Ipswich Town Football Club is an English professional association football club who have made numerous appearances in Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and other European competitions since 1962. The first competitive venture in Europe came about as a result of Ipswich winning the First Division title in the 1961–62 season under their manager Sir Alf Ramsey. The club qualified for the European Cup where they faced amateur Maltese opposition in the first round before being sent out of the contest by Italian champions A.C. Milan in the following round. Under Bobby Robson's leadership, Ipswich qualified for European football for a decade from 1972, the culmination of which was victory in the final of the 1980–81 UEFA Cup, winning 5–4 on aggregate against Dutch team AZ Alkmaar. The club remains undefeated at home throughout their entire history in UEFA-sanctioned European football matches, having played 31 times, winning 25 and drawing 6.
Ipswich have also played in non-UEFA-sanctioned competitive European football. They participated in the Anglo-Italian Cup for a single season and won the Texaco Cup.
History Ramsey era
Ipswich's first appearance in European football came in the 1962–63 season. Under the management of Alf Ramsey, Ipswich had won back-to-back league titles and as such qualified for the 1962–63 European Cup in which they were drawn against Maltese club Floriana F.C. in the preliminary round. Ipswich dominated the first leg, played in Valletta, with two goals each from Ted Phillips and Ray Crawford in 4–1 victory. The return leg, a week later at Portman Road, ended in 10–0 victory to Ipswich, equalling European football record for both the highest individual match score. Crawford scored five and Phillips two, while the Floriana goalkeeper Mizzi blamed the results on having to play on a grass surface under floodlights. The 14–1 aggregate score also equalled the European record previously set by Red Star Belgrade in 1957.
The next round was a different proposition altogether, with Ipswich facing Italian champions A.C. Milan, who had won Serie A in the 1961–62 season. The first leg was played at the San Siro in front of just 7,600 supporters,Houseley, p. 8 and Milan's team included several Italian internationals such as Cesare Maldini, Gianni Rivera and Giovanni Trapattoni. Refereed by Gottfried Dienst (who would later officiate the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final), Milan took a 2–0 lead within a quarter of an hour with a brace from Paolo Barison. A third from Dino Sani in the second half condemned Ipswich to a 3–0 defeat. The second leg, at Portman Road two weeks later, saw Milan "shut up shop" and then Ipswich went a goal down to a "lucky" Barison strike. With the score 4–0 on aggregate, Ipswich played the remainder of the match with little caution; goals from Crawford and Bobby Blackwood gave them a 2–1 win on the night, though they lost 4–2 on aggregate. The Italians would go on to win the European Cup that season, with José Altafini setting a scoring record with fourteen goals in the competition.
Robson era Return to Europe: 1972 to 1980 It was eleven years before Ipswich ventured back into European football competition. Bobby Robson led the club to finish fourth in the First Division 1972–73 season and qualified for the 1973–74 UEFA Cup where their opponents in the first round were Spanish team Real Madrid. A deflected shot from Mick Mills proved to be the only goal of the game, marred by the referee being struck by a projectile from the crowd which had caused a two-minute delay.
The second leg in Madrid ended goalless allowing Ipswich to progress to the second round 1–0 on aggregate. The second round draw saw Ipswich face Italian team Lazio, the first leg to be played at Portman Road. Trevor Whymark scored four times, twice in each half, to enable Ipswich to take a 4–0 lead back to Rome. The return leg in the Stadio Olimpico was a bad-tempered affair. Despite taking an early two-goal lead, Lazio conceded a penalty with fifteen minutes remaining which Colin Viljoen converted; he was punched and kicked on his way to for the restart. Full beer cans were thrown from the crowd which were subsequently used by Lazio players as missiles against both the Ipswich players and the referee. Union Jacks were burnt by some members of the crowd. On the pitch, Lazio's Giorgio Chinaglia completed his hat-trick but a last-minute goal from David Johnson ended the leg 4–2, with Ipswich going through 6–4 on aggregate. At the final whistle, the Ipswich players sprinted off the pitch during which goalkeeper David Best was injured by the Lazio supporters. The team were locked in their dressing room for their own protection from the home supporters for more than an hour. Robson later remarked "Lazio were human beings gone berserk!"
Ipswich faced FC Twente of the Netherlands in the third round, winning the first leg on a frozen and snow-covered Portman Road pitch 1–0 courtesy of a late Whymark goal who tapped the ball into an empty net after Twente goalkeeper Piet Schrijvers palmed away a shot from Clive Woods. The return leg in Enschede ended 2–1 in Ipswich's favour, with second half goals from Bryan Hamilton and Peter Morris, the tie ending 3–1 on aggregate. Once again violence affected the game with Hamilton being punched to the ground out of the referee's vision, and four Ipswich fans requiring hospital treatment after clashing with Twente supporters.
The quarter final draw paired Ipswich with Lokomotive Leipzig. The first leg, played at Portman Road, ended 1–0 with a late goal from Kevin Beattie after Ipswich "had done everything but score". Robson noted that Leipzig should be happy with the result, suggesting "they were only just short of a thrashing". The second leg saw Mick Mills being sent off late in the first half for what he claimed to be a retaliatory foul on East German international player Wolfram Löwe. Five minutes into the second half, scored from a Löwe corner, and the game ended 1–0, with an aggregate score of 1–1 sending the game into penalties. At 3–3, it was sudden death; Allan Hunter's penalty was then saved by Werner Friese, and Ipswich were out.
