Ipswich Greatest All-Time Team

This blogger Artur Yanturin of Russia copied many of my blog teams.  This blog was one of them.  It was my Russia All-Time Team here.  His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014.   His Spartak Moscow All-Time team entry of was published in October 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2017.  His entry of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014.  He also copied many many of my blog entries.

His Facebook and Instagram

UEFA Cup 1981

Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.

Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal,
Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester City, Everton,
Aston Villa, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, 
Leeds United, Leicester City, West Ham, Wolverhampton Wanderers
North West England
All-Time Team under Bobby Robson(Club only)
Bobby Robson's Ipswich Town

South East England

East of England

I began to follow football around the early 1980's.  At the time, Ipswich was my favourite team due to the colour of their uniforms.  Over the years, it was difficult to follow a team in the lower division when you do not live in the same country.  How can I call myself a fan when I cannot name a single player on their roster? Nevertheless, Ipswich Town still has a soft spot in my heart.

Ipswich have won the English league title once, in their first season in the top flight in 1961–62, and have twice finished runners-up, in 1980–81 and 1981–82. They won the FA Cup in 1977–78, and the UEFA Cup in 1980–81. They have competed in all three major European club competitions, and have never lost at home in European competition, defeating Real Madrid, A.C. Milan, Inter Milan, Lazio and Barcelona, among others.

First Division Winner 1961-1962

Team
GK: Paul Cooper  (England)

Cooper made more than 500 appearances in the Football League, most of them for Ipswich Town, where he won the 1978 FA Cup and the 1981 UEFA Cup and also gained a reputation for saving penalties. With 575 appearances for Ipswich, he is ranked fourth in the club's all-time appearances list.  He also played for Birmingham City, Leicester, Manchester City and Stockport County.

GK: Roy Bailey (England)

From 1949 to 1956, Baily played for Crystal Palace.  He was signed for Ipswich Town, by Alf Ramsey in 1956.  He became one of the first group of players to have won First (now Premier League), Second (now Football League Championship), and Third Division (now Football League One) Championship medals with the same club.  He was indicted in the Ipswich Town Hall of Fame.  During the summer, he played cricket for Ipswich and East Suffolk, one of the leading clubs in Suffolk. His son Gary Bailey later played for England and Manchester United.

Roy Bailey 

GK: Richard Wright (England)

Born in Ipswich, Wright played for the club 298 times between 1995 and 2001. He then moved to Arsenal, before being signed by Everton in 2002, where he spent five years. He also played for West Ham United, Southampton and two other spells with Ipswich Town.   Wright was capped twice for England.  He was a member of the England Euro 2000 squad, where he was third choice behind David Seaman and Nigel Martyn.

RB: George Burley (Scotland)  

Burley had a professional career spanning 21 years as a player, making 628 league appearances. His most successful spell came while at Ipswich Town making 394 senior appearances between 1973 and 1985, and being part of the squad that won the FA Cup and UEFA Cup in 1978 and 1981 respectively.  For Scotland, he was capped 11 times between 1979 and 1982.

RB: Larry Carberry (England)

During his career at Portman Road, he made over 250 appearances. He was ever-present in the side that won the League Championship in 1961–62, having previously won the Third Division South Championship in 1957 and the Division Two Championship in 1960–61. In 1965, he was transferred to Barrow, but left soon after.  And then, he played for Burscough F.C. in 1967.

CB: Terry Butcher (England)
Butcher was one of England's greatest defenders. He captained the England national team, winning 77 caps in a ten-year international career that featured three World Cups. Butcher also enjoyed success in his club career, particularly with Ipswich Town and Rangers. With Ipswich, he was a part of Bobby Robson's team that won the UEFA Cup in 1981. In 1986, he joined Rangers as one of the first wave of English players playing for Graeme Souness' Rangers in the 1980's.

Terry Butcher

CB: Allan Hunter (Northern Ireland)

Hunter played for Coleraine Oldham Athletic and Blackburn Rovers before moving to Ipswich Town in 1971. He made over 350 appearances in his eleven years at the club, winning the FA Cup.  He was known for his career with Bobby Robson.  In 1982, Hunter accepted the role of player-manager at Colchester United. Hunter made 53 appearances for Northern Ireland, making him Ipswich Town's most capped international player.

CB: Russel Osman  (England)
Russell Osman spent 11 seasons with Ipswich Town from 1976 to 1985 during the club's greatest period, winning the UEFA Cup in 1981.  He also played in the Football League for Leicester City, Southampton, Bristol City, Brighton & Hove Albion and Cardiff City. Osman played senior international football for England, for whom he received eleven caps.

