Ipswich Town - Bringing Back The Glory Days

The Ipswich Farmers Market begins at the start of July, a lovely advert for the town, ‘Bringing the very best food and produce from top quality Suffolk farmers and artisans to the county town.’ Showing off our proper farm lifestyles here! We enter July with 8 pre season friendlies, to play through, plus a run through of the transfers in and out of the club this summer.



01/07/23




So that's the transfers for the month of July, and as you can see the biggest news of the window is that Amine Gouiri is still with the club after numerous bids were rejected in the summer. He was okay with most of them, but when Bayern came in for £45mill and I said no, he was upset that I didn’t accept him, so told him if they meet his release clause of £80mill then he can leave. Fortunately no one has come in for him yet.

RM - Kemal Gul
GK - Angus Gunn
CB - Oumar Solet
CB - Valentin Antov
RB - Vladimir Spremo
ST - Petr Zubr
ST - Juan Mejia
CM - Yakoub Zorgane
CB - Peter Jensen
RM - Domenico Filigheddu
LM - Toon van Herck
ST - Gioele Ghilardi
CM - Yoni van Looy
LM - Ally O'Hare



03/07/23

Boca Juniors vs Ipswich Town

Blue = trialist





07/07/23

Atlanta United vs Ipswich Town





10/07/23

Tianjin Tianhai vs Ipswich Town





15/07/23

Hebei China vs Ipswich Town





18/07/23

Qingdao Huanghai vs Ipswich Town





20/07/23

Shijiazhuang vs Ipswich Town





26/07/23

Anderlecht vs Ipswich Town





29/07/23

Billericay vs Ipswich Town




Good win to start July, plus a hat trick for our new signing.


31/07/23

Ipswich Town vs Valencia





All in all a very good pre season, bar that defeat to Boca at the beginning of the month. Lots of goals, almost too many for my poor graphic to handle! Seeing lots of different players impress throughout pre season has been good as well. The first month of the season has arrived, and we have a Community Shield to start August against Manchester United.

Some good business conducted as per usual. The biggest positive to come was your ability to retain the services of Gouiri, though.

The Cosy Club is having a ‘vintage music’ night near the end of August, a time for families and couples to come together to enjoy some soft, mellow music and drink to their hearts content. That sounds like my kind of party!



06/08/23

The first game of the month sees us travel to Wembley to face Manchester United in the Community Shield. A trophy I’m not focusing on winning in this save, but it would be nice to add it to our collection.

Ipswich will be without new signing Kemal Gul for the foreseeable future with a broken foot, but other than that they will have a fully fit side to choose from, including Amine Gouiri who will be involved in the final game before the transfer window shuts in 3 days. Will Gouiri still be an Ipswich player?

Man United will be missing Angel Gomes for today’s game with a hamstring problem, but with have a strong squad to choose from.




Shame to lose but we can never beat United. Good to see Dean Martin carrying on where he left off last season.




With 6 hours left on the clock, the inevitable happened. Clubs had been flirting with his £80mill release clause all summer long, and finally someone has activated it. Of course it had to happen on Deadline Day giving me little to no time to search for a replacement. Barca and Chelsea were the only sides to be persistent with Gouiri all summer, and eventually the Catalan side stumped up the big money. For someone signed for £825k, 80mill is absolutely massive for the club. But, he will leave a massive dent in the club now with his ability on the pitch gone forever. Hopefully Martin can step up for us this season, and maybe this man as well...........

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Once Barce started bombarding us with bids late in the window, I knew that it would be possible Gouiri would leave us and we would have to find a replacement. I started putting some scouts out to see what could be found. Nothing. Literally nothing. Eventually I had to do my own and see what I could peace together. I found a group of 15 or so players that I liked the look off, and got my scouts to give a once over on them with about 5 days to go in the window. 5 days go by and Gouiri is sold to Barca, so I check on the scouts to see what’s been done. No reports come back. I didn’t have a single idea on how good the players I looked at were. My scouts are useless. I had to choose who from the list looked the best in my opinion and then take a punt on them. I identified Osimhen as being the best of a not so great bunch, and Lille only wanted £10mill which wasn’t too much for us now after that Gouiri deal, and if he didn’t work out we could probably recoup that. He’s here, he’s signed and as of writing this bit I have no idea if he’s good or not because I’m afraid to check......

