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February 26, 2017February 26, 2017
Norwich City 1 Ipswich Town 1. Sunday 26th February 2017
Overall a draw was a fair result and a little bit of history was created. Since Ipswich joined the Football League in 1938 this was the first season that both league matches against the old enemy ended in draws. Ipswich again failed to defend a 1-0 lead after the Derby Dane Jonas Knudsen netted in the 63rd minute for Ipswich.
Norwich fans will point to the number of saves that Bialkowski had to save, but Ipswich were denied a clear penalty in the first-half when David McGoldrick was bundled to the ground. At least both sets of fans can go in to work tomorrow with their heads up.
Norwich fans continue to be obsessed about us. They organised a special minute’s applause in the 15th minute to ‘commemorate’ Ipswich’s 15 consecutive seasons in the second tier of English football. What the Norwich fans didn’t expect was the travelling Ipswich fans taking their chant, amending it a bit and then singing it back to the Norwich fans.
Fifteen years in the Championship, we’re still famous and you’re still……
When I walked down to the ground I spotted a Norwich fan with 9-2 on the back of his shirt, in addition to this a number of grown men in the Barclay End were holding up their (11?) fingers in a 9-2 formation. What is this even about? Whenever have the scores in a season’s league games been added together to make an aggregate score? It’s not like it’s the UEFA Cup Final or anything?
Norwich fans are also confused about the three stars on our badge. BBC Norfolk presenter Rob Butler tweeted:
…congrats to Ipswich for getting a point. Deserves a star.
Well, no Rob, that’s not how it works. A brief history for the Norwich fans:
Star number 1: This is signified by Ipswich winning the First Division title in 1961-62. Ipswich became the first team from East Anglia to achieve this, actually scrub that, the only team from East Anglia to win English football’s highest accolade. I looked at your club programme and the ‘honours’ section shows that you finished 3rd in 1992-93. So it’s a bit like that, but a lot better.
Star number 2: This star is signified by Ipswich’s FA Cup win in 1978. Ipswich beat Arsenal 1-0 to become the first team from East Anglia to win the most famous cup competition in the world. Actually, the only team from East Anglia to lift the trophy. To get a feeling for why we think this is important, think how you felt when Norwich reached the Semi-Finals in 1958-59, 1988-89 or 1991-92. You must have been thrilled to reach the final four, probably similar to how the Wycombe Wanderers’ fans felt when they achieved the same feat in 2000-01. But again, actually winning the trophy is a much, much, better feeling.
Star number 3: Our final star refers to our UEFA Cup winning campaign in 1980-81. In fact this season, we finished second in the league (see ‘Star number 1’ for how you felt about finishing 3rd) and we reached the Semi-Final of the FA Cup (see ‘Star number 2’ to see how you felt with your best FA Cup achievement).
But back to the UEFA Cup. Looking at your programme you too have enjoyed European success. In 1993-94 you achieved the accolade of ‘Participants’. Other participants that season included Union Luxembourg and Dundee United. Do you remember how you felt when Jeremy Goss scored in the second round of the competition? Ecstatic no doubt. Well we felt the same but in an ever increasing level of ecstasy as we progressed all the way to the final and won it.
I hope this has cleared up the confusion for you. We’ve won three significant things and you’ve done quite well in the same competitions. So actually you should be proud that you matched us over two games this season.
See you next season.