Ipswich’s Kieran McKenna: ‘It’s more satisfying because it’s not been easy

Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, that compete in the Championship, the second tier of English football, following promotion from League One during the 2022–23 season.

Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn professional until 1936; the club was subsequently elected to join the Football League in 1938. Ipswich won the English league title in 1961–62, their first season in the top flight, and finished runners-up in 1980–81 and 1981–82.

They finished in the top six in the First Division for ten years, with the exception of when they won the FA Cup in 1977–78. Ipswich were a regular competitor in European football and won the UEFA Cup in 1980–81. The club has competed in all three major European club competitions and holds the record as being the only British side to have never lost at home in European competition, having defeated teams such as Real Madrid, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Lazio and Barcelona.[2]

Ipswich play their home games at Portman Road in Ipswich. They are the only fully professional football club in Suffolk and have a long-standing and fierce rivalry with Norwich City from Norfolk, against whom they have contested the East Anglian derby 148 times since 1902.[3] The club’s traditional home colours are blue shirts with white shorts and blue socks.