instead. The Football Association lured Robson away from Portman Road a year later, when he accepted their offer to manage the England national team in July 1982.

Relegation after Robson and promotion under Lyall (1982–1994)

Robson's successor at Ipswich was his assistant manager Bobby Ferguson. Under Ferguson, Town finished mid-table twice, but worsening performances meant that they began to struggle in the top division. The recent construction of an expensive new stand at Portman Road limited the club's budget, despite the money gained from sales of key players including Thijssen and Wark.