2 hours left in the clock when we clicked confirm. Oh thank god. My instincts have paid off and he’s actually a decent looking player. Good season for Lille last year getting 10 goals in 20 games. Decent stats for a pressing forward, and he’s rapid as well just like Gouiri so that’s good. Obviously not Gouiri’s level. When he left he was current ability and potential. Osimhen is current ability and potential ability.

ST - Victor Osimhen



12/08/23

After the emotion of deadline day, we are back for the first game of the league season, which sees us travel away to Burnley as we look to get off to a perfect start in our quest to keep our place in the ‘best of the rest’.

Burnley will need to give a late fitness test to Jesse Lingard who is recovering from his cruciate ligament damage from last season.

Ipswich will be without Christian Tue for the next few weeks after he twisted his ankle, whilst Kemal Gul is still a long term absentee.




An excellent win to start the season. Gouiri will leave a huge whole, but if Martin can continue in the same vain as last season it will ease the pain slightly.



19/08/23

The third game of the months sees us host West Brom as we look to make it two wins from two in the league.

Ipswich will still be without Christian Tue and Kemal Gul for today’s game, whilst Jakub Kohout, Oumar Solet and Victor Osimhen are all doubtful.

West Brom will be without Sam Field who is suspended, whilst Rayhaan Tulloch is a doubt with a hip injury.




A game we dominated but we struggled for the end product. Fortunately Colic was on hand to spare our blushes as we stay unbeaten in the league.



26/08/23

Up next is Arsenal away as we look to keep our run going but it will be tough to do so.

Arsenal will need to give late fitness tests to Bernd Leno, Eddie Nketiah and Joaquin Correa for today’s game against Ipswich.

Ipswich will be without Christian Tue and Kemal Gul today, but Osimhen, Solet and Kohout are all back fit.




Brilliant way to end the month. 3 wins from 3 including a win over table toppers Arsenal. Ryan Kent showing his class whilst Tue is out injured, thank god he knows where the net is.



Nikola Colic has made a great start to the season getting a goal and 2 assists from our first 3 games. We needed players to take the pressure of Dean Martin’s shoulders this season, and hopefully this can continue. McCowan also got a goal and an assist too, so good to see him performing whilst Gul is our injured.




3 games, 3 wins, 3 clean sheets. Perfect start to the season which sees us sit only 4th in the league. So many teams have started so well this year that it might be a tight race come the end of the season.





Some interesting ties have been thrown up for this years Carabao Cup 3rd Round. Holders Manchester United travel to Charlton looking for more domestic glory. England’s ‘big two’ Liverpool and Manchester City face off to see which side has the best reserves. 3 League Two teams are still in the hat as Chesterfield host Leicester, Stevenage host Sheffield Wednesday and Fleetwood travel to Leeds.

Ipswich Town have been given a home tie with Championship side Crystal Palace as they look to add the Carabao Cup to their collection of trophies in this save.








ScottT - Scott you jinxed Gouiri!! I was 6 hours from keeping him and then Barca swoop at the death. Devastated to lose him but fortunately it hasn’t had a massive impact yet….

A major congratulations for winning Story of the Month, you have truly deserved the accolade! Your work ethic for this story has been second to none, and the quality has been as consistent as anything.

Shame Gouiri is gone but you got a more than adequate player in to fill in the gap. Once he starts scoring goals, he won't stop.

Firstly, a huge well done on the SotM win - thoroughly deserved throughout January.

Although he was an important player, to recoup £80m for Gouiri is a very good amount - and he was never going to turn down Barca. Osimhen is also a fantastic signing.

With regards to the league performance this month, absolutely incredible! It's been amazing to see this team progress all of this way and now the effort seems to be paying off. Keep it going!

A massive window there, the sale of Wirtz is a highly impressive bit of work having bought him in on a free the season before. The sale of Gouiri is a real shame, but to get 79 million profit on him is great for the club and it's finances. Osimhen seems an adequate replacement for now, especially with the little time and information you had to replace Gouiri and hopfully some of that money can be pumped back into a replacement in the January window. I think Martin staying at the club is a massivly underrated bit of business and he will surely be able to continue on his form from last year.

