The 50th anniversary of Blues legend John Wark’s debut for the club is to be marked with a new book, He’s Here, He’s There, by Neil Prentice, who was behind the recent George Burley book, All To Play For and 1980-81 - The Greatest Season in Ipswich Town’s History.
Wark, now 67, made his Town debut on 27th March 1975 in the 3-2 FA Cup sixth round third replay victory over Leeds at Filbert Street.
The central defender-turned-midfielder-turned-central defender went on to make 678 appearances for the club, second behind only Mick Mills, scoring 179 goals, alongside Ted Phillips second to only Ray Crawford.
In addition, Wark, a record four-time winner of the Town Player of the Year award, was a member of the FA Cup-winning team in 1977/78, the UEFA Cup side in 1980/81, when he bagged a then-record 14 goals, and, during his third spell at the club, Second Division title winners in 1991/92. He also won the FA Youth Cup in 1974/75.
PFA Player of the Year in 1980/81 and in ninth place for the Ballon d’Or the same season, Wark was also the first Town player to appear - along with Scotland teammate Alan Brazil - and score at a World Cup finals in 1982.
Further to his success with the Blues, Wark had a successful spell with Liverpool, in which he won the First Division title twice, and appeared in Escape to Victory.
Representing his 678 Town appearances and 179 goals, there will be a collector’s edition of the book limited to 857 copies, as well as the standard edition.
"50 years on from my debut against Leeds United, the opportunity to look back on all the different aspects of my career was something that I just couldn’t refuse, particularly when I saw what Neil Prentice had done with George Burley’s book, All To Play For,” one-time TWTD columnist Wark said.
"All the brilliant images that will go into this book bring back so many special memories for me.
"You might find this hard to believe, but there were a lot of things that even I wasn’t aware of before we started working on it.
"I’m really excited to see it all come together. I’ve had always had a great relationship with the fans, and I hope they all really enjoy it.”
Prentice added: "Working on All To Play For with George Burley was an amazing experience and when the opportunity to work with another Ipswich Town icon came up, I jumped at the chance.
"Warky’s statistics and achievements remain unrivalled in the club’s history. When you think of John Wark you think of his goals, the penalties, the glory, his amazing longevity and not forgetting his famous moustache! When you think of Ipswich Town you think of John Wark.”
The aim is to have the book available in early October with pre-ordering getting under way soon.
All To Play For and 1980-81 - The Greatest Season in Ipswich Town’s History are available from TWTD here.