So I got this idea after chatting with my mate Dave at the pub last weekend. He’s a massive Newcastle fan who kept insisting his lot always smashed Ipswich Town. I thought nah that can’t be right, so I decided to dig into their history properly.
Starting with the basics
First thing Monday morning, I brewed a strong cuppa and grabbed my laptop. Searched “Ipswich Newcastle head to head” – but most articles only showed recent games or random stats. Annoying. Then I remembered that old football almanac I bought at a car boot sale. Dusted it off and flipped straight to the East Anglia section.
The deep dive begins
Turns out these two first clashed way back in 1933! Found the details scribbled in pencil under “Division 2 fixtures”. Got proper excited so I spread out:
- My grandad’s 1970s football scrapbooks (sticky pages and all)
- That stack of match programs from the 90s I keep in the loft
- The tablet playing YouTube highlights compilations
Took me three evenings just to cross-check dates and scores. Some of these results are wild – like the 6-1 thrashing Newcastle gave Ipswich in ’74. Made Dave’s pints taste sour when I texted him that one.
Sorting out the mess
Biggest headache? League changes. Both clubs bounced between divisions like ping pong balls. Had to separate:
- Premier League era clashes – proper TV cameras, decent stats
- Old First Division days – sketchier records, especially wartime matches
- Those random cup ties like the ’03 League Cup when Ipswich won 1-0
Almost chucked my notebook when I found conflicting reports about a 1950s match. Three different sites said three different scores! Ended up trusting a microfiche from Ipswich library archives instead.
Building the actual timeline
Put everything in a spreadsheet first – columns for season, date, competition, venue and score. Took ages to format properly. Nearly had kittens when my cat jumped on the keyboard and deleted half the 80s data. Learned my lesson: save every 5 minutes.
The final guide looks clean now though. Starts with that first 1933 meeting and runs right up to their last Championship battle. Kept it dead simple: chronological order with trophies marked. Dave actually admitted it was useful when I showed him yesterday. Miracle that.