Charles Jackson
Despite competing against three teams just one season removed from the Premier League, Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich Town secured back-to-back promotions, clinching second place in the Championship behind City of Leicester through a 2-0 victory over Huddersfield Town. In doing so the Tractor Boys became only the fourth team to gain promotion from League One to the Championship and then the Premier League after Southampton in 2012. City of Norwich in 2011, and Watford in 2009.
While there are many stories of teams progressing steadily through the divisions, the speed with which Ipswich have done so is unprecedented, racking up over 180 points in recent seasons. McKenna was only appointed in December 2021 and since then the team has done nothing but win, losing just eight of 52 matches in charge. Now Portman Road will see Premier League football for the first time since 2002.
Relegated despite reaching the second round of the UEFA Cup, that season would be the beginning of a dark period for the Tractor Boys. Ipswich would then suffer 11 middling seasons in the Championship before dropping down to League One in 2019 after finishing 24th in the Championship. Even in League One the club looked stagnant until McKenna took the reins and helped lead them to a club record 98 points and a place in the Championship. Now, he has done one better by taking them to the Premier League.
By underlying metrics, Ipswich are the third to fourth best team in the Championship, with the fourth best expected goal difference of 25.7 last weekend, but scoring the most goals in the league has helped them avoid the inconsistency they have tormented the teams around him.
This was without spending too much money, as Ipswich secured budget signings and McKenna’s 4-2-3-1 got the best out of every player at his disposal. Taking the team’s effort to a new level, 19 players found the back of the net, with eight of them scoring more than four goals. Six players also recorded more than 10 goal contributions.
Tactically, Ipswich takes care of what they do without the ball to prevent opponents from transitioning and can also quickly transform defense into attack. With a fluid front of Conor Chaplin, George Hirst, Nathan Broadhead and Wes Burns players can attack you from any direction to create dangerous attacks.
Hirst, in particular, shows how effective McKenna’s tactics are. He hadn’t scored a league goal before coming to Ipswich and now has seven, with six assists, also in limited action, a total that sees his loan move from Leicester City to a permanent one.
Shopping smart, even injuries haven’t slowed the Tractor Boys’ progress. When Hirst was injured on Boxing Day it was the sort of thing that could have derailed the season, but Ipswich went and signed Kieffer Moore on loan from Bournemouth and the Welshman scored seven goals, assisted one more and was just the impactful mid-season signing the doctor ordered.
Thanks to more than $130 million of investment from US-based private equity firm Bright Path Sports Partners, Ipswich may not only need to rely on Premier League budget signings, but it is important that their good decision-making continues. Current CEO Mark Ashton will continue the day-to-day management of the club, which bodes well for bringing success from the Championship to the Premier League with him.
Their fans will already be supporting the team as big games at Portman Road are a big deal. In 31 European home games, Ipswich have never lost and are the only British team to have never lost a home game in European competition. Although the last of these matches took place in 2002, before relegation, if Ipswich manage to keep McKenna in the Premier League, all of their home fixtures will be unmissable. Watching an entertaining team that scores and accelerates at will is something that excites the fans and many players who have been involved in this League One journey, such as Conor Chaplin, who will still be an important member of the team next season.
Due to their transfer strategy, there will be some players on loan who will need to be replaced next season and some like Jeremy Sarmiento could be loaned out again to see if they can cope with the rise to Premier League football. . The key is to keep McKenna. During a summer where jobs like Manchester United could open, Ipswich will focus on keeping one of the most important names in management at Portman Road.
With McKenna, this is a club that could have a very high ceiling, but if they also need to replace him while adapting to life in the Premier League, that’s where a quick return to the Championship could be on the horizon. But for today, that is no cause for concern as for the first time in 22 years, Ipswich Town are a Premier League team again.
