1961–62 Ipswich Town F.C. season

Ipswich Town
1961–62 season
Chairman John Cobbold
Manager Alf Ramsey
Stadium Portman Road
Football League First Division 1st
FA Cup Fourth round
League Cup Fourth round
Top goalscorer League: Ray Crawford (33)
All: Ray Crawford (37)
Highest home attendance 30,649 vs Arsenal (Division One, 20 April 1962)
Lowest home attendance 11,010 v Swansea Town (League Cup second round replay, 24 October 1961)
Average home league attendance 22,835

The 1961–62 season was the 73rd season of competitive football played by Ipswich Town. Although the club exited both the FA Cup and the Football League Cup in the fourth round, they ended the campaign as Football League champions, becoming the third club to win back-to-back Second and First Division titles. Matt Busby described the title-winners as "...one of the First Division's most attractive sides...".[1] As league champions, Ipswich qualified for European football for the first time in the club's history.

Seventeen players represented the club during the season, with six different goalscorers, including Ray Crawford who was joint English and European top scorer with Derek Kevan of West Bromwich Albion[2] and became the first Ipswich player to win a full England cap. Crawford and Ted Phillips scored 73 goals between them during the season.

Background

Ipswich went into the 1961–62 Football League having been promoted from the Football League Second Division as champions, one point ahead of Sheffield United. Ray Crawford was the league's top scorer with 39 goals as Ipswich ended the season with 100 goals scored.[3]

Summary

This was Ipswich's first ever season in the top flight of English football and initially they found the transition from Division Two difficult. A goalless draw at Bolton was creditable enough but was followed by two defeats. At Burnley, Ipswich lost to the odd goal in seven after equalising three times, and two late goals by Peter Dobing clinched a 4–2 victory for Manchester City in the opening fixture at Portman Road.

Ipswich resoundingly won the return match against Burnley (the 6–2 win would be the only points dropped by the Clarets in a run of 10 matches) and followed this up with a further three wins before being brought back down to earth by a 5–2 thumping at Everton. Defeat by Fulham two games later would be the last in the League at home, and although Ipswich suffered five further defeats on their travels before the end of January, such was the strength of their home form that they never lost touch with the leading pack. By the beginning of March, they had forced their way up to second place, albeit four points behind leaders Burnley having played one game more, and they ended the month as leaders after beating Wolves 3–2 with Doug Moran scoring a late winner. Burnley lay two points behind but now had four games in hand on Ipswich, with reigning champions Tottenham a further six points adrift in third place.

April began with a demoralising 5–0 defeat at Manchester United, and consecutive draws against Arsenal and Chelsea over the Easter weekend also looked costly, although it was to their credit that Ipswich recovered from two goals down in both matches. Ahead of their penultimate match – a trip to Highbury on Easter Monday – Ipswich led the table with 52 points, with Burnley a point behind and with one game still in hand. Two goals by Ray Crawford helped Ipswich to a vital 3–0 win which extended their advantage to two points as Burnley could only manage a draw at Blackpool on the same day. However, Burnley's superior goal average meant that they would be guaranteed the title by winning their remaining two games.

Ipswich ended their season by beating Aston Villa at Portman Road thanks to another two Crawford goals, and shortly after the final whistle news filtered through that Burnley had been held at home by Chelsea. Alf Ramsey's side had thus created footballing history by becoming the first ever club (notwithstanding Preston's 'invincibles') to win Division One at the very first attempt.[4]

Players

Pos. Nat. Name League FA Cup League Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK  ENG Roy Bailey 37 0 4 0 3 0 44 0
GK  ENG Wilf Hall 5 0 1 0 2 0 8 0
DF  SCO Billy Baxter 40 0 5 0 5 0 50 0
DF  ENG Larry Carberry 42 0 5 0 4 0 51 0
DF  ENG John Compton 39 0 5 0 5 0 49 0
DF  SCO Ken Malcolm 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
DF  ENG Andy Nelson 42 0 5 0 5 0 52 0
MF  WAL John Elsworthy 41 2 5 1 5 0 51 3
MF  SCO Jimmy Leadbetter 41 8 3 1 5 1 49 10
MF  WAL Aled Owen 1 0 2 0 1 0 4 0
MF  ENG Reg Pickett 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
MF  ENG Roy Stephenson 41 7 5 2 5 2 51 11
FW  ENG Ray Crawford 41 33 5 1 4 3 50 37
FW  IRE Dermot Curtis 4 0 0 0 1 0 5 0
FW  ENG Doug Millward 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
FW  SCO Doug Moran 42 14 5 1 4 3 51 18
FW  ENG Ted Phillips 40 28 5 3 5 5 50 36

