| Your League 1 highs and lows of the last four years.. 07:54 - May 2 with 6975 views | The_Romford_Blue |
Let’s have a thread with the best and worst moments we can remember of our spell in League 1. Moments where it felt as though everything was looking up at last or horrendous lows where it couldn’t possibly get worse for us.
I’ll start:
Highs - Derby away this year. First time it really felt like we were going to catch Wednesday. To go there and win (and in the manner we did) was a huge marker for the rest of the league. Almost as if to show us all that this wasn’t going to be another false dawn and that this year was going to finally be different. The Ipswich of all of the previous seasons would’ve found a way to drop points there but at no point at Pride Park did it feel like we wouldn’t win. I think mentally it was the result at the time that highlighted we had both the footballing ability to go to anywhere and get a win but also more importantly to grit it out when the home team put the pressure on. Psychologically it felt huge. Maybe our biggest result in our whole spell in the third tier.
Lows - The new contract before the Wycombe game from Evans to Lambert. Not only was it absolutely insane to give a failing manager a new deal like that amid such a terrible run we were on at the time, the timing of it just highlighted how out of touch and ultimately clueless our owner was. It really did feel like a devastating day for the club when it happened and it still doesn’t truly make sense even now. [Post edited 2 May 2023 7:58]
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| Your League 1 highs and lows of the last four years.. on 08:02 - May 2 with 4086 views | TRUE_BLUE123 |
Highs- Most of this season. The run from March has just been incredible.
Seeing homegrown players, Woolfie, Clarke and Humphreys has been great.
Just McKenna in general. I love him.
The Takeover of course
Falling in love with a football team again
Worst- How long have you got?
Our season derailing every single season against Accrington/Rotherham (every season)
The back to back 3-0s vs Wimbledon and Northampton, seeing players like Harrop and Hawkins plodding about.
A game against Fleetwood at home where we kept kicking the ball on to Harry Souttars head, comically bad
Losing 5-2 to Bolton at home.
Its really been pretty grim but we 100% leaving league one stronger than we came in, just took a few extra seasons then we thought. |  |
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| Your League 1 highs and lows of the last four years.. on 08:03 - May 2 with 4077 views | Herbivore |
Highs - 90% of what's happened since mid December 2021.
Lows - 90% of what happened up to mid December 2021. |  |
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| Your League 1 highs and lows of the last four years.. on 08:03 - May 2 with 4076 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
High.....leaving
Low.....arriving |  |
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| Your League 1 highs and lows of the last four years.. on 08:12 - May 2 with 4031 views | Churchman |
Highs:
The day I heard the club had been bought by Gamechanger.
Football wise - the Bolton away game. The way in which we went about that told me ‘hello, we’ve made a step up here’. Having failed to finish off SW and Plymouth away I just felt it was a belief moment. If can do this away at a good side now, we can trample on anybody going forwards.
Lows:
Getting humped by Peterborough at home in Feb 2020. It was clear that we were falling away, stuck in this division and with Evans at Lambert at the helm, there was more chance of hell freezing over than us getting out of it.. |  | | |
| Your League 1 highs and lows of the last four years.. on 08:14 - May 2 with 4027 views | WubbleU |
High - Saturday... so emotional.
Low - AFC Wimbledon away at Kingsmeadow. So many things to hate 0-0, boring, the ground, our team.... I could go on. |  | | |
| Your League 1 highs and lows of the last four years.. on 08:17 - May 2 with 4017 views | Funge |
Highs - Charlton (h) - 6-0
The memory of the away game capitulation still looming large in my mind, quickly removed as we pulled into a 2-nil lead.
Worrying that Macca Bonne and Scott Fraser would turn up with points to prove; and seeing that the only proof apparent was that we had moved on, significantly, from them both (I still have love for Bonne though)
Seeing Rak-Sakyi, one of the best players in this league, so well marshalled by this defence, to the extent that he never looked like influencing the game, a further reminder of how we were progressing.
Chaplin looking like he would score every time he took a touch in the box, wowsa.
Charlton, a bogey side for us for so long; the biggest vultures of all when it all fell apart in the early '00s - now left miles behind in our wake.
Meanwhile, the Wendies were managing to implode at Burton... at the end of this game, I thought we might actually go up.
