NOS Football•today, 10:16
After 22 years, Ipswich Town is back at the highest level. The club has played in the lower levels of the English football pyramid in recent years, but after two promotions in two years, the illustrious club can be admired again in the Premier League next season.
That news was particularly well received by Frans Thijssen, who played for Ipswich between 1979 and 1984 and won the European Cup II with the club in 1981. He did this with compatriot Arnold Mühren and coach Bobby Robson, who later worked for PSV .
“I did have a party from a distance, yes,” says Thijssen. “It’s great to see them back after so many years.”
Thijssen is still considered a club legend at Ipswich Town. “I come by once or twice a season to watch a match and I am always welcomed with open arms,” says Thijssen. “You are never forgotten there, at least that’s the feeling I have when I go back.”
That is not surprising, if you look at Thijssen’s record for Ipswich. While working for ‘The Tractor Boys’, he was the first Dutchman ever to be voted footballer of the year in England. Moreover, he won the second European club tournament as a team.
“That was special, because we played in the final against AZ, which was also the number one in the Netherlands at the time,” the former midfielder recalls.
Challenge in the Premier League
It will not be easy for Ipswich Town in the Premier League next season. The club will become a small one among the financial superpowers in the world’s richest league. Yet Thijssen sees things positively for his club.
“Kieran McKenna, the Northern Ireland coach, has done really well and is very popular at the moment. Since he has been there you have the feeling that things are going really well. The results are fantastic: if you have been a coach for two years If you get promoted in succession, then you can’t go wrong anymore, of course…”
And in terms of money? “Ed Sheeran, the singer, is the shirt sponsor of the club and provides some financial support. The promotion itself also generates money, of course, so they will have some reinforcements.”
Finally, Thijssen, who was voted the best Gelderland footballer of all time in 2020 and ended his playing career at Vitesse, sheds light on the developments in Arnhem. Vitesse’s decline hurts him.
“It has been a difficult year. You already saw the relegation coming, but then came the other point about the survival of the club and that is of course much more important. But you see it with Ipswich: relegation can happen at some point. You can just come back from that.”
