The remarkable feat Ipswich Town once held in European competition - Barcelona & Real Madrid couldn’t break Portman Road record | OneFootball

The story behind the Tractor Boys’ incredible European home record

For a club from a modest market town in East Anglia, Ipswich Town’s record in European competition still sounds faintly implausible.

Between 1962 and 1982, Ipswich played 31 home matches in UEFA competitions. They did not lose a single one of them.

Twenty-five wins, six draws, and a roll-call of beaten visitors that includes AC Milan, Real Madrid, Lazio, Barcelona, Saint-Etienne and 1. FC Koln.

In the age before the Champions League, when European nights were scattered across the continent rather than concentrated among a handful of super-clubs, Portman Road became one of the most inhospitable away grounds in Europe.

The unbeaten European home run that turned Ipswich Town's Portman Road into one of the continent’s most forbidding grounds

Fresh from winning the First Division title in 1961-62, Sir Alf Ramsay’s unfashionable champions stepped into the 1962-63 European Cup and into a different world.

Their first European night at Portman Road set the tone: having won 4-1 away to Floriana of Malta, Ipswich won the return leg 10-0, equalling European records for a single-game scoreline and aggregate margin.

The next visitors were a very different proposition. AC Milan, champions of Italy, had swept Ipswich aside 3-0 in the first leg at San Siro.

The tie looked over, but even Milan could not win in Suffolk. They went ahead, shut the game down, and still lost 2-1 as Ray Crawford and Bobby Blackwood restored some pride.

Milan went on to win the European Cup. Ipswich left an early mark by ensuring they did so without a victory at Portman Road.

Then came the long pause. Ramsey left for England, Ipswich slipped from the summit, and European nights dried up.

When Bobby Robson took over in 1969, his early years were not defined by glamour. Owners, the Cobbold family, resisted the temptation to sack him. Instead they backed his plan: build around local talent, scout shrewdly and create a team that could stand up to anyone.

By 1972-73, that patience began to pay off. Ipswich finished fourth in the First Division and qualified for the UEFA Cup. Their first assignment was a statement of intent: Real Madrid in the first round. The Spanish giants arrived with European pedigree and star names.

Portman Road did not blink. Robson’s team smothered Madrid, and secured a 1-0 win. Three weeks later, a goalless draw at the Bernabeu took Ipswich through.

Lazio followed - the night Portman Road’s reputation began to harden. The Italians boasted one of Serie A’s meanest defences. The Tractor Boys simply tore them open, repeatedly attacking down the flanks. Trevor Whymark scored four in a 4-0 win that shredded Lazio’s aura and effectively decided the tie.

The return leg in Rome descended into violence and chaos, but Ipswich went through 6-4 on aggregate.

European royalty, often with more illustrious histories and far larger budgets, would arrive in Suffolk and find the place less forgiving than the postcard image suggested. Through the mid-1970s, the list of visitors who failed to win there grew steadily: FC Twente, Feyenoord, Club Bruges, Landskrona, Las Palmas, Skeid, Wacker Innsbruck, Grasshoppers.

Some of the most famous scalps, though, were still to come.

By the late 1970s, Ipswich were no longer plucky outsiders. Robson had built a side that could challenge for the league title and, on their day, outplay almost anyone in Europe.

The signing of Dutch midfielders Arnold Muhren and Frans Thijssen added a layer of sophistication: this was still a hard-running English team, but now it passed and probed like a continental one.

Barcelona felt the full force of that in the 1977-78 UEFA Cup. Rinus Michels brought a Barca side containing Johan Cruyff to Portman Road - they were overwhelmed. Ipswich closed Cruyff down relentlessly, pushed their wide players high and scored three times.

Barcelona overturned the deficit at Camp Nou and went through on penalties. A year later, in the Cup Winners’ Cup, Ipswich beat them again at Portman Road - this time 2-1 - only to go out on away goals. The pattern held.

The 1979-80 campaign ended painfully when Grasshoppers knocked Ipswich out on away goals at Portman Road, but the foundations for Robson’s masterpiece were laid.

By 1980-81, Ipswich had evolved into a side chasing a treble: league title, FA Cup and UEFA Cup. If their domestic challenge eventually faltered under the sheer weight of fixtures - they played 66 matches in all competitions - home form in Europe remained immaculate.

Aris Salonika were beaten 5-1 in the first round. Bohemians Prague were dispatched 3-0 in the second. Widzew Lodz, with Zbigniew Boniek and fresh from eliminating Manchester United and Juventus, were blown away 5-0 in the third round.

Then came Saint-Etienne, and Michel Platini. Ipswich went to France and won 4-1. Back at Portman Road, a 3-1 victory completed a 7-2 aggregate win and took Ipswich to a first European final.

The UEFA Cup final against AZ ’67 was settled in Suffolk. The Dutch champions arrived for the first leg having scored 101 league goals in their domestic season. Ipswich beat them 3-0. AZ threw everything at the second leg in Amsterdam and won 4-2, but Ipswich held on to win 5-4 on aggregate.

Even Robson’s farewell European campaign in 1982-83 preserved the streak. Roma won 3-0 in Italy in the UEFA Cup first round, but Ipswich beat them 3-1 at Portman Road in the return. They went out, yet the home record survived untouched.

By the time Robson left for the England job in 1982, Ipswich had gone 20 years and 31 UEFA home games without defeat: 25 wins, six draws, no losses.