please log in to view this image Sky Bet Championship Play-Off Semi Final 1st Leg please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Ipswich Town 1 - 1 Norwich City FT 90 +4 HT 1-1Attendance: 29,166 Date: Saturday 9th May 2015 Venue: Portman Road Kick-Off: 12:15 KIO's not606 Match Preview This Saturday the Canaries make the relatively short journey down the A140 to take on Ipswich Town in the first leg of the Sky Bet Championship Play-Off semi-final. The tie is billed as the biggest East Anglian derby to date with the prize a Wembley final against either Middlesbrough or Brentford and the chance to win a place in English football's and arguably Europe's top league. Having finished third in the Championship table eight points ahead of sixth placed Town, City will undoubtedly feel that promotion should rightfully be theirs but the league rules dictate otherwise. please log in to view this image Lewis Grabban celebrates his goal at Portman Road in August with his team mates Ipswich go into the game in relatively good form having won three out of their last five, although they did suffer defeat in the last round of the regular league season losing 3-2 to Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park. Norwich have been defeated only once in their last ten outings cruising to a 4-2 victory over Fulham at Carrow Road last time out. After relegation from the Premier League last term City managed to hold on to most of their perceived better players for the 2014-15 campaign and with the wealth of talent Norwich manager Alex Neil has at his disposal they are considered favourites by many pundits to proceed to Wembley. After over a decade stagnating in the second tier Town however have had to rely on youth prospects and manager Mick McCarthy's shrewd transfer acquisitions and loan deals with a total season's spend of just £110,000. The football may not have been easy on the eye at Portman Road but it has generally been effective and McCarthy deserves to be applauded for his side's sixth place finish. please log in to view this image Daryl Murphy who has been in fine form this term with 27 goals to date On paper City should be too strong for Town over two legs but as we all know football isn't played on paper and 'form goes out of the window' when it comes to local derbies. Although Norwich have beaten Ipswich twice already this season it will count for nothing if they fail to secure victory in this two-legged affair. 'Boom' Bradley Johnson's thunderbolt doubles City's lead at Carrow Road in March The Blues will undoubtedly be fired up for the sweetest of revenges but if City play to their full potential they should go into the return fixture at Carrow Road on level terms at the very least. Mick McCarthy's Match Preview “I could be home now, planning my holidays, knowing I’m going to be miserable wherever I am having not made the play-offs, so having made them I’m delighted. It’s a great chance for us after no one gave us a cat-in-hell’s chance. We are relishing the prospect.” “It’s a brilliant tie for us to be playing Norwich. The build-up has been fantastic as soon as we drew them and I’m immensely excited.” please log in to view this image Town Chief Mick McCarthy barks out instructions “It doesn’t really bother me when we play them – across two semis or the final at Wembley – to get to the Premier League we have to play two teams and beat them and it starts with a tough challenge against Norwich.” Alex Neil's Match Preview Alex Neil Previews tomorrow's match Current Form Ipswich Town: WWDWL Norwich City: WWLDW Match History The first derby held between the two clubs was on 15 November 1902, when both sides were still playing at amateur level. The Norfolk & Suffolk League fixture was played in Norwich and finished 1-0 to 'The Citizens'. City were the first of the two to turn professional in 1905, Ipswich following in 1936. Ipswich were elected to the Football League in 1938 and the first league game between the two clubs was on 2 September 1939 in League Division Three (South). The game was played at Portman Road with the match finishing 1-1, although the league was abandoned that year due to the outbreak of the Second World War. Two of the more notable meetings between the two clubs have come in cup competitions. In the 1972-73 season Ipswich beat Norwich 4-2 on aggregate to win the two legged Texaco Cup final, with 2-1 wins in both games. In 1985 the clubs met in the semi-final of the League Cup, Ipswich won the first leg 1-0 at Portman Road but Norwich scored early in the return leg at Carrow Road to level the tie. With extra-time looming Steve Bruce scored a late winner to send Norwich to Wembley. please log in to view this image Steve Bruce wheels await in delight after netting the winner for City in the Milk Cup semi final 1985 The East Anglian derby has been contested 109 times in competitive games, 56 