'Disconnect, apathy, stagnation' - the mood before Ipswich began to rise
- Published
Ipswich host Liverpool in their Premier League opener on Saturday and, on BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast, BBC Radio Suffolk's Brenner Woolley explained how bad sentiment had been in the intervening years before their rise back into the top flight for the first time in more than two decades.
"There was a disconnect between the fanbase and the club," he said.
"They were disappointed with absolutely everything. They weren't seeing players come through, they weren't seeing attractive football, they weren't seeing victories. They weren't seeing any kind of progression and that eventually just slipped into apathy and they gave up.
"So many people weren't bothering going along. Fans were unhappy with the local media, with the managers. They were unhappy with the colour of paint on the turnstiles - everything you could imagine under the sun - because there hadn't been anything.
"The one time they did get into the play-offs at the end of the season - nine years ago - ultimately they lost to their fiercest rivals [Norwich City].
"Aside from that, so many League Cup exits before we got to September, so many FA Cup 'runs' that didn't go past the first weekend in January and of course, stagnation in the Championship ultimately followed by Ipswich Town dropping into the third tier for the first time since about 1957."
Now, there is a renewed optimism at the club and everyone is excited to see their blue shirts back in the Premier League this weekend.
"People bleed blue," he added. "For so long in my early days here I would see all sorts of kits from around the globe [in the town] but now, everywhere you go it's Ipswich. That is tremendous."