The start of the season has gone well and the United game will be a real test of where you are at this season! The two draws could of been nicer to you but they also could of been a lot harder and based of the last few seasons, I think you breeze through both the League Cup game and the Europa League group.

Finally, a massive congrats on the Story of the Month win. As Justice and Jack have both said, it was well deserved as the consistency has been ridiculous and I know a lot of us have been impressed having spoken about it in chat. Keep up the great work!

If you’re a fan of the mystic arts, then you’ll love Suffolk in September as the ‘local psychic’ is coming to town to tell you that you ‘have a dark light in your future.’ Have you ever wondered what your fortune is? No. Me neither.




Ipswich Town have announced their squad for this season’s Europa League, and have been fortunate to name every single first team player in the squad. Premier League sides have been known over the years to leave out a few players due to registration irregularities, but George Burley’s scouting system must be up to scratch as he’s been able to name numerous youngsters in his side due to their newly found home grown status. Eyes will be on Christian Stevenson and Leandro Forgione to try and make a name for themselves this year as they look to break out from the academy set up.



02/09/23

The first game of the month sees us host Manchester United as we look for revenge from our 2-1 defeat to them in the Community Shield.

Ipswich will no be without Steffan Seppanen after he dislocated his shoulder training, joining Kemal Gul on the long term injury list.

Man United will be without Samuel Umtiti and Piotr Zielinski for today’s game as they look to overtake Ipswich in the table.




It’s taken 6 attempts but finally we have beaten Manchester United in this save. They have been our bogey side whilst we’ve been in the Prem. 4 defeats and 1 draw before this, but Dean Martin is filling Amine Gouiri’s shoes brilliantly.



18/09/23

The international break is over and we come back for a game away to recently promoted Reading as we look to make it 5 wins from 5.

Reading will be without Jordon Ibe, Filip Berkalo and Tomas Esteves for today’s game against Ipswich as they look to climb out of the relegation zone.

Ipswich will be without Steffan Seppanen for the foreseeable future with his shoulder problem, but will be boosted by the news that Kemal Gul has returned to light training. By light training, I mean he played 45 mins for the U23s and scored 4 goals. Yep, he’s gonna be good.




An excellent win against a surprisingly strong Reading side. Two more goals for Martin, but also seeing Antov getting two goals is great to see as well as we will need goals from all over the park this season.



21/10/23

Our European Adventure begins as we travel to Israel for the first game in the group stage. The team standing in our way is Maccabi Tel-Aviv. I’ve got no idea how this is going to go, I just hope we can get through the group even if it means finishing second.

Maccabi have 19! players unregistered for today’s game (not running through all that!), whilst Chikeluba Ofoedu, Eyal Golasa and Roslan Barsky are all injured.

Ipswich will still be without Seppanen for today’s game against Maccabi Tel Aviv, but other than that have a full team for their first European game in 21 years.




European Football starts in the perfect manner, a solid 4-0 win away to Maccabi. Glad Osimhen has got his first goal for the club as well. Will do his confidence the world of good.



24/09/23

Three days later we return to Portman Road as we welcome Brighton. Hopefully we can build on our perfect start to the season.

Ipswich will be without Seppanen today but may look to rotate with so many games so quickly.

Brighton will be without Brian Krogh for today’s game with a twisted ankle, as they look to move away from the relegation zone.




Not comfortable but a win is massive at this time of the season. Gotta keep plugging away and hope Brighton and West Ham slip up along the way.



26/09/23

Two days we stay at home as we welcome Championship side Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup 3rd Round. For some unknown reasons we are not allowed to play on the Wednesday so we have to resort to one days rest.

Ipswich will be without Seppanen as they look to progress in the Carabao Cup and move towards their season goal of trying to add this competition to their trophy collection.

Crystal Palace have a fully fit side to choose from as they look to cause an upset at the home of the Premier League side.