Worst - Wednesday (h) - 2-2
Had to think about this one. Cambridge (h) last year was grim- effectively season-ending, against standard L1 spoilers, against the backdrop of this strange pretend rivalry that a section of the media think we have with them; Charlton (a) last year too - losing 2-0, Nsiala fronting up to the fans, and only Walton stopping the result becoming the answer to a pub quiz question - but Wendy at home this year found me very despondent about us.
Awful missed pen by Chaplin set the tone for the game; they scored 2 very soft goals, and really should've scored 3. We were very poor until Broadhead's free kick- the old Ipswich-itis of not winning 'must-win' games was in full effect. Their fans were loud as hell, and even the recovery to win a point didn't seem like enough. Walked out at the end, mainly resigned to play-offs, and, most likely, another season in this dreadful league.
2 months between these two results, which says a lot about McK's ability to train and motivate, and also a lot about my inherent pessimism.
Uppa Towun. |  | | |
| Your League 1 highs and lows of the last four years.. on 08:21 - May 2 with 3990 views | PrideOfTheEast |
Lows - Northampton, Wimbledon, seeing Nsiala as a fixture in a team trying to play it out from the back, and Jackson repeatedly used as a striker. Losing Downes.
Highs - obviously the takeover. Derby this year was brilliant and felt like a coming of age moment. | | | |
| Your League 1 highs and lows of the last four years.. on 08:25 - May 2 with 3965 views | BlueStreak |
High - the three game stretch over the past week and a bit, incredible atmospheres and results, was a thing of beauty.
Low - Charlton away 2-0, hammered it down all evening, we were horrific and Toto and fans fighting each other under a caretaker manager. Peak banter era. Think everyone got covid that game as well.
Onwards and upwards anyway. |  | | |
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| Your League 1 highs and lows of the last four years.. on 08:27 - May 2 with 3958 views | WestStanderLaLaLa |
High - this run since Bristol Rovers. Incredible once in a lifetime stuff.
Low - when the fixtures came out for the 1st season down, seeing FA cup 1st round |  |
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| Your League 1 highs and lows of the last four years.. on 08:31 - May 2 with 3921 views | Swailsey |
High: Janoi 2.0, everything since KM came in, Broad head’s freekick, the Port Vale win, seeing us promoted with my dad on Saturday.
Low: Sticking with Paul Lambert after he relegated us without a fight. I’ll never loathe a town manager as much as him. |  |
| Who said: "Colin Healy made Cesc Fabregas look like Colin Healy"? | We miss you TLA |
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| Your League 1 highs and lows of the last four years.. on 08:33 - May 2 with 3885 views | Metal_Hacker |
Lows - Shambert and Evans
Highs - McKenna and Gamechanger |  |
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| Your League 1 highs and lows of the last four years.. on 08:39 - May 2 with 3842 views | Hipsterectomy |
Lambert squaring up to Steve Evans and it turning into a “I’m from a rougher part of Glasgow than you” was a highlight. You’re like 50 and 60 years old ffs |  |
| Walter Smith's Barmy Army |
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| Your League 1 highs and lows of the last four years.. on 08:41 - May 2 with 3837 views | Herbivore |
| Your League 1 highs and lows of the last four years.. on 08:17 - May 2 by Funge |
Highs - Charlton (h) - 6-0
The memory of the away game capitulation still looming large in my mind, quickly removed as we pulled into a 2-nil lead.
Worrying that Macca Bonne and Scott Fraser would turn up with points to prove; and seeing that the only proof apparent was that we had moved on, significantly, from them both (I still have love for Bonne though)
Seeing Rak-Sakyi, one of the best players in this league, so well marshalled by this defence, to the extent that he never looked like influencing the game, a further reminder of how we were progressing.
Chaplin looking like he would score every time he took a touch in the box, wowsa.
Charlton, a bogey side for us for so long; the biggest vultures of all when it all fell apart in the early '00s - now left miles behind in our wake.
Meanwhile, the Wendies were managing to implode at Burton... at the end of this game, I thought we might actually go up.
Worst - Wednesday (h) - 2-2
Had to think about this one. Cambridge (h) last year was grim- effectively season-ending, against standard L1 spoilers, against the backdrop of this strange pretend rivalry that a section of the media think we have with them; Charlton (a) last year too - losing 2-0, Nsiala fronting up to the fans, and only Walton stopping the result becoming the answer to a pub quiz question - but Wendy at home this year found me very despondent about us.
