In season 2023/24, Ipswich Town earned a surprise promotion from the Championship to the Premier League. The promotion was a major achievement for Kieran McKenna’s team, as they had been playing in League One the previous season.
Ipswich have previous with the Premier League
Ipswich Town are no strangers to the English top flight, as they were one of the founding members of the Premier League in 1992. In fact, the Tractor Boys were members of the Premier League for the first three campaigns of the English top flight under its new guise.
However, in 1995, the Suffolk team faced a setback with relegation. Yet, they didn’t let it deter them. They fought back, returning to the English top flight in 2000 for two more seasons. Since then, the Tractor Boys have been on a rollercoaster journey between the second and even third tiers of the English game.
Far before the English top flight changed its name to the Premier League in 1992, Ipswich had enjoyed spells in the old First Division. Town first made it to the top flight in season 1960/61 by winning the Second Division title.
Incredibly, they followed it up by winning the First Division the following season, which remains Town’s only ever top-flight title. They stayed in the English top flight until 1986.
The team’s most sustained spell in the English top flight was highlighted by their impressive performances in seasons 1980/81 and 1981/82.
They secured the league’s runners-up position in back-to-back campaigns under the late great Bobby Robson. In season 1980/81, Scottish star John Wark was the star player, scoring 18 times. Town also finished strongly in the previous season, having secured third place.
In fact, from 1972/73 until 1981/82, Ipswich finished in the top-flight’s top six on nine occasions, which is an impressive feat for most clubs, especially for a club not accustomed to shining in the elite division of the English game for much of their existence.
During that bright spell in the early 1908’s, Ipswich defeated Real Madrid, Milan, Inter Barcelona, and Lazio at Portman Road in European competitions. They remain unbeaten in European action on home soil.
Dropped to the third tier
For the majority of Ipswich’s seasons from 2002 until promotion to the Premier League in 2024, when they were a Championship club dreaming of a return to the English top flight and their former glory days.
In season 2018/19, Ipswich hit their nadir, dropping into the third tier of English football for the first time since the 1950s. The Suffolk outfit struggled to make an impact on League One, with three straight midtable finishes in their first three seasons back in the third tier.
Ipswich’s struggles in the third tier illustrated just how hard it can be for a club who have played at a much higher level to climb back up the rungs of the English football ladder.
A talented young head coach steered Town to back-to-back promotions
Ipswich’s rise began in season 2022/23 when Town finished second place in League One to earn promotion back to the Championship. The Tractor Boys shocked many by finishing in the same position in the second tier just a year later and earning promotion back to the Premier League.
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One of the main factors in their promotion was their highly-rated young head coach, Kieran McKenna. The former Manchester United assistant coach arrived at the club in December 2021. It was his first job as a head coach at senior level, having only managed teams at youth level with former club Tottenham.
The team’s form enjoyed a sharp upturn after McKenna’s appointment. However, they missed out on the play-offs. In Town’s first full season under his management, they won promotion back to the Championship, and the rest is history.
McKenna is highly rated within the football community, and to achieve back-to-back promotions is an illustration of just how good a job he is doing in Suffolk.
His work reportedly attracted admiring glances from clubs at higher levels of the English football pyramid at the time. However, now that Town are a Premier League club, it seems unlikely that he will leave anytime soon.
One of the favourites for relegation
As is now almost the norm in the Premier League, the three promoted clubs have been made the pre-season favourites to suffer relegation in season 2024/25.
Ipswich are not the flat-out favourites for a quick return to the Championship, though. Last season’s Championship winners, Leicester City, are the favourites to drop back into the second tier.
The Foxes have lost their highly-rated head coach, Enzo Maresca, to Chelsea. There are also suggestions that the Midlands outfit could face a points deduction due to breaking PSR in their last spell in the English top flight. If they are given a points deduction, then that puts them at a big disadvantage in the fight for survival in the new campaign.
Like any promoted team, it could well be tough for Ipswich to beat the drop. All three of the teams promoted to the Premier League in season 2022/23 went straight back down.
However, Ipswich have shown tremendous resilience in the last few seasons to return to the English top flight. In McKenna, they seem to have a shrewd head coach, which could well be the key factor to keeping the Tractor Boys in the Premier League.
Everybody associated with the club will be interested in how the club operates in the transfer market this summer. After that, they will also be looking forward to seeing the Tractor Boys’ playing in the English top flight in the new campaign.
How will Ipswich Town fare on their return to the Premier League in season 2024/25?