The UEFA CUP win!

The early 80s was a fun time in the sport in England. This was also a great time in Ipswich for they were becoming a big club. From the late 70s to the early 80s they were one of the better clubs in England. The man in charge of this is Bobby Robson, and if you had seen the start of his managing career, you would haven’t guessed how it ended. Once he hit his stride at Ipswich, he delivered them cups domestically and in Europe.

His first stop was at Fulham, where he lost 21 out of 36. Robson, then moved to Ipswich Town, where for the early part of his tenure Ipswich was a mid table club. Furthermore, they were a side that was fighting amongst each other. Billy Baxter a club legend and captain Tommy Carroll took to making fun of their gaffer. Fortunately for the boss the board, and the chairman had Robson’s back. This spurned him on to make the club into what it became.

What really made this side take off, was the appointment of chief scout Ron Gray in 1970. By 1971 the future club legends started coming in Alan Hunter showed up from Blackburn. The rest of the side was very young, with Mick Mills being only 22 in 1971, George Colin Viljoen, Bryan Hamilton, and Mick Lambert. Because of this talent, in the 1972-73 season they beat Manchester United with Dennis Law and George Best. They also finished fourth securing qualification for European, and winning the Texaco Cup against Norwich.

Ipswich in the 70s became a time for the club where they would make runs in the UEFA Cup, and scare some clubs. The Tractor Boys also made it a habit of beating top sides in the First Division, and in 1972-73 they beat Real Madrid in the first round of the UEFA Cup. Unfortunately, they lost to Lokomotive Leipzig, but the players learned that Europe, while being hard was not beyond their capabilities. The next two years would be the same, runs in the UEFA cup, and losses. Robson’s sides were getting better.

The end of the 70s was a hard time for the club. Near relegations for the club stunted the growth of the side. However, they did make it to an FA Cup final against Arsenal, which the writer of this piece profiled on the site a while back. The early 80s started off really well for the Tractor Boys. They finished third in 1979-80 behind Liverpool and Manchester United, which helped them into the UEFA Cup.

Robson realized after winning the FA Cup, in order to take the next step he would have to change his tactics. He brought in from Holland former Ajax squad player Aaron Muhren and Frans Thijssen. They were both midfielders who could play out wide, and could help Paul Mariner, John Wark, and Alan Brazil. The spine of the team would again come from the youth ranks in Wark, Brazil, Russell Osman, and Terry Butcher. This was the best group of players ever at Ipswich.

The run run up to the UEFA Cup final a two legged affair, during the month of May in 1981, was fun for the supporters. In the first round they played Greek side Aris Saloniki, beating them on aggregate 6-4, even losing the second leg in Greece 3-1. What followed was matches that showed the skill in the side, first dispatching Bohemians 3-1, then taking out Widzew Lodz 5-1.

They took out a great Saint Etienne side with French legend Michel Platini 7-2 on aggregate. This was a great Saint Etienne side, who was at the end of the their great spell in France. In the 70s Saint Etienne was the big club in the league, and they had all the talent. They fell apart in the 1982 when a financial scandal hit the club. To this date they have not reached the heights that they did. The Tractor Boys took out West German club Koln with identical 1-0 wins.

The UEFA Cup final pitted them against AZ of Holland. Robson tended to vary his formation, though he did favor a 4-3-3, but sometimes it would go to a 4-3-1-2. For the first match at Portman Road on May 6th, the Tractor Boys were out to take the advantage and dominated. AZ would not be able to recover. John Wark hammered home the first goal at the half hour mark on a penalty kick. Just after the break a long pass from Gates was headed down by Wark into the path of Thijssen for the 2-0 score line. Then Paul Mariner would make 3-0 in the fifty-fifth minute.

Fourteen days later on the 20th the two clubs met in the second leg of the final at the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam. Away goals would see Ipswich walk aways with the cup. So AZ had to keep the Tractor Boys off the score sheet. Ipswich came in a tad bit nervous but that didn’t last long as Thijssen scored the first away goal four minutes in. Not to be undone, Kurt Welzl, and Kristen Nygaard put two goals in, in the first half hour of the match. Thirty two minutes into the match John Wark put the match away for Ipswich scoring the 14th goal of the tournament, a record that stood for almost fifteen years. Ipswich had the two away goals to keep AZ’s hands off of the cup.

The UEFA Cup win galvanized all the hard work that Robson had put into molding this club into a great side that it became. Ipswich that next year made a push for that league title that they wanted. They came up short missing out by four points. Robson eventually left for the England National team job. This is when the side fell apart, and they have to date never reached the heights they did with Robson. Sir Bobby Robson would go onto have a storied managing career around Europe, and came back to England coaching Newcastle at the end of his career. Ipswich still have the incredible record of never losing a home match in the UEFA CUP.