CB/LB: Kevin Beattie (England)
Kevin Beattie was a key player for Bobby Robson's great Ipswich side of the 1970's and early 1980's.  He won the PFA Young Player of the Year award in 1973-1974.   He later played for Colchester United, Middlesbrough, Harwich & Parkeston, Sandvikens IF, Kongsberg IF, Nybergsund IL-Trysil and Clacton Town. He played 9 times for England between 1975 and 1977.

RB/LB: Mick Mills (England)
Mick Mills holds the record for appearance with Ipswich Town.  He became the captain of Ipswich in 1971, where he formed a close relationship with manager Bobby Robson.  It was Ipswich's greatest era, winning the 1978 FA Cup and the 1981 UEFA Cup. He also played with Southampton and Stoke City.  Mills was capped 42 times between 1972 and 1982.  He played both rightback and left back for England. He captained England at the 1982 World Cup Finals.  

Mick Mills

CM: Arnold Muhren (Netherlands)
Muhren was one of the few players who had won the European Cup (1972–73), the Cup Winners' Cup (1986–87) and the UEFA Cup (1980–81).  He first made his name by playing for Ajax with his brother Gerrie.  In 1978, he joined Ipswich, where he became one of the first Dutch players in the league.  Capped 23 times.  He was a part of the Euro 1988 winning team. He crossed the ball to Marco Van Basten where he scored the famous volley goal in the Final against the Soviet Union.

RM/DM/CB: Billy Baxter (Scotland)
Baxter was signed by Ipswich Town from Scottish amateur side Broxburn Athletic in 1960.  He was a regular in the Ipswich team than won the old Division 2 Championship in 1960-61 and Division 1 Championship in 1961-62. He later captained the team to the old Division 2 Championship in 1967-68. In total, Baxter played 459 games for Ipswich during an 11-year stay at Portman Road. 

CM: Frans Thijssen (Netherlands)
In 1979, he moved to Ipswich Town. In 1981 he was the first Dutchman to be voted English Footballer of the Year as he helped Ipswich Town win the UEFA Cup, scoring one goal in each of the two legs of the final. He later played for Nottingham Forest, but he left the club within months. Later, he played for Vancouver Whitecaps, Fortuna Sittard (1984–1987), FC Groningen (1987–1988) and Vitesse Arnhem (1988–1991). Thijssen won 14 caps for Netherlands between 1975 and 1981.  

Frans Thijssen

CM: Tommy Parker  (England)

Tommy Parker played in midfield for Ipswich Town F.C. His career started at Ipswich Town in 1946 where he became the club captain until he retired in 1957 after playing 475 competitive games for the club.  He won Football League Third Division South twice (1953–54, 1956–57).  he was inducted in the Ipswich Hall of Flame.  

CM: Brian Talbot (England)

Talbot began his football career with Ipswich Town during which he spent two seasons on loan with Toronto Metros before turning professional in 1972.  He won the 1977–78 FA Cup with the club.  In 1979, Talbot moved to Arsenal.  He scored in that year's FA Cup final, making him the first player for more than 100 years to win the FA Cup with two different teams in consecutive seasons. From 1977 to 1980, he played 6 times for England.

RW: Kieron Dyer (England)

Kieron Dyer played for his home club Ipswich Town FC from 1996 to 1999 before joining Newcastle United for Ipswich club record fee for a player sale in 1999.  He played for them until 2007.  Later, he played for West Ham, QPR and Middlesbrough before retiring.  From 1999 to 2007, he made 33 times for England.  He played in the 2002 World Cup Finals and the 2004 European Championship, but all as a substitute.  

Kieron Dyer

LM: John Elsworthy (Wales)

John Elsworthy won four championship medals during Ipswich's rise up the divisions in the 1950s. As a member of Ipswich, he won Division Three (South) in 1953–54 and 1956–57, Division Two in 1960–61, and the Division One league championship in 1961–62.  He was part of the Wales squad for the 1958 World Cup, but didn't travel to Sweden as the Welsh FA were too short of money to send a full squad. Although a member of the World Cup squad, Elsworthy was in fact never capped by his country. 

