Blues forward Wes Burns, who signed a new two-year contract with the club last week, says Ipswich feels like home after three terrific seasons in which he has been a key part of climbing from League One into the Premier League.
Burns, 29, was the first signing of the Gamechanger 20 Ltd era in the summer of 2021, and has been one of the biggest successes of that summer’s recruitment having gone on to make 111 starts and 17 sub appearances, scoring 28 goals.
"Delighted to extend my time at a club which has been an an amazing club for me,” he told TownTV.
"Personally and as a player, when I first came in three years ago, did I expect us to be where we are today? Probably not, but it’s been an incredible journey from League One to the Premier League, so for me to extend my time here [is great].
"Not only at the club but within the community, I’ve made it a home, I know lots of people outside of the club now as well that have become friends and lads in the dressing room that I’ll be friends with for life.”
Looking back to the summer of 2021 when former boss Paul Cook brought him in from Fleetwood, the Wales international added: "The main goal for me was always to achieve that promotion from League One to the Championship, that was always set in stone.
"Everyone that window when they signed was coming in to get the club out of League One and be a stable club within the Championship.
"For me personally, could I get myself to that stage and be a consistent player within a team in the Championship because I’d not really done that throughout my career.
"But for us to go back-to-back the way we did and play and do it in the style we did was something that was well beyond what any of us thought we could do.
"I guess now the next step is, can we be a stable club in the Premier League and can I be a consistent player in the Premier League?”
A vital element in achieving that success has been the spirit within the squad: "It’s massive. I’ve said it before in previous interviews that the group of lads that we’ve put together here is one of the best groups of men that I could ever possibly wish to work with.
"When I talk about the style in which we did it, there were late winners, there were big wins, 5-0, 6-0 wins and things like that in the League One season and the Champ season.
"Big performances away from home when you can really see the togetherness in the group, not only as players, but the staff are into it together, everyone’s bought into the culture of the club and that’s probably why it’s propelled us to where we are so quickly.”
He says he feels settled at Town in a way he hasn’t with his previous sides: "I’ve been at multiple clubs throughout my career. I spent a long time at Fleetwood, I was there five or six years, but I never really felt at home even though I spent a lot of time there.
"I was at Bristol City for a long time before then and that was kind of my home in football, really.
"But I would say over the last three seasons, the three or four years that I’ve been here, I’ve really embraced the life here in Ipswich and I’ve met so many people outside of the club now that have become friends and will be friends for life that I know can always come back here and it will feel like home.”