Ipswich Town’s title win in 1962 is a bigger underdog tale than Leicester City winning the Premier League
Who said that?
Ray Crawford, who scored thirty-three goals in Ipswich’s title win in 1962, did in this article in the East Anglian Daily Times. Crawford says this.
Town had been in Division Three South when England’s future World Cup-winning manager Sir Alf Ramsey took charge in 1955. There was promotion in ‘57, they were Division Two title winners in ‘61 and top-flight champions the following year. Five players were there throughout the journey.
“Leicester’s is an unbelievable story because it’s come in an era which, sadly, is dominated by money,” said Crawford. “I still think ours was a bigger achievement then theirs though.
“We were a bunch of nobodies who had never been in the top division. Everyone wrote us off. They said we didn’t have enough experience, they said we were lucky to win the Second Division and they said we were favourites to go straight back down. We didn’t have a single international until I was capped (just twice) towards the end of that season.
Ipswich declined after Sir Alf left for England. Under him, Ipswich had played a unique system suited to the players, which is what Sir Alf did to win the World Cup with England. You could argue, that Ranieri has got Leicester to play in a style that suits his players strengths and no other club has really found the answer yet!
I do wonder if Ramsey and Ranieri, who were both defenders, learned their management skills watching from the back, as the forwards wasted chances galore.
As an aside, hoe much would Chelsea or Manchester City pay for a striker, who scored thirty-three goals in a season?
The Anonymous Widower 
Arsenal beat Leicester both at home and away this season, so they had found the answer to Leicester , just alas not to other teams.
Comment by Catherine Shipley | May 5, 2016 |
The key was that Crawford scored 33 goals and his strike partner, Ted Phillips, who officially hit the ball harder than anybody else including Peter Lorimer, scored 28.
The two wingers, Stephenson and Leadbetter, hung back and fired in crosses from deep and Crawford and Phillips did the rest.
Ramsey was a genius, as he proved later in 1966. He even got the lightest kit specially made, as he felt the finals might be played in very hot weather.
Also, in common with Leicester, Ipswich didn’t suffer many injuries and nine players played forty matches or over.
The more you look, the more connections there are in the tales.
Give it twenty years and it will happen again.
Comment by AnonW | May 5, 2016 |