Town legend John Elsworthy has died at the age of 77. A key man in Sir Alf Ramsey's Blues side, the Welshman was the only player to win two Third Division South winner's medals and one each for the First and Second Divisions.

Elsworthy, who had been suffering with Alzheimer's in recent times, made 435 appearances and scored 53 times for Town between 1949 and 1964.

The Nantyderry-born wing-half joined the Blues having played as an amateur for Newport County.

Known as ‘Big John', Elsworthy was unlucky not to win caps with Wales when he was included in the initial squad for the World Cup in 1958 but was eventually left out of the final 18 as the Welsh FA were too short of money to send a full squad.

After retiring from the game, Elsworthy ran the Post Office in Felixstowe Road for many years and remained living in the Foxhall Road area of Ipswich.

TWTD met up with John and his wife Ann in April 2002, 40 years after Sir Alf's Blues won the First Division championship in their first season. He talked at length about his days as a player with Town in an interview reproduced in full here.

Photo: Action Images

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