Ipswich Town F.C. in European football

Did You Know?

• Ipswich Town participated in the non-UEFA-sanctioned Texaco Cup for a single season, in 1972–73, winning against local rivals Norwich City in the two-legged final.
• They also participated in the non-UEFA-sanctioned Anglo-Italian Cup for a single season, in their 1995–96 season.

History

Ipswich Town's first European appearance came in the 1962–63 season. Ipswich won the first leg in Valletta 4–1, with two goals each from Ted Phillips and Ray Crawford. The return leg at Portman Road ended 10–0, equalling the European record for the highest individual match score; Crawford scored five and Phillips two. The 14–1 aggregate also equalled the European record set by Red Star Belgrade in 1957.

In the next round, Ipswich faced Italian champions A.C. Milan. The first leg at the San Siro, attended by 7,600, saw Milan take a 3–0 lead through a brace from Paolo Barison and a goal from Dino Sani. In the second leg at Portman Road, Milan scored first through Barison, and although Ipswich replied with goals from Crawford and Bobby Blackwood to win 2–1 on the night, they lost 4–2 on aggregate. Milan went on to win the European Cup that season.

Eleven years later, under Bobby Robson, Ipswich qualified for the 1973–74 UEFA Cup after finishing fourth in the First Division. In the first round they faced Real Madrid; a deflected shot from Mick Mills was the only goal, though the match was delayed for two minutes after the referee was struck by a projectile from the crowd.

UEFA competition record by season

Ipswich Town remain one of only five English sides to have won the UEFA Cup, now the Europa League, lifting the trophy in 1981. John Wark netted 14 times during that campaign, matching the competition scoring record set by AC Milan’s José Altafini in the 1962–63 European Cup, a mark later beaten by Jürgen Klinsmann. The key abbreviations used are PR, 1R, 2R, 3R, QF, SF, and F. The club’s home form at Portman Road was unmatched in European football; they held the longest unbeaten home run in UEFA-sanctioned matches for 45 years, until AZ Alkmaar surpassed it. Their biggest home crowd was 33,663 against Barcelona in October 1977, and the smallest was 13,440 against Skeid Oslo in October 1979. Away from home, the highest attendance was 100,000 for the Barcelona match in March 1979, while the lowest was 2,971 against Avenir Beggen in August 2002.