I guess that’s why they call it
The Blues
Alan Ferguson, Head Groundsman at Ipswich Town Football Club, talks about his time at the club and the problems that relegation bring
I
pswich Town Football Club has recently been back in the news due to the sad loss of Sir Bobby Robson, one of the club’s most successful managers. It was another milestone in the chequered, triumphant and sometimes tragic history of one of the most famous football clubs (despite representing a relatively provincial town in Suffolk) in Europe.
Ipswich Town was formed as an amateur club in 1878, but it was not until 1936 that they turned professional. After winning the Southern League at the first attempt and finishing third the following season, they were elected to the Football League on May 30th, 1938. They started in the Third Division (South) and their first success came in the 1953-54 season when they won the title.
The appointment of [Sir] Alf Ramsey as manager in 1955 (in succession to the successful Scott Duncan) proved a shrewd move. In 1956-57 Ipswich won
the Third Division (South) title again, but the club really sprang to prominence when they won the Second Division in 1960-61 and the First Division Championship a year later, resulting in qualification for the European Cup. Bobby Robson was appointed in January 1969 but it took him a while to stamp his mark on the club. In 1973 and ’75 Ipswich won the FA Youth Cup followed by the FA Cup in 1978 - exactly 100 years after they had been formed.
The late 1970s saw the arrival of Amold Muhren and Frans Thijssen, the two Dutchmen who made such an impact on the team and the supporters, and were instrumental in helping the club to win the UEFA Cup in 1981. Since then the fortunes of the club have been mixed at best, but it is true to say that a new era began in December 2007, when British entrepreneur, Marcus Evans, became the major shareholder in the club. With him has come substantial investment as
the Blues step up the bid to return to the top flight of English football - they surprised the football world by appointing Roy Keane as manager. A sense of always being ‘bigger’ than they actually are is no accident. The club has striven to compete in top competition in the Premiership, UEFA and European League football and has achieved huge successes over the years. This is a club known for facing adversity and coming through stronger than ever, and the challenge has never been harder than it is today. Relegation from the top flight hits the pocket hard. The fallout inevitably affects the staff and requires a complete rethink of policy. The result is redundancies, abandoning of ambitious plans and the restructuring of the day to day operations and maintenance schedules. When the resources are withdrawn
from those who work to the highest standards, the real test is how to retain the same levels of workmanship on a fraction of the budget, until fortunes are, once again, turned round.
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