Blog written by tractorboykent
Published: 20th April 2026 9:56
Scrolling through some socials after the Boro game, I was surprised at the level of antipathy expressed toward us. Although it was based largely on a view that the late penalty was dodgy, it actually went much further and painted a picture of us as a universally disliked club.
Take the BBC for instance –
"Ipswich get such soft pens. Corruption, EFL need to investigate.”
"If ever proof was needed of EFL corruption, it was there for all to see. Why do Ipswich have a shocking decision given in their favour, virtually every game?”
"Ipswich once again handed a ‘Homer‘ referee selection for Portman Rd. Surprised that he couldn’t find another penalty for them in added on time.”
"Ipswich just know how to con refs. If you are relying on referee help to get results then that’s a clear admission you aren’t good enough”
"This is getting beyond a joke now with Ipswich - should they go up, Boro, Saints or Millwall should be rightly asking some serious questions of the FA and the PGMOL.”
I suppose the headline stats – nine penalties awarded to us (including some very late ones – Derby and Preston amongst them) and only one against us - give disgruntled fans an opportunity to put two and two together and come to a conspiracy.
Even more so when it can cast their own club as the victim (eg the Budgies, of course, and Millwall – "Someone doesn’t want Millwall promoted. The Ipswich bias from referees is embarrassing”). The fact is though that the majority of these comments were from neutrals so this is not just the sound of sour grapes.
There’s rarely much room for balance in conspiracy theories but it seems to me very significant that some of it came from an unexpected source - Kim Hellberg. He acknowledged that the defender’s challenge for the penalty was clumsy and probably unnecessary ("to be fair Malanda pulls him a little bit, he put his hands there, which means you always take the risk”…….."the referee makes a decision. If you look at it our way, you should not give him the opportunity....”). These level-headed comments were in stark contrast to those from Philippe Clement a week or so ago.
Some Town fans also sought to inject some factual context by pointing out to those calling for a PGMOL inquiry that that very body apologised to us on two consecutive weekends (against Leicester and Stoke) for refs getting it wrong in denying us a clear pen and then giving the opposition an undeserved spot-kick. Swings and roundabouts.
When things get hysterical, of course there’s little room for equilibrium and reason so maybe we should exercise some of both. Unless a decision is definitively wrong we have to accept that football’s a game of opinion and so, personally, I try to look at decisions in terms of how I’d feel if they were awarded against us.
In that regard the penalty at Brum in the opener was dubious – correct to the letter of the (pretty stupid) law but I’d have been very miffed if it had been given against us and there’s no denying that it delivered us a point that we didn’t deserve.
I’m not sure that there have been many others – not Boro and certainly not the Budgies who, rather than blaming the ref, would be better thanking their keeper for keeping the score down.
I suppose that the source of this bipartisan vitriol is a feeling that we SHOULD be strolling through this league and yet we’re only stuttering through it with outside help.
Personally, I never had any expectation that this season would be straightforward and, with four games to go, I have no expectation that we’ll make second. On our day we can be brilliant (the first goal against Boro was a real sign of team quality) but on the same day we can be inconsistent and fragile as we also were against Boro. Time will tell.
Whatever happens this season, the feeling that our club is reviled leaves a very bitter taste in the mouth. No one’s doubting that players go down too easily and mouth off at the ref every time they feel hard done by, but that’s a problem of the game in general and at most levels. We’re not innocent but it’s an insult and a stretch to say that we’re more guilty than others.
I’d like to be able to say that I couldn’t care less that we’re accused of being cheats and beneficiaries of bias but, alongside the off-the-field stuff that has recently cast us in a bad light, I DO care. I doubt that I’m alone.