Susan Gardiner – författare

In 1960, Ipswich Town FC under manager Alf Ramsey started their season in the Second Division. At the end of the 1960–61 season Ipswich were promoted as champions immediately and went on to win the First Division in their first year in the top division. Ipswich Town had embarked on the most extraordinary two decades in its history. Alf Ramsey left soon after to become England manager and after a few years in the doldrums, the appointment of Bobby Robson as manager in 1969 inaugurated another period of greatness for the club. In 1973–74, Ipswich finished fourth in the League. Over the next eight years Town went on to win the FA Cup, only finished below sixth in the League once, and won the UEFA Cup. Throughout this era the club were guided by the local Cobbold family’s chairmanship. In 1982, Bobby Robson departed to become England manager and although the club has had some successes since then, nothing at Portman Road has rivalled the glory days of Ipswich Town from 1960 to 1982, an era fondly remembered by fans of the club.

Ipswich grew around its port, established during Anglo-Saxon times for trade with northwestern continental Europe. It became an important religious centre in the Middle Ages, in one of the most populated and wealthy areas of the country. Alongside the docks and the two rivers, the Orwell and Gipping, industries grew up to support the local agricultural economy and the population migrated from surrounding areas as well as from further afield and abroad. The mix has given Ipswich a lively cultural history that remains to the present day and alongside the working dock area much of the waterfront has been redeveloped for leisure and housing, but as with all large towns, particularly ports, Ipswich’s history also encompasses how it had to deal with justice, crime and punishment.Illustrated throughout, this accessible historical portrait of the transformation that Ipswich has undergone through the ages will be of great interest to residents, visitors and all those with links to the town.

Ipswich Town has a long history and, since its foundation in 1878, has had a great deal of success, including as Football League champions in 1962 and winners of both the FA Cup (1978) and the UEFA Cup (1981). Two of its managers, Sir Alf Ramsey and Sir Bobby Robson, went on to achieve greatness in the game. As a result there have been several comprehensive club histories. This book is intended to be different from the traditional history of Ipswich Town Football Club. It is both a history of Ipswich Town and a social history - recording and exploring the relationship between the football club, the town of Ipswich and the wider county of Suffolk. Covering the period from 1878 to the present day, it uses the voices of people involved with the club, including supporters, players and former players, owners, administrators and local writers, to describe the club's history within its social context, how changes have affected the club and how developments in football itself have made an indelible impact upon both the football club and the local community.

Ipswich, the largest and county town of Suffolk, takes its name from the medieval name ‘Gippeswic’. Over its more than 1,000-year history, Ipswich has acquired a mix of the unexpected, strange, weird and wonderful examples of buildings and the people associated with them. According to archaeological evidence, Ipswich is the site of a large Roman fort and the largest Roman villa in Suffolk. The old adage of looking up when going round any town is as true to Ipswich as with any town; for ‘it is up’ where many interesting gems of architecture, embellishments and ornamentations will be found.While buildings are obviously a link to the past and the people connected with them, retelling some of their stories brings history to life. Secret Ipswich goes behind the façades of the familiar to discover the lesser-known aspects of the town’s fascinating past, brought to life through revealing images of the past and the present.

Ipswich is a brewery town. The administrative centre of the agricultural county of Suffolk, world famous for its barley and brewing, Ipswich was for decades the home of the Cobbold (later Tolly Cobbold) brewery, which was not only a prominent local employer but influenced the development of the town, through the Cobbold family’s interest in and patronage of sport, the arts, and politics.Ipswich is also a town of pubs. From the Middle Ages, when its taverns were filled with pilgrims to its famous shrine and many religious houses, through to the twentieth century when local brewers provided refreshment to factory workers and visitors to the busy port.This book is a record of that history – Ipswich’s breweries, public houses, taverns and inns, many of which no longer exist. It uses historical records and local sources to bring them back to life as an intrinsic part of the town’s history and culture, bringing it right up to date with a look at its thriving present-day pub scene, illustrated by a large number of old and new photographs.