Ipswich Town F.C. in European football
Under Bobby Robson's leadership, Ipswich qualified for European football for a decade from 1972, the culmination of which was victory in the final of the 1980–81 UEFA Cup, winning 5–4 on aggregate against Dutch team AZ Alkmaar.
The club remains undefeated at home throughout their entire history in UEFA-sanctioned European football matches, having played 31 times, winning 25 and drawing 6.
Under the management of Alf Ramsey, Ipswich had won back-to-back league titles and as such qualified for the 1962–63 European Cup in which they were drawn against Maltese club Floriana F.C.
[2] The return leg, a week later at Portman Road, ended in 10–0 victory to Ipswich, equalling European football record for both the highest individual match score.
The first leg was played at the San Siro in front of just 7,600 supporters,[4] and Milan's team included several Italian internationals such as Cesare Maldini, Gianni Rivera and Giovanni Trapattoni.
[4] Refereed by Gottfried Dienst (who would later officiate the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final), Milan took a 2–0 lead within a quarter of an hour with a brace from Paolo Barison.
Bobby Robson led the club to finish fourth in the First Division 1972–73 season and qualified for the 1973–74 UEFA Cup where their opponents in the first round were Spanish team Real Madrid.
Despite taking an early two-goal lead, Lazio conceded a penalty with fifteen minutes remaining which Colin Viljoen converted; he was punched and kicked on his way to for the restart.
Once again violence affected the game with Hamilton being punched to the ground out of the referee's vision, and four Ipswich fans requiring hospital treatment after clashing with Twente supporters.
[20] Two weeks later at Portman Road, Ipswich took a two-goal first-half lead through Woods and Whymark, and held out against a "blitz of aggressive and elegant football" in the second half for a 4–1 aggregate victory.
Despite starting without a number of first team regulars, Ipswich won the tie 3–0, with goals from Eric Gates, John Peddelty and Terry Austin.
[23] Qualification for the 1977–78 UEFA Cup was ensured when Ipswich finished the 1974–75 season in third place, and they were drawn in the first round against Swedish amateur team Landskrona BoIS.
With the tie 1–1 on aggregate, the match entered extra time, in which George Burley scored with ten minutes to go to seal Ipswich's passage to the third round where they would face Barcelona for the second year in Europe.
[34] A sixth-place finish in the 1978–79 season ensured that Ipswich qualified for European football once again, this time the 1979–80 UEFA Cup, where they were drawn against Norwegian part-time club Skeid Fotball in the first round.
[35] The second leg at Portman Road was conclusive: goals from Arnold Mühren (2), Thijssen, Wark, Mariner and Steve McCall (2) secured a 7–0 win on the night and a 10–1 aggregate victory.
A 3–0 home win saw Wark on target twice more, who was substituted off with a tendon injury, to be replaced by Kevin Beattie who scored a third for Ipswich with a free kick,[43] described in The Times as a "thunderbolt".
[48] Wark once again found the net, scoring a hat-trick with goals from Alan Brazil and Paul Mariner completing a comprehensive 5–0 victory,[49] the only negative being a trip to hospital for Mick Mills for 15 stitches in a cut to his shin.
[50] On a frozen pitch which many observers considered to be dangerous,[51] Widzew Łódź won the away leg 1–0 with Marek Pięta [pl] scoring for the hosts but went out 5–1 on aggregate.
[57][58] The 2–0 aggregate victory ensured that Ipswich qualified for their first (and as of 2023[update], their only) European cup final, where they would face Dutch team AZ Alkmaar.
[60] A third goal for Ipswich, this time from Paul Mariner, saw the English team win the game and take a 3–0 lead into the second leg at the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam.
In a game of many chances, Ipswich started the second half with urgency, and midway through Icelandic defender Hermann Hreiðarsson scored from a Mark Venus free kick.
The first leg, played at Portman Road in November 2001, ended 1–0 to Ipswich, with Alun Armstrong scoring the only goal of the game late in the second half, having been brought on as a substitute six minutes earlier.
[71] Despite relegation from the Premiership, Ipswich qualified for the 2002–03 UEFA Cup through the Fair Play League, along with Czech team SK Sigma Olomouc.
A hat-trick from Couñago, a brace from Tommy Miller and goals from Wayne Brown, John McGreal and Darren Ambrose, saw Ipswich end the match 8–1 winners and qualify for the next round 9–1 on aggregate.
[74] Ipswich were drawn against Yugoslavian club FK Sartid in the first round proper, where the first leg ended in a 1–1 draw at Portman Road with Armstrong equalising for the English side.
[75] The second leg was decided by a single goal: Marcus Bent scored from the penalty spot early in the first half to take Ipswich through to the second round 2–1 on aggregate.
[76] A few days later, following a 3–0 league defeat to Grimsby Town, Burley was sacked, and eventually replaced by Joe Royle whose first game in charge was the first leg of the second round of the UEFA Cup against Czech team Slovan Liberec at Portman Road.
[78] The second leg at the Městský stadion in Ostrava was settled in the 87th minute when Liberec's Ghanaian striker Baffour Gyan scored with a header to take the tie to a penalty shootout.
[86] The team's absence from such tournaments in recent years had seen the record overtaken by AZ Alkmaar,[87] whose home undefeated run was finally broken by Everton in 2007.
[88] Ipswich Town participated in the non-UEFA-sanctioned Texaco Cup for a single season, in the 1972–73 competition, winning against local rivals Norwich City in the two-legged final.