Stephen C Brandt / Follow on twitter - @StephenCBrandt

My Beloved Ipswich

It’s never easy being an Ipswich fan and doesn’t look to be getting any easier any time soon. McCarthy leaving was right for the club he had done us good and helped us when we needed it, he was great at spotting players that have the potential with very little funds, some of course just wasn’t good enough, the lack of excitement and his willingness to change things at Portman Road had driven a wedge between fans and himself which evidently brought the end to his reign as Manager.

Then we had Hurst announced as the new manager and we all loved that we were getting a young up and coming manager to try and create a fresh look to the club but unfortunately this didn’t work out. I personally feel it wasn’t a case of the wrong guy for the job, I feel it was more that he underestimated the difference in the step up in leagues and tried his utmost to do things the same way he was doing them in League One which just wasn’t working and didn’t want to admit he may have got things wrong, and as to how true the story’s that are emerging about what was going on in the training ground between players and staff we might never know it’s a side us fans never get to see and I feel this had more of an effect on the performance of the players then it should have done.

Now we have Lambert as manager with experience and knowledge of the league, and a pretty good CV to back it up, I will be giving my full support to him and the lads as I always do, and look forward to seeing what he can do for us, hopefully making Portman Road a place to fear, a place that teams look at and know they will get a tuff game, and most importantly a place all us Town fans want to be, whether that’s watching us win, lose or draw, where we are still proud to walk away and say, this is my club and I love it!

Barry Man / SAR Upper ST holder / Follow on twitter - @Barry_ITFC_Mann

Where do we go from here?

This article includes an update having won vs Swansea.

The euphoria of the first 5 minutes of ‘a new era’ had me thinking this season was going to be special. Fast forward to after the Middlesbrough game and there was nothing but frustration and anger. We were winless, desperately lacking attacking threat and bereft of confidence. It was nowhere near where I thought we’d be at this stage.

Gwion Edwards’ looping header against Blackburn coupled with the sound of Portman Road when it went in, a very distant memory.

But isn’t it amazing what 90 minutes of football can do? Pre Swansea, all the talk was how long has Paul Hurst got? Should we pull the trigger and abandon tradition of giving managers time or allow him to find a solution? The win at the Liberty Stadium has changed the perspective, finally given us something to build on and it’s imperative that we do.

After the first 5 games of the season, despite not getting a win, there still seemed to be a feeling that the team was pulling in the right direction, there was a style to our play and it would be a matter of time before it clicked into place. We’d had the sucker punch at Rotherham, a spirited performance with 10 men against Villa and the controversy at Sheffield Wednesday with the Nsiala red card. We all hoped Norwich would be the game and there was a real feeling that this would be the game to break all the ducks.

It didn’t happen. Bart was dropped to most people’s dismay. There were 5 other changes. Pennington made his debut, Walters and Graham made second debuts and despite not losing, the style we’d seen in previous games wasn’t to be seen.

Hull, by all accounts, was a shambles. The first half against Brentford too. Another game with 5 changes along with a change in formation culminated in Town being very lucky to only go in one down at the break. I’ve never seen a game where the players looked so uncomfortable in that first half. Two half time changes and reverting back to 4-2-3-1 and we looked like a new team, deservedly got an equaliser and could have nicked it in the end, although that may have been a touch harsh on Brentford.

Optimism renewed, momentum regained, going into a home game against Bolton. That was surely going to be our first 3 points?

Wrong, we struggled to create any sort of chance against 10 men. We came away frustrated and back to square one again.

And the less said about Birmingham, the better.

The first half against Middlesbrough was so poor. Two woefully sloppy goals conceded and very little attacking threat. Ironic cheers greeted a speculative header from Knudsen and a comfortable save from Chalobah late in the first half. Town again, much like against Brentford, started the second half with more intent. Edwards and Sears were brought on and tried, but ultimately we never created a clear cut chance.

I think many fans would have been content with a point from the recently relegated Swans. To get 3 was a pleasant surprise. But for me, it was the manner of the victory that was most pleasing. To be leading and get pegged back with just over 10 minutes to go it would have been easy to fold. Especially given the fact we hadn’t got a win all season. But we pushed on and got the goal. It showed character. Some poor goalkeeping helped, but it’s about time we had some luck go our way.

It’s now vitally important Town back up this victory with another, quickly. Having proven we can go up against one of the better teams in the division and come out on top, the next 5 games are crucial. 2 home games against QPR and Preston and away games at Leeds, Millwall and Reading. With the exception of Leeds, they’re all in the bottom 7 of the division. We need to be getting results against these teams or the win at Swansea will be for nothing.