CM/AM: John Wark (Scotland)
John Wark earned 29 caps and scoring 7 goals for Scotland. He played in the 1982 World Cup in which he scored twice.  At the club level, he was known for three spells with Ipswich and a spell with Liverpool between the first two Ipswich spells. He played with the great Ipswich side under nder manager Bobby Robson, winning the 1981 UEFA Cup.  He was the 1981 PFA Players' Player of the Year.  With Liverpool, he won two First Division league title. played all his professional club football for Ipswich Town. 

John Wark, Terry Butcher and Paul Mariner

LWF/FW: Alan Brazil (Scotland)

Brazil started his career in England with Ipswich Town in 1977, where he stayed until 1983.  He was a big part of Bobby Robson's career there.  He later played for Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United.  Internationally, Brazil made 13 appearances for Scotland, the most notable of which saw him playing in the 1982 World Cup finals in Spain. He was the youngest member of the Scotland squad at the finals. 

WF: Jimmy McLuckie (Scotland)

From 1933 to 1934, McLuckie played for Manchester City. Then, he spent two seasons with Aston Villa.  In 1936, He joined Ipswich, a shock move since the team did not have a league status, and in 1938 he was rewarded by becoming the first captain of the club's full-time professional era. After retirement, he made a single appearance as an emergency sub in a 1945 FA Cup match.  He played once for Scotland in 1933.

FW/AM: Eric Gates (England)

Eric Gate began his career with Ipswich in 1973.  He stayed there until 1985 where he played under Bobby Robson's glorious era.  He played over 300 games and averaged a goal for every 4 games.  He was indicted in Ipswich Hall of Flame.  In 1985, he moved to Sunderland.  He was Sunderland Player of the Year: 1987–88.  He also played for Carlisle United in the 1990-1991 season.  In 1980, he appeared twice for England during the World Cup Qualifiers.

Eric Gates

ST: Paul Mariner (England)
Paul Mariner started in 1973 with Plymouth Argyle.  In 1976, he joined Ipswich Town, where he would win the UEFA Cup in 1981 playing under Bobby Robson. Later, he would play for Arsenal and Portsmouth.  From 1977 to 1985, he played 35 times for England national team. He represented them at the 1980 European Championship and the World Cup Finals in 1982.

ST: Trevor Whymark (England)

Whymark started his football career with Anglian Combination team Diss Town whilst working his office job and was signed by Bobby Robson in 1969.  he played for Ipswich until 1979.  He also played for Vancouver Whitecaps, where he won the 1979 Soccer Bowl.  After that he had Football League spells with Grimsby Town, Southend United, Peterborough United and Colchester United.  He played once for England in 1977.

ST: Ted Phillips  (England)

Philips joined Ipswich after leaving the army.  He made 250 appearances for Ipswich between 1953 and 1964, scoring over 150 goals and making him the third highest scorer in the club's history. He also holds the record for the most goals scored for the club in one season with 46 in the 1956–57 season.   He also played for  Luton Town, Leyton Orient and Colchester United.

ST: Ray Crawford 

Crawford began his career at his home town club Portsmouth.   From 1958 to 1963, he played for Ipswich.  He helped Ipswich to win back-to-back titles, the Second Division in 1960-61 and the First Division in 1961-62.  He was sold to Wolves in 1963 before moving to rivals West Brom in 1965.  Then, he had a second spell with Ipswich.  He later played for  Kettering Town and Colchester United.  He had two caps for England.  He is the first Ipswich Town player to be capped for England.. 

Ray Crawford 

Honorable Mention
Bryan Hamilton (N.Ireland), Craig Forest (Canada), Frank Yallop (Canada), Laurie Sivell (England), Matt Holland (Ireland), Jason Dozzell (England), Tom Garneys (England),  Jim Magilton (N.Ireland), Danny Hegan (N.Ireland), David Johnson (England), Clive Woods (England), Jimmy Robertson (Scotland), Jimmy Leadbetter (Scotland), Colin Viljoen (England), Mick Stockwell (England), Connor Wickham (England), Hermann Hreiðarsson (Iceland), Colin Harper (England).

Squad Explanation
-- Most of the club blog teams I created had more successful traditions as well as longer stay in the top flight.  But please do not forget that Ipswich has won an UEFA Cup.  They have outdone some of the club all-time teams that I have created.
-- Ipswich was the first club that I supported as a child.  Over times, Ipswich was playing mainly in the lower division.  It was hard for a non-UK resident to follow the club.  By the 1990's, I could not name a single player on the team.   So my passion died down, but the club remained a special place in my heart.
-- John Wark, Paul Mariner and Kevin Beattie are often listed as Ipswich's greatest players.  I do believe Ray Crawford, Mick Mills and Terry Butcher are also automatic selections.

