Ipswich Town’s best ever £800k? Portman Road transfer helped unlock European dream | OneFootball

Ipswich Town have never spent a better £800k than when they signed Matt Holland in 1997

Ipswich Town will be hoping to repeat the feat of their 1999/2000 campaign this year by earning promotion to the Premier League.

That year, the Tractor Boys made their return to the top flight through the play-offs after coming third in the old First Division, beating Barnsley in the final a year on from losing to Bolton Wanderers in the semi-finals.

The Suffolk outfit only spent two seasons back at the highest level of English football before suffering relegation, but in that time they made quite an impact.

Ipswich finished fifth in 2001, earning 66 points from their 38 games, qualifying for the old UEFA Cup for 2001/02.

Despite going down to the second tier in 2002, they again qualified for Europe’s second tier competition through their performance in the Respect Fair Play ranking.

It took the club over 20 years to return to the Premier League, but this brief spell was quite memorable due to the heights they reached, including getting as far as the third round of the UEFA Cup in 2002.

Matt Holland’s bargain £800,000 impact at Ipswich

The signing of Matt Holland in 1997 for a reported £800,000 proved quite important in Ipswich achieving such lofty heights.

The midfielder joined after two years at Bournemouth, and he played a role in the club reaching the play-offs in 1998 with a fifth place finish where they lost to Bolton.

The Ireland international won player of the year in his first campaign at Portman Road before scoring 10 goals in 46 appearances in the First Division to help Ipswich gain promotion.

He became club captain with Ipswich finally gaining promotion after a third top six finish in a row in the second tier.

Holland made the step-up to the Premier League quite well, establishing himself at that level by contributing three goals and five assists, with the team qualifying for Europe in the process.

Ipswich have likely not spent a better £800,000 in their history, with the Suffolk outfit ending an almost 20-year absence from European competition with their fifth place finish.

The Tractor Boys were a mainstay of the UEFA Cup from 1973 to 1983, qualifying for the competition eight times in that period, along with an appearance in the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1978.

Holland was crucial to reinstating their place among some of the top clubs in Europe.

Ipswich’s European dream quickly faded

Holland continued to perform well for Ipswich, but the addition of European football and a second season in the Premier League led to a decline in form for the team as a whole.

He contributed another three goals and three assists in the league, but it wasn’t enough to prevent a disappointing 18th place finish.

The midfielder also played every minute of the club’s UEFA Cup campaign, featuring in wins against Torpedo Moscow and Helsingborg in the first two rounds.

Perhaps the most memorable night of Holland’s Ipswich career came on 22 November 2001 when George Burley’s side won 1-0 against Inter Milan in the third round at Portman Road through a 81st minute strike from Alun Armstrong.

The Serie A giants came back to win 4-1 at San Siro, and 4-2 on aggregate, but it was still a night to remember when Ipswich beat one of Europe’s most famous clubs.

Holland spent one more season with the Tractor Boys, with the team narrowly missing out on a play-off place, while also suffering defeat to Slovan Liberec in the second round of the UEFA Cup.

The now 51-year-old signed for Charlton Athletic in a deal worth an initial £750,000, rising to potentially £900,000.

While it was disappointing for Ipswich to lose Holland after being consigned to sticking in the Championship, there is no denying all these years later the major impact he had for the club during his six seasons, becoming the best £800,000 ever spent at Portman Road.