It’s a shame we have to wait until after the international break to get our teeth into them. It would have been nice to carry that little bit of momentum straight into a home game against QPR. Crowd rejuvenated and players confident we would have had every chance of recording back to back victories for the first time since March.

That’s not to say we won’t. The break could prove to be beneficial for us. Hurst finally seems set in a formation and can now work on getting his players to utilise it the best way we can. An early criticism of Hurst was the amount of changes he continued to make to the team, giving the impression he still doesn’t know his best 11. But now he seems to have stumbled across an 11 that has a mix of experience and youth and provides the right balance for all players to thrive.

The defence still looks like it has a mistake in it but a run of games together would certainly help. The back four has changed 6 times in 12 games which can’t be helpful when trying to forge partnerships and understandings, so that needs to be addressed. In the meantime, Skuse and Chalobah provide a good shield in front whilst also allowing Dozzell the freedom he needs to be as good as we know he can. Freddie Sears looks much more comfortable playing through the middle and with Dozzell in behind him, he won’t get a better chance to get rekindle the sort of form that propelled us to the play offs in 2015. Edwards and Grant Ward on the wings look dangerous. The latter is growing in confidence week after week and his performances are showing that.

It’s important not to get carried away, we still only have 1 win in 12. And there aren’t any easy games in the championship so while the next 5 fixtures look easier on paper, they will still be stern tests for the players. But there’s a bit more positivity around the club now and a huge sense of relief.

A season which started with such good feeling was stuttering towards the abyss. Now, there’s hope.

Follow on twitter - @CraigBolger

Ipswich Town Beat Arsenal

Arsenal tends to lose matches. Sometimes they tend to lose them in big spots where they shouldn’t. The 1978 FA Cup final was one such match where they should have won. Just like with everything at the time, the seventies were weird. There was still some romanticism about the sport still left, and a little club just north of London was going to become the biggest club in the country for a bit, in Nottingham Forest. Liverpool was dominate, Leeds was trying to win everything in sight, and there was a group of players the English National team should have used but didn’t. Oh and the sport was trying to grow in America with a bunch of aging and underrated stars.

Then there was Ipswich Town, which was lead by then Bobby Robson, a former West Brom, and Fulham forward. Robson who had just been sacked at the end of the 1968 calendar year. The following year while scouting for then Chelsea manager Dave Sexton at Portman Road, he bumped into Ipswich Town Director Murray Sangster. He was offered and took the job. In the seasons that followed, the club only finished lower than sixth place once in the First Division. That was the year they beat Arsenal in the FA Cup.

This was one heck of an Arsenal side. They had ex-Newcastle Legend Malcolm MacDonald, Liam Brady, Pat Jennings, David O’Leary, and the ever present Alan Hudson. Many of these players were part of the Double winning side years before, and would go on to be part of a triple FA Cup final set of appearances. MacDonald had played in some memorable FA Cup matches in his time at Newcastle.

Now Ipswich wasn’t a pushover or a minnow. They were a solid First Division club. They had the players and the tactics to stay in the league. This was the time period where Leeds and Forest were great too. However, Ipswich was just another club going about collecting cups. This would be the start of the cup collecting.

In the semi finals both clubs advanced through by scoring three goals on their opponent. Ipswich put three past West Brom’s goalkeeper to win 3-1 at Highbury. Arsenal put three past Leyton Orient’s goalkeeper at Stamford Bridge.

The final should have been a high scoring match. However, it became a defensive match. Ipswich settled down and took the game to Arsenal after the Gunners had a great start getting two corners in the early minutes. The Tractor Boys began to overwhelm the midfield of Arsenal with Liam Brady having a hard time. As he must have not been game fit, as Arsenal manager Terry Neill had to take Brady off in the middle of the second half for Graham Rix.

For all this good work that Ipswich was having, they couldn’t crack the goalmouth. John Wark had two great shots on goal in the second half to only be stopped by Pat Jennings. George Burley also went close too, but couldn’t get the goal to go in either. But finally Roger Osborne’s moment in history would come as Ipswich striker David Geddis faked out most of Arsenal to get the ball up field from the half-way line. Geddis fired it in, to be deflected by Willie Young into the path of Roger Osborne, who calmly put it in the back of the net for the famous 1-0 win.

This would be the last final for Ipswich, they’d make the semi finals again. Years later they’d win the UEFA Cup. Bobby Robson would end up taking the England job before coaching on the continent. At the end of his career he’d come back to England and coach Newcastle, where he is loved. John Wark would end up leaving Portman Road for Liverpool in the 80s. Mick Mills would end his career with Stoke as a player/manager. George Burley would go onto a managerial career, and Paul Mariner would move to the States to finish his career. He coached in Major League Soccer for a bit, and can be seen on ESPN as a pundit.

 Follow on twitter - @StephenCBRandt