of which have been played at Ipswich and 53 at Norwich. The clubs have also played each other in friendlies and testimonials. The highest attendance in the derby at Portman Road is 35,077 in a First Division match in September 1975 while Carrow Road hosted 39,890 spectators in an FA Cup match in January 1962. John Wark is Ipswich's leading goalscorer in the derby with nine goals, while Hugh Curran remains Norwich's top scorer with five, a record that has stood since 1968. Overall the two rivals have met 140 times, Ipswich having the slight upper hand with 59 wins to Norwich's 55 Highest Ipswich Town score Ipswich Town 5 Norwich City 0 – 21/02/1998 League Division One (2nd tier) Highest Norwich City score Ipswich Town 1 Norwich City 5 – 21/04/2011 Championship (2nd tier) Highest aggregate (7) Norwich City 3 Ipswich Town 4 – 03/02/1968 League Division Two (2nd tier) They played for both clubs Clive Baker, Keith Bertschin, John Deehan, Louie Donowa, Alan Lee, Kevin Lisbie, Andy Marshall, Johnny Miller, Trevor Putney andClive Woods are among those to have turned out for both the Blues and the Canaries. please log in to view this image Clive Woods playing for Town FA Cup semi final 1978 Did you know ? Ryan Bennett, City's £3.2M signing from Peterborough was a youth player at Town Former Ipswich and England star Kevin Beattie did scouting work for City when Mike Walker was Canaries manager. Ian Crook was involved in a "controversial" signing for Town in June 1996 he never actually played for Ipswich before re-joining City. The late Justin Fashanu had unsuccessful trials with Ipswich when he tried to resurrect his career in 1990. Danny Haynes, scorer of a controversial 'handball' derby goal trialled with City before joining Town in the of spring 1994. …............and finally According to the Football Rivalries Report 2008, the East Anglian derby is the second fiercest rivalry in England after the Black Country derby between West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers. More than a derby please log in to view this image Match to be broadcast 'live' on Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 1HD please log in to view this image Full match commentary BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra on DAB Digital Radio and .............. BBC Radio Norfolk please log in to view this image with Chris Goreham and guest match summariser Jamie Cureton please log in to view this image OTBC !
Add my appreciation for your effort KIO, masterful as ever. If City play to the same standard it will be a walk in the park, well on the pitch.
Nothing like leaving it late ITFC_PlanetBlue @ITFC_PlanetBlue 3h3 hours ago SOLD OUT: Tomorrow's clash against Norwich City FC is now SOLD OUT. There are no tickets available on the day. #ITFC Top thread, KIO
A damned good read here, from the Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...Old-Farm-derby-about-far-more-than-money.html
Good read certainly, but from a very one sided perspective. Only AN from City was quoted amidst the many from the blues.
el agriculturo clasico was a new one to me...and this one from Mick: “I’ve been involved in bigger derbies, Celtic v Rangers for instance, you could call that a bit bigger,” he says. “But people tell me it can be quite fierce. I certainly haven’t had anything in the way of humour from a Norwich fan. I don’t get involved in all that twatting stuff as I call it, but you don’t need that to feel people are getting anxious. But it’s largely about the result. People are worried about losing. They don’t want to lose to their nearest and not so dearest. Especially not this game.”
By employing the same spoiling / time wasting tactics they showed when they played us recently. I really hope Brentford stuff them in the re-match - watching Boro and their attritional anti-football is hardly going to light up the premier league, should they (sadly) make it there. They set out not to lose, and there's something disturbingly Hughton-esque about all that for my liking!
It's a decent read but the writers clearly never been to ipsquit "pleasant Suffolk town centre" He's avin a laugh! Bah!
Feeling surprisingly calm today ? Probably due to the fact that if the unthinkable happens and we should lose today there's always next week to put it right. No doubt I'll feel a bit different come 12:15PM !
Wish I could say the same, I've never really been bothered by the rivalary, only that it makes a good atmosphere on match day, but this time the match really fecking counts for something. Hang on a minute, childood memories are returning, I remember being a ball boy when Norwich beat Ipswich in the FA Cup and as 10 year old I asked for Paul Mariner's autograph- he blanked me and rather than get support from my family for being a bit upset about this, they chastised me and beat me for speaking to him at all. So lets beat the feckers soundly today