Brilliant result with a slightly rotated side. Glad to see Dozzell and Woolfenden both score and in this game. Dozzell specifically had a mental match with 8 key passes and a goal to his name. Oh, and Dean scored. Shock.



Was it going to be anyone else? The man with the best sideburns in the game. Dean Martin has made me forget about that French guy at Barcelona now. He’s so good now that’s he gets to be the main event. Can’t wait to see him leave for 80mill next season!




An insane start to the season not just in the league but in all competitions as well. Since that defeat to United in the Community Shield, we have won 8 games in a row. How far can this plucky side go?





The draw has been made for the Carabao Cup 4th Round, with a few interesting ties being thrown up this year. Man City came out on top against Liverpool in a 4-0 thrashing, and have been rewarded with a home tie with League One Walsall. Arsenal and United square off in a clash for the ages, whilst Chelsea travel to Premier League side Leeds.

Ipswich have also been drawn against a fellow Prem side, as they face Aston Villa twice in the space of 3 days at the end of October.





Justice - thanks man, means a hell of a lot. I try my best to produce content easily readable for my viewers and I hope to continue that in the coming months. Osimhen has started slowly for us, but fortunately Martin has begun like a Ferrari.

Jack - thank you Jack, much appreciated. Getting £80mill at any club is huge, but for someone like Ipswich it could go a huge way. Convenient that this money comes in just as we are close to finishing the upgrades to facilities. Still, maybe a new stadium could be in the offing in the future.

TheLFCFan - Wirtz was mad. Still don’t know how I swung that. I knew someone was going spend big on Gouiri, I just wish they had in July so I had more time to prepare for it. Osimhen looks like a good player I just hope he can kick into gear in the next few months. Martin has been a revelation so far this season. 9 goals in his last five games is absurd.

Cup wise I’m desperate for us to do well, and with the draw not being as tough I it could have been, we should have a good chance of at least getting to the next round. Europa League we should get through but it will be a tightly run race with Lille and Koln.

Thanks so much for your kind words mate, means a lot. I try my best to keep a steady upload as it were and hopefully I can keep that going from now on. I saw the message in the chat about my comment on United spending 47mill on a guy with 1 goal in 100 games from attacking midfield. That mad me laugh

An absolutely blistering start to the season in all competitions. It'll be interesting to see how you cope with the added fixture demand, but no problems so far! I apologise for jinxing Gouiri, but you are coping without him just fine. Long may this continue!

Also worth noting I absolutely love the latest graphics. This story is only improving despite the high-standards already set!

There just seems to be no stopping you! Absolutely soaring in every competition!

I also second Scott's comment on the graphics, it's always been great presentation with you but it's really adding to the story every update.

Really love reading your Story! The development the Team has gone through is incredible, also nice to see Gouiri being replaced by Martin. Oshimen is of to slow start, but will probably rip the League apart in the second half of the Season.

Keep up the good work! I´m excited to see whats to come.

Oktoberfest is returning to Suffolk this year as the classic German holiday makes it yearly trip to Ipswich. A lederhosen is advised to get yourself in the spirit for a night of beer, food and more beer.



02/10/23

The first game of the month sees us host Watford as we look to keep this unfathomable run going. 

Ipswich will be without Ryan Kent and Steffan Seppanen for today’s game as they recover from injury.

Watford will be without Sheyi Ojo as they look to be the first side to take a point from Ipswich this season.




Another win to add to the season, in a game where our worst performing player was actually Dean Martin. Shows that we don’t need to rely on him to score the goals entirely by himself anymore.



05/10/23

The European Campaign continues as we welcome French side LOSC Lille to Portman Road as we host our first European game since 2002. Ipswich are the only side in world football to have not lost a home game. They are on a 31 game unbeaten run at Portman Road, beginning with their first ever European Tie against Floriana ending 10-0, stretching to 2002 against Slovan Liberac. Here’s hoping we can keep that run going.

Ipswich will be without Steffan Seppenan as they look to record a victory against their closest challengers for progression from the group.

LOSC Lille, led by Captain Sergio Aguero, will need late fitness tests for Domagoj Bradaric and Aaron Ramsey.




