All you need to know as Ipswich Town are promoted to Premier League

With Ipswich Town securing an immediate return to the Premier League after their relegation in 2024/25, Ben McAleer looks at how the Tractor Boys earned their promotion and chronicles the club's history.

2025/26 promotion

Ipswich actually started their 2025/26 season poorly in the Championship, failing to win any of their opening four matches and collecting just three points. They eased to a first league victory at the fifth time of asking, defeating Sheffield United 5-0 as Jaden Philogene bagged a hat-trick to get their campaign up and running.

Even then, the Tractor Boys struggled to get going. They won only three of their opening 10 matches and it looked as though an immediate Premier League return was out of the question.

A 1-0 win over West Bromwich Albion proved to be the catalyst. That was the first of four victories in an unbeaten six-match run from 25 October to 25 November, and they went on to win seven of their 10 games across December and January.

Ipswich lost just three league games from the turn of the year, and while they won only two of their final six outings of the campaign, a 3-0 triumph over QPR on the final day secured second place in the Championship and a return to the Premier League.

Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran will be a happy man. A lifelong Ipswich fan, Sheeran bought a small stake in the club in August 2024 and was the club’s main shirt sponsor from 2021 until the start of the 2025/26 campaign.

The club gave Sheeran the No 17 shirt (his birthday is 17 February) as a gesture of appreciation at the time. Ipswich have named Sheeran as their No 17 player in every season since, apart from the 2024/25 campaign when they were back in the Premier League.

"Sheeran, 17" shirts have been their highest seller across the past four seasons.

Watch Ed Sheeran celebrate promotion with Ipswich squad

Ipswich Town fact file

Premier League seasons: Six
Highest Premier League finish: Fifth (2000/01)
Honours: First Division (1961/62), Second Division (1960/61, 1967/68, 1991/92), Third Division (1953/54, 1956/57), Southern League (1936/37), FA Cup (1977/78), Texaco Cup (1972/73), UEFA Cup (1980/81)
Most Premier League appearances: David Linighan (112)
Most Premier League goals: Marcus Stewart (25)

Watch Ipswich celebrate their promotion

Origins and early history

Ipswich were initially founded as an amateur team in 1878, and were first known as Ipswich A.F.C. In 1888, they merged with Ipswich Rugby Club to form Ipswich Town Football Club.

In 1936, they turned professional and joined the Southern League, winning the league in their first season and finishing third in the second. Finally, in May 1938, they were elected to the Football League.

They started to make progress after Sir Alf Ramsey was appointed in August 1955. In 1961 they secured promotion to the First Division as league winners. Ipswich were then crowed top-flight champions at the first time of asking and qualified for the 1962/63 European Cup after defeating Floriana 14-1.

Ramsey went on to leave Ipswich to take charge of the England national team, guiding the Three Lions to World Cup glory in 1966, but his replacement Jackie Milburn failed to replicate his predecessor’s fortunes. Ipswich were relegated back to the Second Division in 1964 having conceded a whopping 121 goals across 42 games.

Milburn was replaced by Bill McGarry in 1964, and they returned to the First Division in 1968. Wolverhampton Wanderers managed to lure McGarry away from Portman Road in January 1969, and he was succeeded by Sir Bobby Robson.

Modern history

The Robson era is fondly remembered by Ipswich fans of a certain vintage. The iconic English manager was in charge at Portman Road between 1969 and 1982, and led the Tractor Boys to win the Texaco Cup in 1973, the FA Cup in 1978 and the UEFA Cup in 1981.

The European success was arguably the greatest in the club’s history as Ipswich defeated Dutch side AZ over two legs.

Robson’s success attracted interest from elsewhere and he was appointed England boss in 1982.

Ipswich were relegated from the First Division in 1986 and spent six years in the second tier before John Lyall guided them to promotion to the Premier League, for the competition's inaugural campaign in 1992/93. Ipswich finished 16th and 19th in what was then a 22-team competition, but were relegated after finishing bottom in 1994/95 under George Burley.

They returned to the top flight at the turn of the Millennium, beating Barnsley 4-2 in the playoff final. Burley then guided Ipswich to a fifth-placed finish, missing out on a Champions League spot to Liverpool on the final day of the season.

Watch Ipswich's best Premier League goals

They succumbed to relegation the following season, though and then spent 17 long years in the Championship before relegation to League One in 2019, which ended a 63-year stay in the top two tiers of English football.

Kieran McKenna succeeded Paul Cook as manager in December 2021 and guided Ipswich back to the Championship in 2023, then the Premier League on the final day of the 2023/24 season as he secured successive promotions.

The Tractor Boys dropped back into the second tier of English football after just one season in the top flight, finishing in 19th place with just 22 points.

McKenna immediately brought Ipswich back up again at the first attempt but he will not be leading them into the new 2026/27 Premier League season, having announced his decision to leave the club on 10 June.

"It is with a mixture of gratitude, pride, sadness and contentment that I have decided to step down from the honour of managing this historic football club," said McKenna, in a statement published on Ipswich's official website.

"After giving so much to the role over the previous five seasons, I now look forward to taking a break from management and dedicating some time to my family, who have been with me every step of my career so far."

Meet the manager - Gary O'Neil

Ipswich are the third Premier League club to be managed by McKenna's successor Gary O’Neil, following his stints in charge of AFC Bournemouth and Wolverhampton Wanderers. 

O'Neil made 214 Premier League appearances as a player, scoring 16 goals and providing 16 assists, across spells with Portsmouth, Middlesbrough, West Ham United and Norwich City.

The former midfielder's first job in coaching came in August 2010 as the assistant manager of Liverpool’s Under-23s. Six months later, he joined Bournemouth’s senior staff under head coach Jonathan Woodgate, who had been a team-mate at Middlesbrough, and then Scott Parker, who he played alongside at West Ham.

O’Neil was part of the staff who oversaw the Cherries' promotion from the Championship in 2021/22 and he stepped up to take the reins as interim head coach at the end of August 2022 when Parker was dismissed, following three defeats in the first four league matches, culminating in a Premier League record-equalling 9-0 defeat to Liverpool.

The interim boss immediately led his side on a six-match unbeaten run, earning a nomination for September’s Barclays Manager of the Month award. On 27 November 2022, he was named Bournemouth's permanent head coach on an 18-month contract, with the option of a further year. However, O'Neil was sacked on 19 June 2023, despite guiding the Cherries to Premier League safety, finishing 2022/23 in 15th spot.

Wolves swiftly appointed O'Neil as their head coach, on 9 August 2023, and his first season in the job ended with a 14th-placed finish and included wins over Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur. But 11 losses in 16 matches in 2024/25 led to his departure on 15 December 2024, with the club sat second-from-bottom, with only nine points.

O'Neil returned to management with Ligue 1 club Strasbourg in January 2026 and guided them to an eighth-place finish and their first-ever European semi-final, in the UEFA Conference League, where they lost to Crystal Palace's opponents in the final, Rayo Vallecano.