Saturday, July 26, 2008
Football Statues
No 10 (in a series of several): Sir Alf Ramsey (1920-1999)
Ipswich Town, with a team made up of unknowns who had been widely tipped to go straight back down at the end of the 61-62 season, amazed the nation by winning the Football League Championship at their very first attempt. Alf Ramsey, an accomplished right back for Spurs and England in the 1950’s and now at the Portman Road helm, was the man instrumental in achieving this quite amazing success.
Dagenham born Ramsey had taken the managers job in the summer of 1955 shortly after the Blue’s had been relegated to the Third Division South after just a single season in Division Two. Promotion back to that division was achieved again two years later and Ramsey, an intelligent and measured player on the field, spent the next few years assembling a team that was a mix of youth and astute purchases from the lower leagues, but above all a close knit group of players that were very loyal to their manager.
Town were crowned champions of the Second Division in 1961 and, apart from the signing of inside forward Doug Moran from Falkirk it was the same side that went on to take the First Division title. In doing so Town emulated the Spurs side, of 1950 and 1951, who had became only the second side to win the Second and First Division titles in back-to-back seasons. Rather ironically, Ramsey had been a key player for the North Londoners in those two campaigns.
This extraordinary success was due to Ramey’s tactical wherewithal. Up front he employed strikers Ray Crawford and Ted Phillips (61 league goals between them), and on the wings Jimmy Leadbetter and Roy Stephenson. It was the use of latter two in midfield – in an early form of 4-4-2 – that was the key to Ramsey’s triumph. Town didn’t begin the season well, losing two or their three opening fixtures, but Ramsey stuck to his system and the results started coming. Closest rivals Burnley hit the self destruct button in the run in and Ipswich stole home to take the championship – clinched at Portman Road with a two-nil win against Aston Villa on the final day of the season.
More football statues here.
posted by chevblue at 5:16 pm
extreme groundhopping
a (mainly) pictorial account of one man's obsession with football stadia, floodlight pylon's and ipswich town football club
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