· See the current injury list for all Premier League Teams
· All the Spurs Stats you could hope for here! THFC6061 Sports Stats

This preview was written by Brian Judson

Full Record of Spurs -v- Ipswich Town

Premier      Pl  W  D  L   For-Ag  Pts
Home         3   1  1  1    4 - 3   4
Away         3   1  2  0    6 - 4   5
=====================================
Total(Prem)  6   2  3  1   10 - 7   9
=====================================
Football Lge
Home(Div 1) 20  12  3  5   40 -24  31
Away(Div 1) 20   7  2 11   26 -36  18
=====================================
Total(Div 1)40  19  5 16   66 -60  49
=====================================
Total(Prem)  6   2  3  1   10 - 7   9
Total(Div 1)40  19  5 16   66 -60  49
=====================================
Grand Total 46  21  8 17   76 -67  58
=====================================

We have played Ipswich Town in the FA Cup.
The details are:

FA Cup Rd H/A Result Goalscorers

64-65  4   H   5-0   Greaves 3 (1p) 
                     Gilzean 2         
93-94  4   A   0-3

After a summer in which England were unceremoniously dumped out of the European Championship Finals and the Spurs-List contemplated its navel, it is something of a relief to return to the main objectives of the Spurs-List, namely to supporting the great club that we devote every waking moment of our life.

This week, we welcome Ipswich Town to Tottenham for the first time since they were relegated to the Football League at the end of season 1994-95. Ipswich are a very friendly and homely club and it is always a delight to see them on the fixture list.

In their day, they were the Wimbledon of the day. They were an amateur club until the mid-1930s until they turned professional and joined the Southern League. They had two seasons in the Southern League and then were elected to the old Third Division (South) in the summer of 1938 as Gillingham were voted out of the Football League.

Ipswich pottered along in the old Third Division (South) until winning the Championship of that section at the end of season 1953-54 but they were relegated from the old Division Two after one season. At the start of the 1955-56 season, Alf Ramsey left Tottenham and was appointed manager of Ipswich. He quickly turned them round and they were champions of the Third Division (South) in season 1956-57. They quickly settled down in the Second Division and won promotion as Champions at the end of 1960-61. A year later, they won the First Division Championship, matching Tottenham's achievement of doing so in 1949-50 and 1950-51, a team which Ramsey had played in. In winning the title, Ipswich prevented a second successive Double for Tottenham as Spurs would have won the title if they had not lost both League matches to Ipswich.

But after Alf Ramsey had left for Lancaster Gate, during the 1962-63 season, Ipswich quickly fell apart and were relegated to Division 2 at the end of season 1964-65. Ipswich won promotion again, as Champions, at the end of season 1967-68. They remained members of the top Division until 1985-86 when they fell away and were relegated again. It was during this period they probably enjoyed their most successful period with Bobby Robson as their manager until he left to take over England in 1982. Bobby Ferguson kept the successes going until the team finally grew old together and broke up.

It took them six years to regain promotion by which time the Premier League had come into being. They survived in the choppy waters of this competition for three years before suffering relegation again. They have only now recovered their top flight position. They have suffered frustrations by qualifying for the play-offs and losing at vital moments until they finally won promotion this year.

The Ipswich game that most Spurs supporters remember will be that of the 1978 FA Cup Final when Roger Osborne scored the only goal of the match to record Ipswich's one and only FA Cup victory. And the opposition? Terry Neill's Arsenal side ...........

Spurs have strengthened their side this summer. It looks as if Neil Sullivan and Ben Thatcher will begin as first choices in preference to Ian Walker and Mauricio Taricco. Spurs have also signed Sergei Rebrov but he will need time to acclimatise to the very different game that is the hurly burly of the Premiership. But once he settles I am confident that Spurs will look a much better side than they did last season.

What I would like to see from those who contribute to the List is a more thoughtful analysis of matches instead of the constant anti-Gooner stance many have adopted. We have Graham and Houston for better or worse. We may not like their style nor their past pedigree but the club is bigger than individuals and we should support the team. Barracking of any kind is one way of shattering the confidence of the team. We all want to see Tottenham win honours, particularly as the second half of the season ends in a '1'. If we barrack players or management, it is not going to give the team the feeling the supporters are totally behind them!

We have had our moment for bitching : let us now put it behind us and get behind the team and the management!

COME ON YOU SPURS!

Cheers, Brian

Follow @spursodyssey