Ipswich Town v Liverpool FC
Saturday 17th August 2024 – 12:30
Portman Road
Pre Match Thoughts - Mike
I don't know about anybody else but I have had to pinch myself several times these last few weeks to get a sense of reality and understand just what we, as a club, have achieved these last Two Years, it really does take some comprehension and understanding to take in the level of success we have been blessed with. I think it is safe to say that only a few Town fans truly believed a double promotion was likely given how tough the Championship can be at the best of times but when you factor in who we were up against last season it really was miraculous to go up automatically. Even as the season edged towards the last few weeks the talk was that we would probably just fall short and have to endure the drama of the play off's and this after a season of reading comments from fans of Leicester, Leeds, Southampton, Norwich and anyone else who fancied making themselves look stupid that we would fall away, hilarious.
I think we as fans all had different times of the season where we thought "hang on a Minute, we can actually do this" I know exactly where my "moment" arrived and that was when in the 97th Minute at home to Southampton Jeremy Sarmiento toe poked home the winner in crazy crazy scenes to secure a vital 3-2 win against all the odds, never in my lifetime has Portman Road been so loud as it was in that moment and we have had some of the world's greatest teams play at Portman Road over the years, it was phenomenal and oh so emotional, a never to be forgotten highlight of my time supporting the greatest team in the world.
Of course the job still had to be done and thanks to positive results at both Hull & Coventry Town set themselves up to finish the job in front of their own adoring, and dare I say it, expectant fans as already relegated Huddersfield Town came to try and spoil the party. Let's be honest, this was only ever going to finish One way and from the moment Wes Burns fired the Super Blues ahead it was job done, Town were heading back to the top table and all the riches that comes with it, Premier League Football was back in Suffolk. Omari Hutchinson put the cherry on the cake which allowed the celebrations to start in the stands for real and what followed in the ensuing hours within the Town will go down in our history alongside all our other finest moments. The fans turned out in their Thousands to hail their heroes as the streets of Ipswich were lined with flags etc and watching it all back still raises the hairs on my neck.
Our joy was soon turned to concern however as stories started to emerge of our great leader being wanted by several top flight clubs, it clearly wasn't without foundation and without going over old ground I think his departure was a lot closer than the club were letting on. Thankfully, and for whatever reason, Kieran McKenna decided that this is the place for him to continue his unbelievable story and we are in a much better place than we could have been going into the coming season. I think it is safe to say that Ed Schwartz and the genius that is mark Ashton played an absolute blinder in getting Kieran to commit to a new long term deal.
Once the euphoria and celebrations had calmed down it was back down to business for Ashton and co with the small matters of Stadium upgrades and a squad build to contend with. Now I have to say when I watched the tour around the stadium with Mark Ashton it really hit home just what a mega task we have on our hands, it is colossal, over One Hundred individual projects which all pretty much have to be completed by the 17th August. If I am honest I cannot for the life of me see it getting done but hey, this is Ashton at the wheel so it probably will be and how fantastic will the old stadium look, and not before time too.
I think if we are all honest it is what gets done on the pitch that we fans are really interested in, new signings always excite the fans and this time around it will have even more meaning given we are now back in the Premier League, already at the time of writing we have smashed our transfer record, and some, with the acquisition of Omari Hutchinson, Jacob Greaves and Liam Delap all dwarfing that which was paid for a certain Matteo Sereni back in the annuls of history. Add to them the signings of Keeper Arijanet Muric, Defender Ben Johnson & Defender Conor Townsend, that takes our number of new faces to Six with hopefully a few more much needed faces to arrive.
I think the squad would have looked much healthier had both Nathan Broadhead & George Hirst not picked up fairly serious injuries in pre season which has kind of made the process that much harder but I am hopeful we have a few irons in the fire, several names have been bandied about and you never really know what is true and what is tosh, which to be fair it's normally the latter.
The achievements of last season will see Ipswich Town once again gracing stadiums like The Etihad, The Emirates, Old Trafford, Anfield & Stamford Bridge instead of dour visits to the likes of Oxford, Bristol City & Blackburn, to name but Three, not the greatest of away days by any stretch of the imagination. Seeing some of the biggest club names in world football walking out at Portman Road is something I cannot wait for and while we have made our home something of a fortress in recent times it has to be accepted that defeat will inevitably be more frequent, that is going to take some getting used to again.
We don't have to wait long for one of the big boys to make the visit to Suffolk as the fixture computer has treated us to a nice easy start, Liverpool open the season on the opening day before a trip to the Etihad the following week. much is being made of the departure of Jurgen klopp and the distinct lack of new signings coming through the door at Anfield but their squad is already bursting with quality and we have one hell of a task on our hands to start the season with a positive result. That said it could be argued we may just be meeting them at the best time, a new manager in place with new ideas and a possible change in style, players may take time to adjust, add to that the big boys will no doubt have had players away at the Euro's and Olympics etc which may see some of their star players playing a little bit of catch up, we can but hope.
I think we all have to realise that every weekend no matter if it is at home or away, or if it is against Arsenal or Southampton it is going to be very hard, every game will be a real test, every point we put on the board will have to be earned and some, nothing is given to us in this the hardest Football League in the world but this is what we all yearned for, this is the culmination of Two and a half years of hard work, dragging this iconic club up from the ashes and building something to be proud of once again, Gamechanger bought this club for a reason, massive potential !!! Add to that a history only some can dream of with a sleeping fan base that can be a match for most.
So here we have it, at 12.30pm Ipswich Town will walk out onto the hallowed turf of Portman Road to start writing the next incredible chapter, the watching world will be eyeing our every pass and every kick, they will be just waiting to say "we knew they would go straight back down again" and all that cobblers, so let's go and give it One hell of a go, after all what do we have to lose ? I have a sneaking feeling we may just surprise a few people along the way, survival is the target, anything more is one hell of a bonus. What an opening weekend fixture this is, Liverpool FC are the opposition, one of the greatest names in not only English Football but World Football too, what a lovely way to start if we could produce a massive shock. Enjoy the game, Enjoy the Journey, and most of all let's stay right behind the boys as One all season and not forget the magic moments we have been spoilt with over the last Two seasons. IPSWICH TIL I DIE.
The Opposition – Liverpool FC - Honours
League
First Division/Premier League
1900–01, 1905–06, 1921–22, 1922–23, 1946–47, 1963–64, 1965–66, 1972–73, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1989–90, 2019–20
Second Division
1893–94, 1895–96, 1904–05, 1961–62
Cups
FA Cup
1964–65, 1973–74, 1985–86, 1988–89, 1991–92, 2000–01, 2005–06, 2021–22
Football League Cup/EFL Cup
1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1994–95, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2011–12, 2021–22, 2023–24
FA Charity Shield/FA Community Shield
1964*, 1965*, 1966, 1974, 1976, 1977*, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1986*, 1988, 1989, 1990*, 2001, 2006, 2022 (* shared)
Football League Super Cup
1985–86
Continental
European Cup/UEFA Champions League
1976–77, 1977–78, 1980–81, 1983–84, 2004–05, 2018–19
UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League
1972–73, 1975–76, 2000–01
UEFA Super Cup
1977, 2001, 2005, 2019
Worldwide
FIFA Club World Cup
2019
The Manager – Arne Slot
League Table as at 12.08.2024
Head to Head
Match Referee – Tim Robinson
IPSWICH TOWN 1 LIVERPOOL 3