Awful missed pen by Chaplin set the tone for the game; they scored 2 very soft goals, and really should've scored 3. We were very poor until Broadhead's free kick- the old Ipswich-itis of not winning 'must-win' games was in full effect. Their fans were loud as hell, and even the recovery to win a point didn't seem like enough. Walked out at the end, mainly resigned to play-offs, and, most likely, another season in this dreadful league.
2 months between these two results, which says a lot about McK's ability to train and motivate, and also a lot about my inherent pessimism.
Uppa Towun. |
I'm guessing you've limited yourself to this season, buh? That game with Wednesday was better than almost everything Lambert and Cook served up. | |
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| Your League 1 highs and lows of the last four years.. on 08:42 - May 2 with 3818 views | SaleAway |
I've limited this to games that I've been to, so its pretty Northern focussed.
Low... 2-1 defeat to Accrington, October 21...pre-game, ordered a black coffee, only to be told "we don't have black coffee", ordered a tea instead... it came without milk...pretty much summed up our visit there. Managed to chuck away a lead, got piss wet through, drove home in the rain. Miserable from start to finish.
High... Barnsley last week. Best atmosphere in an away match I've ever been to. The Blue army rendition during the first half injury stoppage still gives me shivers. Soaked up the pressure, clinical in front of goal. The NEW Ipswich. Calm, confident, winning. Loved it. | |
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| Your League 1 highs and lows of the last four years.. on 08:50 - May 2 with 3744 views | mrfixit426 |
Lows: Paul Lambert. Awful manager, awful man.
I wrote to the club to request removal of my payment methods from their website, as it was impossible to do it online. I informed them that I was turning my back on them as a result of the statement Marcus Evans released on Dec 3, 2020, where he reiterated the fans should be careful what we wished for.
Highs: Lee Evans equaliser against Bolton on the opening day. Clever set piece and it really felt like lift off. It felt different.
After that there are too many to mention. [Post edited 2 May 2023 8:51]
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| Your League 1 highs and lows of the last four years.. on 08:53 - May 2 with 3729 views | Vic |
Highs - nothing really before this season! Then the victories at Bolton and Derby told me that things really have changed. But most of all the 3.0 win at Barnsley - a team in as good a form as us - just blew my mind.
Lows - too many to number. But generally the mentality of being worried at the prospect of playing the likes or Accrington, MK Dons, Morecambe, Lincoln and Cheltenham. |  |
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| Your League 1 highs and lows of the last four years.. on 08:55 - May 2 with 3713 views | clive_baker |
Too many lows to mention, I would say the lowest of the low was the Northampton debacle.
Too many highs over the past couple of years, GameChanger coming in, that first summer with all the optimism and new additions. KM’s impact almost overnight through the back half of last season.
Then of course this season where we’ve looked the real deal. Been so clear what we’ve been trying to do, so considered in our approach to it, recruited well, so dominant on the pitch. I can’t think of a game all season that we haven’t been the better side. Burnley away probably the closest but certainly not in the league. And constantly improving along the way. Excited and intrigued to see what the future holds for this group. |  |
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| Your League 1 highs and lows of the last four years.. on 09:04 - May 2 with 3546 views | Whos_blue |
Highs
It's a fairly short list when you look past the joy of the last few months.
Lows
12th December 2020.
Sat with 2000 other town fans unlucky enough to "win" a ticket in the ballot for one of the lockdown games.
Freezing cold, pi55ing with rain, no one to talk to and on top of that, an abject, toothless 2-0 loss to a bang average Pompey side.
I think this was truely my low point as a town fan. [Post edited 2 May 2023 9:07]
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| Distortion becomes somehow pure in its wildness. |
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| Your League 1 highs and lows of the last four years.. on 09:06 - May 2 with 3527 views | textbackup |
Low - 4-1 at home to Peterborough, almost on par with the norwich 5-1 that for me
Highs - anything mckenna related |  |
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| Your League 1 highs and lows of the last four years.. on 09:08 - May 2 with 3495 views | Funge |
| Your League 1 highs and lows of the last four years.. on 08:41 - May 2 by Herbivore |
I'm guessing you've limited yourself to this season, buh? That game with Wednesday was better than almost everything Lambert and Cook served up. |
As a performance, for sure - but I was gloomy as hell leaving the ground; the Brizzle Rovers game 3 days later just reinforced my view that we'd screwed it up - again.