Matches

League

League table

Pos Team Pld Home Away Overall
W D L F A W D L F A F A GA GD Pts
1 Ipswich Town 4217225828768353993671.388+2656
2Burnley42144357267774441101671.507+3453
3Tottenham Hotspur4214435934768293588691.275+1952
4Everton4217226421399243388541.630+3451
5Sheffield United42135337236411244661690.884–847
6Sheffield Wednesday42144347236213253572581.241+1446

Results summary

League position during the season
OverallHomeAway
PldWDLGFGAGDPtsWDLGFGAGDWDLGFGAGD
42 24 8 10 93 67  +26 80 17 2 2 58 28  +30 7 6 8 35 39  −4

August

September

October

November

December

January

February

March

April

League Cup

FA Cup

Post-season

Ipswich's title-winning season qualified them for the 1962–63 European Cup, the club's first foray into European football. The club defeated Maltese champions Floriana 14–1 in the preliminary round, with Ray Crawford scoring seven across the two ties.[57] The Suffolk club then faced Italians and eventual champions A.C. Milan. Ipswich were unable to overturn a 3–0 first leg defeat in the San Siro, despite winning 2–1 at Portman Road.[58] On 25 October 1962, Ramsey agreed to take charge of the England national team, commencing 1 May 1963.[59] Domestically, Ipswich struggled to repeat their form the following season, finishing 17th and four points above the relegation zone.

References

  1. ↑ "Cobbolds and Ipswich Town Football Club". The Cobbold Family History Trust. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
  2. ↑ "European Topscorers before 1967/68". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. rsssf.com. Retrieved 5 February 2008.
  3. ↑ Ross, James M. (25 June 2015). "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  4. ↑ Ipswich Town: Champions 1961/62 (auth. Martin Brooks). Brimscombe Port, Stroud: The History Press. ISBN 9780752458908.
  5. ↑ Brooks, pp. 33–35
  6. ↑ Brooks, pp. 35–37
  7. ↑ Brooks, pp. 37–39
  8. ↑ Brooks, pp. 39–41
  9. ↑ Brooks, pp. 43–44
  10. ↑ Brooks, pp. 44–46
  11. ↑ Brooks, pp. 46–47
  12. ↑ Brooks, pp. 48–49
  13. ↑ Brooks, pp. 50–51
  14. ↑ Brooks, pp. 51–52
  15. ↑ Brooks, pp. 53–54
  16. ↑ Brooks, pp. 57–59
  17. ↑ Brooks, pp. 60–61
  18. ↑ Brooks, pp. 62–63
  19. ↑ Brooks, pp. 64–65
  20. ↑ Brooks, pp. 68–69
  21. ↑ Brooks, pp. 70–71
  22. ↑ Brooks, pp. 71–72
  23. ↑ Brooks, pp. 74–75
  24. ↑ Brooks, pp. 78–79
  25. ↑ Brooks, pp. 80–81
  26. ↑ Brooks, pp. 83–84
  27. ↑ Brooks, pp. 84–85
  28. ↑ Brooks, pp. 86–87
  29. ↑ Brooks, pp. 90–91
  30. ↑ Brooks, pp. 93–94
  31. ↑ Brooks, pp. 97–98
  32. ↑ Brooks, pp. 99–100
  33. ↑ Brooks, pp. 102–103
  34. ↑ Brooks, pp. 105–106
  35. ↑ Brooks, pp. 107–108
  36. ↑ Brooks, pp. 109–110
  37. ↑ Brooks, pp. 111–112
  38. ↑ Brooks, pp. 113–114
  39. ↑ Brooks, pp. 115–116
  40. ↑ Brooks, pp. 116–117
  41. ↑ Brooks, pp. 120–121
  42. ↑ Brooks, pp. 122–124
  43. ↑ Brooks, pp. 125–126
  44. ↑ Brooks, pp. 126–127
  45. ↑ Brooks, pp. 128–129
  46. ↑ Brooks, pp. 133–134
  47. ↑ Brooks, pp. 47–48
  48. ↑ Brooks, p. 57
  49. ↑ Brooks, p. 64
  50. ↑ Brooks, p. 73
  51. ↑ Brooks, p. 82
  52. ↑ Brooks, pp. 89–90
  53. ↑ Brooks, p. 90
  54. ↑ Brooks, pp. 92–93
  55. ↑ Brooks, p. 95
  56. ↑ Brooks, p. 96
  57. ↑ Baldacchino, Carmel (26 March 2015). "Ipswich goal avalanche swamps the Greens". Times of Malta. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  58. ↑ "UEFA Champions League – 1962/63 – Matches – Qualifying – First Round". UEFA. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  59. ↑ Bowler 1999, p. 154.

Bibliography

  • Bowler, Dave (2013) [1999]. Winning Isn't Everything: A Biography of Sir Alf Ramsey. London: Hachette UK. ISBN 978-1-4091-4676-6.
  • Brooks, Martin (2011). Ipswich Town – Champions 1961/62 (1 ed.). The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7524-5890-8.
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