The English champions from 1962, only a season earlier, fought for the last place in the Champions League with Liverpool and Leeds, eventually losing to Inter in the UEFA Cup qualifiers, although they won the first match at Portman Road.And as it usually happens, the financial problems of the small club followed, which, due to the clash with the giants, spent more than it was allowed to. It was this period that earned the popular nickname Tractor Boys (coined by Leeds fans when they sang: “We got beat by a bunch of tractor boys”), but the price was high.That Saturday, May 11, 2002, Liverpool outclassed Ipswich 5-0 at Anfield and it was the Tractor Boys’ last game in the Premier League for the next 22 years. Ipswich went into bankruptcy, then to the second division, then even to the third, for the first time since 1957, as they finished the 2018/2019 season last in the table.Fate does things like that – that the greatest joy is followed by the greatest sorrow. And the opposite of what was seen in December 2021. Ipswich lost to the fourth division Barrow in the FA Cup, and the management reacted by changing the head coach.We are @premierleague. pic.twitter.com/bHbComlHh2— I(P)SWICH TOWN (@IpswichTown) May 4, 2024 The then 35-year-old anonymous Kieran McKenna was brought to the club and the first reaction of all the fans was to ask: Kieran who?Meanwhile, they got to know him well and learned to love him. To adore him. The strategist, who had to end his playing career in Tottenham at the age of 22 because due to a hip injury, he did not even make his debut for the first team of the Spurs, devoted himself to the coaching job in time and soon showed that he has something to offer. He worked his way through the academies of different Premier League teams until he reached the U18 selection of Manchester United (he allegedly moved from Tottenham to Old Trafford because of his great love for the club), from where Jose Mourinho took him to be his assistant. After that, he performed the same function under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick.##EDITORS_CHOICE##Three years later, McKenna managed to do what no one did since Southampton in 2012. To bring a club from the third to the second league, and immediately in the next season introduce them to the elite. Gratitude is also owed to the American owners from the Gamechanger 20 Ltd consortium, who bought Ipswich in April 2021 for £40,000,000, brought in some proven personnel to the directorship position, then McKenna as a coach, and then started investing in the players.Decisions not too fancy, but smart. Already in July 2021, they brought in Wes Barnes, Ipswich’s version of Jamie Vardy, a guy who – if he stays – will make his debut in the Premier League at the age of 29, and who “until yesterday” played for Fleetwood in the third division. Just like Vardy before did with Leicester, otherwise winners of this season’s Championship campaign. It was Barnes who scored the first goal in a 2-0 win over Huddersfield today as Ipswich held off Leeds’ attack. The triumph was sealed by 20-year-old Omari Hutchinson, Chelsea’s kid on loan at Ipswich.
Leeds will, therefore, enter the play-off from third place, and there will also be fourth-placed Southampton, West Bromwich Albion, and Norwich City, despite the minimal defeat against Birmingham, for whom even that minimal was not enough to survive in the Championship, because Plymouth also defeated Hull, also with 1-0. But at least they made Hull miss the last train for the playoffs.In the end, next to Birmingham, Huddersfield are moving into the third league, and the weak Rotherham, who had no place in the second tier of English football.And do Ipswich have a place in the elite? Time will tell, although it is already clear to everyone that they will be the first favorite for an express trip back to the Championship. Which doesn’t have to mean anything when the club is well-run, both from the top and on the field. And no one doubts anymore that McKenna is the right man in the right place.Dinner at Enzo’s – some thing changed, some stayed the same and the Foxes are back with the eliteEFL CHAMPIONSHIP – MATCHDAY 46SaturdayBirmingham – Norwich 1-0 (0-0)/Syong-Ho 56/Coventry – QPR 1-2 (0-2)/Allen 83 – Cher 33, Fox 40/Ipswich – Huddersfield 2-0 (1-0)/Barnes 27, Hutchinson 48/Leeds – Southampton 1-2 (1-2)/Piroe 21 – Armstrong 18, Smallbone 35/Leicester – Blackburn 0-2 (0-0)/Szmodis 68, 94/Middlesbrough – Watford 3-1 (1-0)/Late Lat 28, Bangura 78, Joens 84 – Hat 73/Plymouth – Hull 1-0 (1-0)/Edwards 40/Rotherham – Cardiff 5-2 (2-1)/Hagil 25, 69 Ivs 45+2, 57 pen, Nombi 63 – Phillips 38, Tuner 47/Stoke – Bristol City 4-0 (3-0)/Candle 25, Campbel 45, Menhof 45+2, 49/Sunderland – Sheffield Wednesday 0-2 (0-2)/Palmer 27, Windes 38/Swansea – Millwall 0-1 (0-0)/De Nore 72/WBA – Preston 3-0 (1-0)/Movat 45+2, Barley 61, Furlong 69/