The 2023–24 season was the 146th season in the existence of Ipswich Town and their first season back in the Championship following their promotion from League One. In addition to the domestic league, the club also competed in the FA Cup and EFL Cup.
Following a 2–0 victory at home to Huddersfield Town on the final matchday of the season, Ipswich confirmed a second-place finish in the Championship, securing back-to-back promotions and a return to the Premier League for the first time in 22 years.[1][2]
Season summary
August
Led by head coach Kieran McKenna, Ipswich Town got off to a winning start in their first Championship campaign for four years. McKenna led Ipswich to wins both in their first away game, a 2–1 victory against Sunderland,[3] as well as their first home game, a 2–0 victory against Stoke City.[4] The team also progressed into the second round of the EFL Cup following a 2–0 victory against Bristol Rovers at home, where new signings Cieran Slicker and Jack Taylor both made their debuts, and Taylor scored his first goal.[5] On 19 August, Ipswich went on to claim three points from Loftus Road following a 75th-minute goal from Conor Chaplin to secure a 1–0 victory against Queens Park Rangers.[6] The following week saw Ipswich's first league loss since January,[7] with a 4–3 loss against Leeds United.[8] This brought an end to a club record 21-game undefeated streak, dating back to February. Ipswich then progressed to the third round of the EFL Cup after winning on penalties against Reading.
September
Kieran McKenna's side started the month with a 3–2 win against Cardiff City on the 2nd of September, coming from behind with a brace from Freddie Ladapo and a goal from Nathan Broadhead.[9] Following the international break, Ipswich gained six more points from a 1–0 away win against Sheffield Wednesday on the 16th of September, and three days later after a 1–0 win at Southampton.[10][11] On 23 September, Ipswich played Blackburn Rovers at home, securing another 4–3 victory, before drawing 1–1 at the Kirklees Stadium against Huddersfield Town.[12][13] Ipswich managed to maintain unbeaten in September, gaining thirteen out of a possible fifteen points, and scoring ten goals across five matches.
Ipswich also managed to come back from 2–0 down to win 3–2 against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the EFL Cup third round.[14]
October
Ipswich's form continued into the next month with a 3–0 home victory against Hull City on 3 October to go top of the league,[15] before going to win 4–2 against Preston North End four days later.[16] The fixture against Rotherham, scheduled for 25 October, was cancelled due to flooding at the New York Stadium, and was rescheduled for Wednesday 7 November.[17] This meant Town could complete a second consecutive unbeaten month, with a 3–2 victory against Plymouth Argyle on 28 October 2023.[17]
November
Ipswich started off the next month with a Carabao Cup round-of-16 fixture on 1 November against Premier League side Fulham. Eleven changes, and a debut for Axel Tuanzebe for Ipswich resulted in a 1–3 home loss,[18] however attention could now turn to the league, with those being the only fixtures until January.[19] Form started to falter slightly, following a 2–2 draw on 4 November against Wayne Rooney's Birmingham, with Marcus Harness scoring a brace to confirm a point in the final fifteen minutes.[20] This was followed up with another 2–2 draw against Rotherham United F.C on 7 November.[21] Despite this, on 11 November 2023, Ipswich got back to winning ways with a 3–2 win against Swansea City,[22] and went into the international break with 39 points, only below Leicester on goal difference (Leicester +19 GD, Ipswich +15 GD, both on 39 points). A 2–0 defeat at The Hawthorns to West Bromwich Albion ended Ipswich's twelve game unbeaten run,[23] but a 3–1 home win against Millwall on 29 November meant Ipswich ended their month in winning fashion.[24]
December
Ipswich started December strongly, gaining the maximum nine points from their first three games – a 2–1 home win over Coventry, a 2–0 away victory at Middlesbrough and a 2–1 away victory over Watford.[25] The first East Anglian derby in five years against Norwich City ended 2–2 at Portman Road on 16 December 2023. A downturn in form followed as a result of an ensuing injury crisis, with a 4–0 loss at Elland Road to Leeds United, before a 1–1 home draw against Leicester on Boxing Day and a 0–0 home draw against Queen's Park Rangers.
January
The first game of the year away against Stoke City ended in a goalless draw. Ipswich, however, found a win in the third round FA Cup against AFC Wimbledon, winning 3–1. Ipswich's form appeared to begin to improve, with a 2–1 home win against Sunderland on 13 January 2024, and a massive 1–1 draw at the King Power Stadium on 22 January to help maintain second place. They then suffered a shock defeat in the fourth round of the FA Cup, losing 2–1 at home to Maidstone United of the sixth tier of English football.
February
Ipswich's stuttering form in the Championship continued until early February, with a 3–2 away loss against Preston and a 2–2 draw at home to West Brom, dropping to 4th in the table. However, this was put into a stop with four successive victories; with away wins against Millwall and Swansea with scorelines of 0–4 and 1–2 respectively and home wins against Rotherham and Birmingham on scorelines of 4–3 and 3–1 respectively, climbing back to 3rd place.
March
The campaign in March was excellent, securing a 0–2 away win vs Plymouth and a 3–2 home win over Bristol City.
However, Ipswich lost to Cardiff City 2–1 with 2 stoppage time goals pushing them to a defeat. Ipswich then grabbed their biggest home win and biggest win of the season with a 6–0 win over Sheffield Wednesday, being just 1 point off of Leeds and Leicester for top spot heading into in the international break. On March 30, Ipswich secured a 0–1 away win against Blackburn, ending the month on top of the Championship after Leeds drew and Leicester lost their last match of the month respectively.
April
Kieran McKenna’s side started the month strongly with a 3-2 home win over fellow promotion hopefuls Southampton. This followed with a 1-0 reverse at home in the East Anglian Derby against Norwich City before a run of draws. Ipswich were held by Watford 0-0 and then Middlesbrough 1-1 at home. On the 14th April Kieran McKenna was awarded the Sky Bet Championship Manager of the Season. [26] Ipswich then drew with Hull City 3-3 on the road where George Hirst made his return to the starting 11 from injury with the first goal of the game. The month ended with a 2-1 away win at Coventry City leaving Ipswich needing only a point from their final game of the season to secure back to back promotions and a return to Premier League Football.
May
The month sparked jubilation in the town of Ipswich as Ipswich Town secured Promotion to the Premier League after a 2-0 home win over Huddersfield Town. This made Ipswich Town the first team to secure back-to-back promotions from League One to the Championship and to the Premier League since Southampton in 2012, the fifth team to earn this honor, and it also ended their 22-year-long wait to the Premier League. The club ended their season in 2nd place with 96 points, one point below Championship winners Leicester City, and set a record for the most points by a team in an English second tier campaign that didn't win the title.[27][28]
Note: Fixture was initially scheduled for 20 April, but was postponed due to Coventry's FA Cup involvement.[94] * Referee James Bell was injured in the 55th minute and was replaced by fourth official Dean Whitestone.
Ipswich were drawn away to AFC Wimbledon in the third round.[95][96] They were then drawn at home to Maidstone United, the lowest-ranked team remaining in the competition, in the fourth round.[97][98]
