Ipswich Town Football Club
James, 1/1/09

The club was founded as an amateur side, named Ipswich Association FC, in 1878. This lasted until 1888 when the club merged with Ipswich Rugby Club to become Ipswich Town Football Club.

The club continued as an amateur side until 1936. The club won the Southern League at the first attempt before finishing third the following season. This lead to the club being elected to join the Football League on May 30th, 1938.

After five years in the Third Division South, they won the title and were promoted into the Second Division. This didn't last long as they were relegated back to the Third Division South a year later.

This relegation lead to the appointment of Alf Ramsey as club manager who soon lead the club to a Third Division South title win in the 1956-57 season. This time they were able to stay in the Second Division and managed to win the title in the 1960-61 season, winning the First Division Championship a year later. This meant that they qualified for the European Cup.

In their first appearance in the competition, Ipswich beat Maltese side Floriana 14-1 on aggregate before being knocked out by the eventual winners, AC Milan, in the second round.

In the six years that followed, Ipswich went through three changes in manager. Alf Ramsey left to be the England Manager in 1963 which led to Jackie Milburn taking the helm. Having gotten Ipswich relegated into the Second Division, Milburn resigned at the start of the 1964-65 season and Bill McGarry took over. McGarry returned Ipswich to the First Division in the 1967-68 season before leaving for Wolves in November '68. After a period with Cyril Lea as care-taker manager, Bobby Robson took charge in January 1969.

Robson had a poor start as Ipswich manager but soon corrected that and led the club into its most successful period since it was established. In 1973 and 1975, Ipswich won the FA Youth Cup before winning their second major honour, the FA Cup, in 1978 - the club's centenary year.

In 1978 to 1979 Robson brought in two Dutchmen, Arnold Muhren and Frans Thijssen, who had a big impact on the club and fans alike. They helped Ipswich to win their third major honour, the UEFA Cup, in 1981.

Robson also came close to winning the Fist Division title, Ipswich finishing second to Liverpool on a number of occasions.

In 1982, after the World Cup in Spain, Bobby Robson left Ipswich to become the England Manager. This was the second time an Ipswich manager had made this move. Robson's successor was his chief coach at Ipswich, Bobby Ferguson.

Ferguson found it tough as the club manager and by 1986 Ipswich were back in the Second Division. The following year, Ipswich had a chance of a quick return to the First Division in the form of the play-offs. They lost, however, to Charlton and Ferguson's contract was not renewed.

Ipswich Manager number eight was John Duncan who took charge in June 1987. The expectations of the club, however, meant that Duncan became the first Ipswich manager to be sacked, following three seasons of mid-table finishes.

May 1990 saw John Lyall move from Tottenham to become Ipswich's ninth manager. Lyall soon began to re-shape the club and after just two seasons, Ipswich had won the Second Division title and were back in the First Division. This was the start of a whole new part of the club's history.

to be continued...