-- In 1955, Alf Ramsey took over Ipswich when it was in the Third Division.  He helped the club to win the Third Division South in 1957 and the Second Division in 1961.  Ipswich won the First Division in the 1961-1962 season during Ipswich's first season in the top flight. Ted Philips, Ray Crawford, Larry Cartberry, Bill Baxter,  Roy Bailey and John Elsworthy played for him.

-- Arnold Muhren, Frans Thijssen, Mick Mills, John Wark, George Burley, Allan Hunter, Terry Butcher, Alan Brazil, Paul Cooper, Paul Mariner, Eric Gates, Kevin Beattie, Russel Osman played for Bobby Robson.  I have written a blog about that team.

1978 FA Cup

 -- Both Alf Ramsey and Bobby Robson took over England after their careers with Ipswich respectively.  Both are considered among the most successful ever England's managers in history.  Both would be knighted for their achievements.  Until 2018, their teams have the best result for England at the World Cup Finals.

-- Billy Baxter and Ray Crawford who played for Sir Ramsey also played for Robson, but both left soon after.  Robson practiced a youth policy when he joined the club in 1969.  Baxter and Robson did not see eye-to-eye.

-- Not many foreign players were playing in the English league when Arnold Muhren and Frans Thijssen joined Ipswich from FC Twente in 1979.  Thijssen was the FWA Player of the Year in 1981.  Muhren is probably remembered for playing in Netherland's Euro 1988 winning team.  Sergei Baltacha became the first Soviet footballer to play in Britain when he joined Ipswich Town from Dynamo Kiev in 1988, but he only played a short time with Ipswich.

-- Richard Wright, Tommy Parker, Jimmy McLuckie and Kieron Dyer are the only players not from the two golden eras selected.  
-- Paul Cooper and  Roy Bailey are most peoples' choices for the two goalkeepers.  Richard Wright was considered the future of England when he played for Ipswich during his first stint. He was also homegrown.  He was capped while playing for Ipswich, which was rare for an Ipswich player after the 1980's.  He had played here longer than Bryan Hamilton.  Bryan Hamilton, Craig Forest and Laurie Sivell made honorable mention.

-- East Anglian Daily listed Kevin Beattie as Ipswich's greatest player. Terry Butcher, I considered to be one of England's greatest player.  The signing of Allan Hunter in 1971 suddenly turned Ipswich into a power to reckon with.  The last spot went to Russell Osman.  I don't think Hermann Hreiðarsson could be compare to players from the Golden eras.

-- Mick Mills is the club's all-time leader in appearances, followed by John Wark. I remembered fondly of him in the 1980's. I only selected a single leftback.  I would be using Beattie as my second leftback.  So I did not select Colin Harper.  On the right side, George Burnley was a long time starter for the team.

-- Mick Stockwell is the 3rd all-time in appearances, but I selected Brian Talbot, Arnold Muhren and Frans Thijssen.  He would have been on the team if he was born a few years earlier and played with Ipswich's great team in the 1980's.  He was less decorated than the other alternatives.  The three players I have selected were household names in English football.  I also had Billy Baxter who was a big part of Sir Ramsey's team.  Tommy Parker was at one point the club's leading appearance leader.

 -- Finidi George came at the end of his career.  He did not do much here.  Matt Holland also lost out to the players from the two golden generation.

--  Alan Brazil was my favourite player while growing up.  John Elsworthy won medals in three different divisions.  He was essential to the rise of Ipswich. So I have many players who can play wide on the left.  So I left off left-winger George MacLuckie, Clive Woods and Jimmy Leadbetter.

Alan Brazil

-- John Wark is second in both appearances and goal scoring record.

-- Eric Gates has a brother named Bill Gates who played for Middlesbrough from 1961–1973. 

-- I took Jimmy McLuckie because he represented the transition from a club with non-league status to a professional club. I do not know his true position.  He is listed as a wing-half.  Meanwhile, George MacLuckie was a left wing.
-- Paul Mariner was probably their most famous forward.  Ray Crawford is the club's all-time leading scorer.  He is the first Ipswich player capped by England.  Ted Phillips scored 46 goals (including 41 league goals) in the 1956–57 season.  He is third all-time leading scorer for the club.
-- Jason Dozzell scored 16 years and 57 days old, but he only made honorable mention. I also do not have a space for Tom Garneys and Jimmy Robertson.  David Johnson was also well-known.

Formation