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They worked hard to get back into the Premiership and were regulars in the end of season play offs but in 2000 they finally made it with a Wembley victory over Barnsley. They took the top division by storm and against all the odds qualified for Europe.
The word Ipswich was in regular use at Turf Moor as Andrew Watson continually used them as an example as to what we could achieve but just as everything looked well it all started to go wrong. Last season proved to be a disaster for them and they were relegated on the last day of the season after taking a hammering at Liverpool.
Incredibly they qualified for Europe again through fair play and this is the reason that our game against them has been put back twice. It seemed to be common knowledge that they would bounce straight back into the Premiership, all the good money was on them, and everyone stressed what a well run club they are.
Not as well run as everyone thought though and they had to start trying to raise money in the transfer market. Titus Bramble went to Newcastle for a massively inflated fee of £5 million whilst Marcus Stewart also headed to the North East with a move to Sunderland for around £3 million.
They also desperately tried to sell Hermann Hreidarsson and Matt Holland to West Brom and Villa respectively but the players turned the moves down.
The new season started off well enough and they picked up two wins from the first two games at Walsall and then at home to Leicester. The big 6-1 win against Leicester was the Foxes’ only defeat before last Saturday.
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Sheepshanks then completely lost himself and couldn’t even remember phoning the Rotherham Chairman to ask for permission to speak to Ronnie Moore. Apparently well respected in the game he really does now seem to have lost all credibility.
Whilst they go off looking for a new manager coach Tony Mowbray, the former Middlesbrough defender, has been put in charge and it is still feasible that he could get the job on a permanent basis.
Mowbray’s first game in charge brought them a much needed but fortunate win against Sheffield Wednesday but they were soundly beaten at Reading on Saturday going down 3-1. The Ipswich team was: Andy Marshall, Chris Makin, John McGreal, Hermann Hreidarsson, Mark Venus (Finidi George 80), Jamie Clapham, Jim Magilton (Jermaine Wright 69), Matt Holland, Darren Ambrose, Pablo Counago, Marcus Bent (Alun Armstrong 45). Subs not used: Thomas Gaardsoe, James Pullen.
They have scored a total of 16 league goals this season and Pablo Counago leads their scorers list with 5 with Darren Ambrose just behind on 4.
With news of an imminent arrival for a new manager this could be the last game Ipswich play with Mowbray in charge.
Click HERE for all Ipswich’s results this season.
He played for both
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The player in question is right winger Roy Stephenson who joined Burnley as a youngster from his native north east and was spotted playing for Crook Colliery Welfare.
He signed professional forms in the summer of 1949 just past his 17th birthday and was still short of his 18th when he made his first team debut for the Clarets against Liverpool at Anfield. He played on the right wing (his favoured position) and provided the cross for the winner scored by Alf Clarke.
He never won a regular place in the side and in fact played in a variety of positions but still made 78 league appearances scoring 27 goals before signing for Rotherham in 1956. Little did the Burnley fans know but some six years later he was to play a significant part in a major Turf Moor disappointment.
After just a year at Rotherham he joined Blackburn and two year followed at Ewood before a year at Leicester.
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Back in the First Division he scored his first goal of the new season in a 6-2 win against the Clarets and Portman Road. As Burnley battled for the double it was Ipswich who stormed through to prevent it and just a year after their promotion they were Champions of England. Ray Crawford and Ted Phillips just couldn’t stop scoring but most of their goals came from Stephenson’s work down the right wing.
His time at the top was short lived as Ipswich struggled and after another two years his career was at an end. He remained in Suffolk until his death last year.
League Results in the last 20 years
There are none, it is now 27 seasons since we played them in the league although there was a League Cup tie at the Turf in 1977/78 season.
In fact all our league clashes with Ipswich are within a fifteen year period from 1961 to 1976 and you can click HERE to see all those results.
Last Time in the League
Ipswich Town 0 Burnley 0 – Football League Division 1, Tuesday 26th August 1975.
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We had picked up just two points from three games, home draws against Arsenal and Everton but had then been very unlucky to lose 3-2 at West Ham. Mind you we had started better than Ipswich who were bottom with just one point.
After the usual long and arduous journey the least the two sides could have provided us with was some entertainment but it was one of those instantly forgettable games where neither goalkeeper was ever required to do too much.
It was a game that had 0-0 written all over it from the start and no surprise that’s how it ended. It did though see us in 15th place whilst Ipswich moved out of the bottom three to 19th. Sheffield United (they went down with us and Wolves) dropped into bottom place.
The teams were:
Ipswich Town: Paul Cooper, George Burley, Mick Mills, Brian Talbot, Allan Hunter, Kevin Beattie, Bryan Hamilton, Colin Viljoen, David Johnson, Trevor Whymark, Mick Lambert, Clive Woods.
Burnley: Alan Stevenson, Mick Docherty, Keith Newton, Peter Noble, Colin Waldron, Jim Thomson, Brian Flynn, Ray Hankin, Mike Summerbee, Doug Collins, Leighton James.
Referee: Ray Toseland (Kettering).