Shows what I know, right?
I take the wider point tho - the last month of Cook (and the first couple games under McGreal) were dreadful; if we're honest, it was all pretty grim under Cook, other than in respect of a couple of nights at Portsmouth and Wycombe.
I'd pretty much forgotten I even had a football team under Lambert... | | | |
| Your League 1 highs and lows of the last four years.. on 09:08 - May 2 with 3501 views | itfcjoe |
SImple ones for me
Highs - Barnsley away and everything it entailed
Games like Gills away, MK away under Lambert first time round when we looked as though we could just turn up and win games and would just roll the division
Lows - Lambert 5 year deal
A couple of games into Cook's reign, when on the back of those 3 wins before he turned up I genuinely thought he'd just keep that going and we'd be there that season and end the nightmare |  |
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| Your League 1 highs and lows of the last four years.. on 09:13 - May 2 with 3449 views | patrickswell |
Highs
The win at Tranmere in January 2020 which looked like it had got our bid to bounce back first time back on track.
The wallopings of Portsmouth and Wycombe in Oct/Nov 2021. Pompey had edged us in so many games since we’d come down and our form was stuttering going into that game. Wycombe were an irritant in 19/20 and hammering them felt like soothing that itch.
McKenna’s first two games in charge. Beating Wycombe at Portman Road a (then) rare moment of not delivering disappointment in a big occasion. The following week, I went to Gillingham for my first live game in nearly 3 years and saw us dismantle them with a display of football which made me think, “We might have found a gem to lead us here.”
I did a post about my feelings on the season on Sunday, but the last 2 months have been as good as it can possibly get from a fans perspective.
Of course the biggest high of all has to be the Gamechanger takeover and the diligence and care with which they’ve worked so far. I know they’re not doing it from charity but they clearly recognise that you have to nurture things in order to progress. We’ve seen so much poor club management over such a long time, that the difference really is night and day.
Lows
After the 2-0 defeat to Rotherham in October 2019, Mikey Pentti Smith on the Blue Monday Podcast summed up the mood in the ground that night as being one where it felt like the crowd went, “And we’re back…yes this is us…this is what we do…and this is what Ipswich Town has become.” It all went on to culminate in Lambert’s post match interview after the Fleetwood loss (our 6th in 9
games) in March 2020 to say that the players could not cope with the pressure and expectation.
The pathetic response when Cook arrived. We all tease Mach, I know, but unless Cook arrived on his first day and said, “Hello, there’s a takeover about to happen and most of you will be let go in a few weeks time but until then, let’s crack on,” then it’s impossible to do anything other than agree with him over the wretched standards which were displayed over the last 15 games. The play-offs were definitely on when Cook arrived, but at the merest hint of expectation, that squad went to pieces. Getting trolled by Alan Judge that a point at an empty Spotland was a good result showed why so many had to go.
The first few months of the 2021/22. It felt so typical that the feelgood factor of the takeover was diluted by our inconsistency over those first couple of months and listening to Cook, you had no confidence that he could arrest the issues. The Charlton debacle and its aftermath felt like the culmination of a couple of years of frustration - it was telling that it was Nsiala, a poster boy for the previous few years of failure, who was the catalyst for the row, - but it did feel as though the club had been handed a golden ticket and the people running the team had flung it into the fire.
The run between October 29 and February 14 this season. All those draws! All those stoppage time deflected concessions! The fog in Oxford!….As Martin Lambert said recently on the Talking Town podcast, McKenna and the team deserve all the applause for the last 14 games, because they got themselves out of that hole, nobody else. [Post edited 2 May 2023 11:57]
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| Your League 1 highs and lows of the last four years.. on 09:13 - May 2 with 3449 views | JakeITFC |
Low: for the first three seasons in this division we weren’t actually better than other teams in it - went on good runs, had some individually good players but ultimately deserved our mid-table finishes. Criminally mismanaged from top to bottom and quite telling that it needed a season of transition with competent people at the helm to get it moving again.
