Ipswich Town are on the brink of reaching the Premier League as they require just a point on the final day of the Championship season to secure their return to England’s top flight.
Kieran McKenna, former Manchester United assistant, has done a tremendous job as manager of the Tractor Boys and is closing in on a second promotion in as many seasons.
They face Huddersfield Town on May 4 at Portman Road where avoiding defeat will get the job done.
The Sporting News takes a look at whether Ipswich have competed in the Premier League before and their record in England’s top flight.
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Ipswich Town have played in the Premier League but their history in England’s top flight has been short, playing just five campaigns.
The club were involved in the inaugural Premier League season of 1992/1993 under the management of John Lyall. After a tough year battling relegation, they survived and finished 16th.
The following season saw a similar narrative as they battled to stay in the top flight again. Once more, they just about managed it, finishing a point above the bottom two sides (at that stage, only two sides were relegated).
A year later, Ipswich finished comfortably bottom of the table and dropped into the second tier.
Their most memorable season came in the 2000/2001 campaign under the guidance of manager George Burley as they secured a remarkable fifth-place finish, qualifying for the UEFA Cup.
However, this success was soon overshadowed as they were again relegated to the Championship the following season after finishing 18th. Ipswich have been without top-flight status for over 20 years but McKenna’s sensational performances see the club on the brink of securing back-to-back promotions.
Ipswich’s reward for their remarkable 2000/01 campaign was qualification for the UEFA Cup — the precursor to the modern UEFA Europa League.
They beat Torpedo Moscow 3-2 on aggregate in the first round after a famous away win in Russia in the second leg. In round two, they drew 0-0 with Helsingborg of Sweden before winning 3-1 in the return fixture.
In round three, they faced the mighty Inter Milan, and Ronaldo.
The first leg ended in a famous 1-0 win for the Tractor Boys courtesy of substitute Alun Armstrong. Striker Nicola Ventola missed some good chances for the team who were second in Serie A at the time.
Armstrong scored again, this time from the penalty spot, in the away leg at San Siro. Unfortunately for Ipswich, they were already 4-0 down at the time, Christian Vieri scoring a hat-trick alongside a goal from Mohamed Kallon. Vieri was replaced in the closing stages by Ronaldo, the great Brazil striker, who was given a hero’s welcome on his return from a serious injury.
