Ipswich Town FC

Ipswich Town's return to the Premier League in 2024, after 22 years away, was one of the great feel-good stories in recent English football. The Suffolk club, founded in 1878 and based at Portman Road, had endured a long and painful decline since their last top-flight season in 2001-02, dropping to League One by 2019. Under the inspired management of Kieran McKenna, Ipswich achieved back-to-back promotions in 2022-23 and 2023-24, completing a remarkable journey from the third tier to the Premier League in just two seasons.

The club's history is far richer than their recent struggles might suggest. Under Sir Alf Ramsey, who went on to manage England to World Cup glory in 1966, Ipswich won the First Division title in 1961-62 with a squad assembled on a modest budget. Sir Bobby Robson then built one of the most exciting sides in English football in the late 1970s and early 1980s, winning the FA Cup in 1978 and the UEFA Cup in 1981 with a team that played thrilling attacking football. Players like John Wark, Arnold Muhren, Frans Thijssen, and Paul Mariner were household names.

The two decades of decline that followed George Burley's 2001-02 relegation tested the loyalty of Ipswich supporters to the limit. Years of underachievement, financial difficulties, and managerial changes saw the club drift down to League One. The purchase by Gamechanger 20 Ltd, an American-led investment group, in 2021 brought fresh resources, and the appointment of McKenna in December 2021 proved transformative.

McKenna, a Northern Irishman who cut his coaching teeth at Manchester United under Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, brought tactical sophistication, meticulous preparation, and an ability to improve players that quickly made him one of the most talked-about young managers in English football. His Ipswich side played progressive, possession-based football that won admirers across the game. However, the step up to the Premier League in 2024-25 proved too great, and Ipswich were relegated back to the Championship after a single season in the top flight. The challenge now is to regroup and mount another promotion challenge, with the infrastructure and identity McKenna built still largely intact.