Nine matches without a win is a start the club has never experienced before, but as columnist Chris Rand explains, there's some way to go before this season becomes the worst start in the club's history.

It's been widely quoted that this is the ‘worst start to a season ever’ for Ipswich, because it's the first time that the club has failed to win any of its first nine league matches. But how many matches make up the ‘start of a season’? And is ‘failing to win’ the best measure of a poor start? Let's take a look.

I've shown the club's record after nine matches here. If you scroll down, I've repeated the table for the 10, 11 and 12-match mark in the season. You'll see that as well as it being the first time the club hasn't won in nine matches, this season's four points is also the lowest ever points total from nine matches, on a three-points-for-a-win basis.

The next three worst seasons for points totals after nine matches all saw Town with a win and two draws at this stage. In 1956/57, which was Alf Ramsey's second season in charge, Town started LLLWLLDDL in the old Division Three (South). Five seasons later, of course, the club would go on to win the league.

In 1963/64, Town began their first full season under Ramsey's successor Jackie Milburn, who - like Roy Keane - had been appointed a few games before the end of the previous season. Because the club had an opening day win against Burnley, this season doesn't often show in examples of ‘worst starts’ to a season, but it surely was.

Town would not win again in the league until 20th December, the 21 matches in between representing by far the longest run without a win in the club's history. True, this season's four points from nine matches is lower than 63/64's five points, but it's to be hoped that the club ends up with more than Milburn's six points after 19 matches, and eight points after 22.

The other season where Town had managed just five points at this stage was Bobby Robson's well-documented first full season, 1969/70. Robson had been appointed the previous January, and had managed a creditable first half-season. After an opening-day draw against Nottingham Forest, there was no reason to foresee six straight defeats. However, Robson turned things around, beating Newcastle at home in the eighth game and getting an away draw at West Brom in the ninth.

I've also looked at the goals scored and conceded after nine matches. We've seen fewer goals than this season's eight to date just half a dozen times in the past, although not since the 2001/02 relegation season, where the opposing Premiership defences were presumably more of a challenge.

Perhaps more concerning are the 19 goals conceded, which has only been worse twice before, in Milburn's 1963/64 and 64/65 seasons. Milburn was replaced five matches into that campaign.

So, although the nine-match points total under three-points-for-a-win has never been as low as this season's four, at least it's unthinkable that the club won't overtake 1963/64's dismal record over the course of the next few matches. And there have been three occasions in the past where the club have had more defeats than this in the first nine matches than this season.

Photo: Action Images

GeorgiDoundarov added 21:25 - Sep 28 So we could go even worse... No doubt about that. Another positive note is when we play at Sheff. Utd tomorrow we would be played one game with this season top contenders - Newcastle, Middlesbrough, WBA, Sheffield Utd., Preston... I'd say there is only Cardiff yet to play. It is a lot better to have a poor start having played against the strongest. What we missed was a victory over Doncaster and the home games against Palace, Leicester, Nottingham... I still think if we get a good CB and a good striker and we finally "gel" we can manage top 6. The competition is strong but for the top 2 places. We can finish sixth if we start performing. Not that I've seen anything done this way against Newcastle but... Let us keep it positive!

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morgana1968 added 22:06 - Sep 28 very good point!
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EatonBlue added 23:34 - Sep 28 I'm old enough to remember 1963/64 and it was awful with 10 goals conceded at Fulham, 9 at Stoke and 6 on a number of occasions. Milburn inherited a squad which was past it's sell-by date but he made some useful signings. in addition, he set-up the Youth Team. Despite Milburn's dreadful record, the Board did not sack him and in the end it was Milburn who resigned in September 1964.

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