High: this season being demonstrably better in almost every (if not every) game that we played. Genuinely exciting, high-end football with a young and likeable team. The last week of games (Posh, Barnsley, Exeter) as good as any I can remember in terms of performance, atmosphere, celebrations and just sheer togetherness of everyone involved. |  | | |
| Your League 1 highs and lows of the last four years.. on 09:18 - May 2 with 3392 views | tractordownsouth |
Highs
1) Exeter 6-0 (2022/23)
For the game itself and the celebrations but also for the small things. We've all seen countless clips of other clubs going up but small things like watching McKenna empty a bin over Chaplin's head was surreal and made the feeling sink in that something good was actually happening to us for once.
2) Barnsley 3-0 (2022/23)
I said before the Peterborough game that if we won there I'd be fully confident of us going up but it wasn't until we dispatched of Barnsley. Even though we got a little bit of luck from the officials, we restricted an excellent team to very few opportunities and the carnage of the Hirst goal was unrivalled.
3) The takeover (2020/21)
We all knew Evans was holding us back at the time, but looking back at the squad we had, it was even more badly needed than we realised. Having a competent off the field team and clear structure has been vital and makes it seem more ridiculous that we never had one in the first place.
4) Wycombe 1-0 (2021/22)
It was so refreshing to see a Town team carrying out a clear tactical plan. Whenever we managed a good result under Lambert or Cook, it was always down to a moment of individual brilliance and the talent advantage we had over our opponents rather than anything particularly well thought out. Edmundson driving out of defence with the ball and Donacien overlapping Burns was lovely to watch.
5) Walton signing permanently (2021/22)
Maybe a strange choice but after the performance in the Charlton game we were worried that those who had dropped down a level for Cook may have become disinterested after his departure. Granted, Walton was one of the few players that didn't disgrace himself that night, but him deciding to give us another go even though it meant almost definitely signing up to another year in League One was a strong indication of the squad's confidence in McKenna and the club's prospects moving forwards.
Lows:
1) Lambert five-year contract (2019/20)
By this point, it was obvious our good start had been down to luck rather than judgement and after all the rumours of home truths in the dressing room after the Lincoln defeat earlier in the week, it seemed Lambert was on borrowed time so to offer him an extension was bizarre. It summed up Evans's inability to adapt because he'd opened negotiations when we were top of the league but didn't think to pull the offer during the slump in form. There's an argument for this being the most stupid decision in the history of the team
2) Charlton 0-2 (2021/22)
After this I did genuinely wonder if we were cursed. Earlier in the year we'd got all our wishes off the pitch, with an elite manager for the level recruited and heavy backing into the squad, including some marquee signings. With the manager gone and the players lacking in effort, it was difficult to see where we would go from there.
3) Northampton 0-0 (2020/21)
Useless performance as we struggled to a 0-0 draw against a team who would go on to be relegated. Drysdale headbutting Judge was the only interesting thing to happen all game.
4) January 2021 transfer window (2020/21)
We had plenty of catastrophic windows under Evans (January 2015, Summer 2018) but this showed how tired the old regime was as ended the month with six loanees in our squad. Josh Harrop was a terrible footballer. Luke Matheson played twice and never appeared again. Meanwhile, we lost out on Morgan Rogers to Lincoln City, which was a symbol of how far we'd fallen.
5) Oxford 1-1 (2021/22)
Allowing the Charlton 4-4 equaliser was more careless but we at least had 6 months to put it right, whereas this killed off any hopes of us making the playoffs and a knockout blow. The game had been so tightly poised and the celebration for the Celina goal was a great release of tension, only for Luke McNally's header to destroy the mood. [Post edited 2 May 2023 9:22]
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| Your League 1 highs and lows of the last four years.. on 10:09 - May 2 with 3067 views | BlueBadger |
Low point:
Lambert's new contract. All the cynical posturing and empty gestures that bought him all that(to me) inexplicable popularity had seemingly paid off for him, just as he was being properly found out on the pitch and people were starting to realise that he was a fraud seemed like the ultimate kick when you were down.
Highs: Barnsley away. I know we still needed something Saturday, but to essentially clinch promotion in the fashion that we did, on my birthday, whilst playing away to one of THE form teams in the division was something else. [Post edited 2 May 2023 10:11]
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