IT'S been 22 years since lpswich Town last graced the Premier League. But ask any long-suffering fan and they'll tell you it feels more like 62!
It's fair to say the Tractor Boys haven't had a great deal to cheer about over the last two decades.
After back-to-back Championship play-off semi-final defeats in 2004 and 2005, it took another 10 years before Mick McCarthy led them into the endof-season knock-outs once again, only to be beaten by bitter rivals Norwich City.
A steady decline inevitably led to relegation to League One in 2018-19 when Ipswich sunk to their lowest ebb in over 60 years with neither Paul Lambert nor Paul Cook able to arrest the slide.
But, on April 7, 2021, all that changed when an American consortium - containing three board members of US club Phoenix Rising - agreed a £40m deal to take over at Portman Road from unpopular owner Marcus Evans after 13 years at the helm.
The group were named Gamechanger 20 and they proved to be just that for the boys in blue.
Working alongside them was Mark Ashton, former CEO at Bristol City, and between them they set about bringing the glory days back to Suffolk following the legacies of the great Sir Alf Ramsey and Sir Bobby Robson.
Despite a summer overhaul of players, Cook's reign came to an end on December 4, 2021 and along came 35-year-old rookie boss Kieran McKenna to take over the hotseat and become the youngest manager in all four top divisions of English football.
The softly-spoken Northern Irishman was fast earning a glowing reputation as a coach, working under Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Manchester United having seen his playing career come to a premature end at Tottenham Hotspur through injury.
Denne historien er fra September - October 2024-utgaven av Late Tackle Football Magazine.
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Denne historien er fra September - October 2024-utgaven av Late Tackle Football Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
MINNOWS FLEX THEIR MUSCLES
TOM WINCH LOOKS AT THOSE COUNTRIES ATTEMPTING TO MAKE A NAME FOR THEMSELVES ON THE INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL MAP
THE FUTURE OF FOOTBALL PROGRAMMES
DAVID OHL GIVES HIS IDEAS ON HOW TO PROTECT A MUCH-LOVED INSTITUION THAT HAS COME UNDER INCREASING PRESSURE
RETURN TO SHEPPEY
MICHAEL GRIMES TAKES A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE...
COOK'S 18 CITY 94 AMBITIOUS RECIPE
SAM SHEPPEY LOOKS AT THE ROLE OF GARRY COOK IN THE RISE OF MAN CITY AND HIS NEXT STEPS
UNEXPECTED EUROPEAN HOSTS
SAM TODD LOOKS AT THE SELECT GROUP OF ENGLISH GROUNDS WHICH HAVE BEEN HOME TO EUROPEAN FOOTBALL BUT NOT A DOMESTIC TOP FLIGHT FIXTURE
WHEN DANNY BOY WAS SMILING
COLIN ALLAN RECALLS A FAMOUS NORTHERN IRELAND VICTORY AGAINST ENGLAND AT WEMBLEY ALMOST YEARS AGO
FINDING THE FAR CORNER AGAIN ISIONHE
JONNY BRICK PLUCKS ANOTHER BOOK FROM THE SHELVES OF THE FOOTBALL LITERARY SOCIETY, THIS ONE A CULT CLASSIC PUBLISHED IN 1994
SEASIDE ADVENTURE
POET AND WRITER CHRIS TOWERS HEADED TO WESTON SUPER MARE TO SEE THEM TAKE ON ENFIELD TOWN IN NATIONAL LEAGUE SOUTH
ALL HAIL THE KING
ROBERT J WILSON LOOKS BACK AT THE LIFE OF THE LATE, GREAT DENIS LAW
YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE LIVERPOOL FOOTBALL CLUB EST-1892 SLOT MACHINE
ROBERT J WILSON LOOKS AT THE IMPACT OF NEW BOSS ARNE SLOT AT LIVERPOOL AND THE CHALLENGES THAT LIE AHEAD