32 games strong. It’s taken 21 years but finally European Football is back at Portman Road, and we have picked up where Darren Bent and co left off that day. Solid win, 2 goals for Tue. Lovely.

Also, a sell out crowd for a Thursday night in the pouring rain is incredible. Surely Marcus Evans is watching this and seeing that we need a new stadium soon. We’ve got a lot of money in the club after Gouiri sale. Now is the time to take the plunge.



21/09/23

Back to the Premier League now as we travel to high flying Everton in a very tough fixture near the top of the table. Here’s hoping we can keep our run going and push away another title challenger.

Everton will give late fitness tests to Bernard, Beni Baningime and Ola Aina who are all doubtful for today’s high flyers clash.

Ipswich will still be without Seppanen for today’s game against Everton, but other than that have a full team for their trip to Merseyside.




Unbeaten run was always going to end, and with a lot of games in quick succession we had to rotate slightly and it showed.



21/10/23

The international break has ended and we are back for a home tie against Stoke City. We need to get back to winning ways after the defeat to Everton in the last game.

Ipswich will be without Christian Tue for the next few weeks with knee ligament damage, whilst Steffan Seppanen is still recovering form his shoulder injury. Kemal Gul was spotted leaving a nightclub in the early hours of the morning, so will not be available for selection as he is currently throwing up in the ice cooler.

Stoke have a fully fit side as they look to build on their 4-0 win against Reading before the international break.




Massive win that puts us back into the top 2. Dean Martin scores his first two goals of the month to finally kick start himself. Thought he’d gone off the boil after his insane September.



26/10/23

Back to the Europa League now as we travel to Germany to face 2nd in the Group FC Koln. This is the hardest game in the group so if we can get anything from them it will be massive.

Koln have fully fit side as they look to build on their wins over Maccabi and Lille, and take control in the group.

Ipswich will be without Christian Tue as they look to build their own lead at the top of the group.




I’ll take a draw that keeps us at the top of the group. Our first of the season, and with a few rotated players it is a good result.



29/10/23

Back to the Premier League now as we travel to Aston Villa looking to return to the top of the league.

Aston Villa will be without Gabríel Paulista for today’s game after he sprained his knee, as they look to move away from the relegation zone.

Ipswich will be without Christian Tue and Flynn Downes as they look to climb back to the the top of the Premier League.




Shame to lose the lead against a side fighting relegation, but I’ll take any point that comes our way this season.

We should also have a Carabao Cup tie with Aston Villa this month, but the game has been kind to me and delayed it by 1 day, giving us a 3 day gap rather than 2. That game will now be played in the November update.



Nikola Colic has played very well from midfield this month getting 3 goals and an assist. Glad that we don’t have to focus entirely on Martin to score our goals this season. Colic is actually our third top scorer, with Valentin Antov being the 2nd with 5 goals. From CB. Excellent.




We have fallen one place to 2nd now in the league but it is still an excellent start to the season. Didn’t expect this to happen till a few more years in the Premier League, but I’m enjoying the ride right now.






ScottT - I didn't expect the season to play out like it has. I can see us falling away when the fixtures pile up more, but it's put us in a good position to be the 'best of the rest' again. Thanks for the comments on the graphics, I make a lot of stuff like that for work so thought it best to try and improve on that and see what people think adding them to the story.

Jack - I'm desperate to win the Carabao Cup this year to check it off the list, but going far in Europe would be lovely as well. Glad you like the graphics too, always want to present in a certain way that's easy for people to follow.

Scholle - Martin is a mad player. 15 goals in 14 games so far. Osimhen has struggled so far but is getting limited game time behind Martin, hopefully he comes good eventually.

Certainly a great start to the season off the back of Martin proving that French traitor isn't needed. Hopefully Gul leaving nightclubs in the early hours of matchday mornings is a one time thing and he doesn't become a bad egg for the club.

You're still doing a fine job this season despite a couple of hiccups this month. That European home record is incredible; I never knew that!

Great month for the Club after all, lets hope to keep that winning spirit up and go as far as possible. Dean Martin also back scoring some big goals, I´m sure he will Top the sale of Gouiri if he keeps his form this season!