Ipswich finished fourth in the 1973–74 Football League First Division, qualifying for the 1974–75 UEFA Cup, and were drawn against FC Twente in the first round. The first leg, at Portman Road, ended 2–2, with goals from Hamilton and Brian Talbot. Robson was upbeat, stating "we won over there last year and there is no reason why we can't do the same again". The return leg took place two weeks later in Enschede. scored for Twente after eight minutes, but Hamilton equalised for Ipswich six minutes later; the game ended 1–1 and 3–3 on aggregate, which sent Ipswich out of the competition on the away goals rule.
Finishing third in the 1974–75 Football League First Division, Ipswich qualified for the 1975–76 UEFA Cup where they faced the favourites for the cup, Dutch club Feyenoord in the first round. The first leg, in Rotterdam, ended 2–1 to Ipswich with goals from Johnson and Whymark, the consolation for Feyenoord coming from Theo de Jong. Once again crowd trouble threatened, but the thousand "green-bereted commandos" in attendance helped to maintain order. Two weeks later at Portman Road, Ipswich took a two-goal first-half lead through Woods and Whymark, and held out against a "blitz of aggressive and elegant football" in the second half for a 4–1 aggregate victory. F.C. Bruges were to be Ipswich's second round opponent, with the first leg at Portman Road in October 1975. Despite starting without a number of first team regulars, Ipswich won the tie 3–0, with goals from Eric Gates, John Peddelty and Terry Austin. Bruges were 3–0 ahead by half-time in the second leg, through Raoul Lambert, Daniël De Cubber and Ulrik le Fevre. René Vandereycken scored the crucial fourth goal three minutes from time to make the aggregate score 4–3 and send Ipswich out of the cup.
Qualification for the 1977–78 UEFA Cup was ensured when Ipswich finished the 1976–77 season in third place, and they were drawn in the first round against Swedish amateur team Landskrona BoIS. The first leg, played in Sweden, ended 1–0 to Ipswich courtesy of a Whymark goal. He scored four more in the second leg, and a goal from Paul Mariner meant the final result was 5–0 and Ipswich progressed to the second round with a 6–0 aggregate win. The second round was against Las Palmas, with the first leg ending 1–0 at Portman Road through a Gates goal midway through the first half. Mariner scored two and Les Tibbott one in the second leg as the sides drew 3–3, ensuring Ipswich progressed to the third round to face Barcelona. The first leg, played at Portman Road, was a relatively one-sided affair, with Ipswich focused on closing down the creative midfielder Johan Cruyff. Three goals, from Gates, Whymark and Talbot, all from crosses made by Woods, ensured that Ipswich ran out 3–0 winners. In something of a repeat of the events in Bruges two years prior, Barcelona overcame the first leg deficit with two goals from Cruyff and a penalty from Carles Rexach making the aggregate score 3–3 and sending the game to a penalty shootout. Pedro Artola saved attempts from both Talbot and Hunter, and Ipswich were eliminated from the contest, losing 3–1.
There was domestic success for Ipswich in the 1977–78 English football season as they won the FA Cup Final against Arsenal to qualify for the 1978–79 European Cup Winners' Cup, their first appearance in the competition. The club was drawn against Dutch team AZ 67 Alkmaar in the two-legged first round. The first leg finished goalless, while the second leg ended 2–0 at Portman Road to Ipswich with an early goal from Paul Mariner and a late penalty from John Wark. The second round opponents were Austrian club FC Wacker Innsbruck who Ipswich faced at home in October 1978. A match which Ipswich dominated ended just 1–0 with the sole goal coming from a penalty converted by Wark. The second leg was a bad-tempered match, and after Innsbruck had equalised the tie, Mariner was sent off for a bad foul and four other Ipswich players were booked. With the tie 1–1 on aggregate, the match entered extra time, in which George Burley scored with ten minutes to go to seal Ipswich's passage to the third round where they would face Barcelona for the second year in Europe. Ipswich went into the match without regular forwards Mariner (through suspension) and Woods (through illness), but took the lead early in the second half with a goal from Gates. Barcelona responded immediately to equalise through Esteban Vigo before Gates scored his second to end the match 2–1 to Ipswich. The second leg, in the Camp Nou, was played in front a crowd of 110,000, and took receipts of £425,000 () – a Spanish football record. A first half strike from Argentine Juan Carlos Heredia was the only goal of the game, and the tie ended 2–2 on aggregate, Ipswich going out to Barcelona again, this time on away goals.
A sixth-place finish in the 1978–79 season ensured that Ipswich qualified for European football once again, this time the 1979–80 UEFA Cup, where they were drawn against Norwegian part-time club Skeid Fotball in the first round. Ipswich were missing five regular players in the first leg, including Frans Thijssen and Alan Brazil, and went 1–0 down in the first half before goals from Mills, Robin Turner and Mariner settled the leg 3–1. The second leg at Portman Road was conclusive: goals from Arnold Mühren (2), Thijssen, Wark, Mariner and Steve McCall (2) secured a 7–0 win on the night and a 10–1 aggregate victory. Swiss team Grasshoppers were Ipswich's second round opponents, with the first leg ending goalless in Zürich. A first-half goal from Beattie was equalised by Claudio Sulser midway through the second half, ending the match and therefore the tie 1–1 and Ipswich were eliminated, once again on the away goals rule.