Klug Hoping FA Cup Celebrations Will Boost Atmosphere During Final Game - Ipswich Town News
Bryan Klug, Town’s caretaker-manager, hopes Sunday’s Portman Road atmosphere is boosted by the celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the Blues’ 1978 FA Cup triumph. The club have declared Sunday 78 Day with members of the squad which won the cup on that famous day at Wembley at the match and also at this evening’s Ex-Players’ Dinner.
"I hope so, it’s a celebration of a great time for the club,” said Klug, who will be taking charge of Town for the fourth and final time.
"Hopefully that will rub off. I don’t think it’ll stop the way Middlesbrough want to play, it’ll be a really tough game.”
Klug, 57, was a young player with Town at the time of the FA Cup win but his recollections of that day in May 1978 are bittersweet.
"When the lads were winning the FA Cup I was away with the England youth team and I tore my cruciate ligament so I was listening to it in a bed in Poland and it was a bit grim,” he recalled.
"But it was a great time for the football club. I was at the End of Season Dinner the other night and it was fantastic to see some of those brilliant personalities and great players. It was a great time for this club.
"I was around until after we won the UEFA Cup and it was a very, very special place to be.”
Klug said Sir Bobby Robson played a significant role in helping him into coaching after his promising playing career had been ended by injuries.
"He was a great man to play for and he helped me a lot when I stopped playing because of injury,” Klug added.
"He helped me a lot on the coaching pathway and that was what this club was all about. He didn’t have to do that and even when he was manager of England he still had a lot of time for me and helped me out.
"I went over to PSV and watched games with him there and how he worked. Very, very special.”
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