If comedy is your bread and butter then you’ll love Mo Gilligan’s new show ‘There’s Mo To Life’. The comedian is coming to the Ipswich Regent on the 7th of November, and will be delivering a belly full of laughs.



01/11/23

The first game of the month sees us host Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup as we look to advance to the quarter final.

Ipswich will be without Flynn Downes for today’s game, but Christian Tue has returned to match training so could be back for the Tottenham game on the weekend.

Aston Villa will be without Gabríel Paulista with a sprained knee as they look to advance into the Carabao Cup quarter final.




Another win to send us into the Carabao Cup quarter final. Looking forward to seeing who we get but their are some very good teams left in the competition.




The draw has been made and there is not many exciting ties to look through. Man City face a slightly tough trip to Brighton as they look to progress to the semi final. Current holders Manchester United have been given an away tie to League One Barnsley. The draw has offered up a Yorkshire Derby as Premier League Leeds host Championship Sheffield United, whilst high flying Ipswich host mid table Leicester City.



04/11/23

Back to the Premier League as we gave surprise strugglers Tottenham at Portman Road. Tottenham find themselves in 15th place, and will be desperate to turn their season around.

Ipswich have a fully fit side to choose from for today’s game against Tottenham, as they look to move closer to the leading pack.

Tottenham will be without Reinier and Matteo Consorti for today’s game as they try to move further away from the relegation zone.




They may be low down the table but that is an excellent victory against what is still a very good Tottenham side. Thank god we won, and my lord are Solet and Antov insane when going forward!



09/11/23

Back to our European adventure as we host German side Koln looking to stretch our unbeaten home run to 33 European game. I hope we can, but it’ll be horrible when we lose a home game and be known as the manager to do so.

Ipswich will be with Kemal Gul and Nuno Mendes for the next few weeks after they both picked up injuries in the 1-0 win over Tottenham 5 days back.

Koln will be without Giorgi Arabidze and Erick Aguirre who are both suffering with a calf strain.




Unbeaten run continues, and emphatically so. An excellent 4-1 win with Dean Martin slowly finding his feet again. Love this guy, and glad Kohout also scored as well. Great for the 19-year-old.



12/11/23

From Europe to the Premier League as we travel to London to face relegation threatened West Ham. Hopefully we can build on our excellent start to the month, and pick up another win.

West Ham will be without Felipe Anderson, Sebastian Haller and Cristian Pavon for today’s game against Ipswich as they look to escape the relegation zone.

Ipswich with still be without Nuno Mendes and Kemal Gul today against West Ham, as they look to keep pace with the top teams.




Massive win that puts us back to the top of the table. Dean Martin scoring again, but even better is that Victor Osimhen bagged a brace. He’s been short of confidence recently so I’m glad he got some goals.



25/11/23

Another international break has come and gone, so we are back to Premier League football against Chelsea.

Ipswich will be without Kane Vincent-Young and Luke McCowan for today’s game against Chelsea, in a massive clash at the top of the league.

Chelsea will be without Mateo Kovacic and Leon Bailey for today’s game against Ipswich, as they look to overtake them in the league.




I’ll take a draw that keeps us at the top of the league. A good draw in my opinion against very good opposition.



30/11/23

The final game of the month sees us venture back into Europe as we welcome Israel side Maccabi Tel Aviv to Portman Road.

Ipswich have a fully fit side to face Maccabi Tel Aviv in today’s game, as they look to secure qualification with a draw

Maccabi have 20 players unregistered today, whilst Kevin Muller and Enric Saborit are injured.




Excellent win that’s secures us qualification from the group, with Gul grabbing two goals for the club as well which is nice.



Dean Martin has found his feet again, and my god am I glad that we kept hold of him in the summer.




Still in 2nd place in the league which I still can’t understand how we are doing so well. Didn’t expect this to happen till a few more years in the Premier League, but I’m enjoying the ride right now.






TheLFCFan - I think that Gul has learned his lesson especially after his performance against Maccabi Tel Aviv

ScottT - the actual record itself is remarkable, something for our club to be proud off. Shows how good we use to be back in the day

Scholle - Martin is on route to beating Gouiri’s scoring record from the last few years.