Keane The Second Paddy To Manage Ipswich

Lifelong Suffolk Blues fan Matt Keane on how his namesake Roy will love life in East Anglia

(first published in the July 2009 Ipswich Town friendly programme)

Matt with Town legend Brian Talbot

Way back in 1960 my late father, Pakie Keane, installed my life-long love affair with Ipswich Town FC. He was a great admirer of Alf Ramsey, the man who took Ipswich from the then Second Division in season 1960-61 and the following season to the First Division Championship, the only club to achieve that amazing feat (the First Division was the top-tier league at that time). Goalkeeper Roy Bailey, father of former Man Utd netminder Gary, and forwards Ray Crawford and Ted Philips were the top men in that side. Bill McGarry was the manager when the club won the Second Division in season 1967-68 with brilliant players like John O’Rourke, Bill Baxter, Colin Viljoen and Danny Hegan.

My first visit to Portman Road was in 1971 (a win against West Brom) and the rest as they say is history. The day the Blues won the FA Cup in 1978 at Wembley against Arsenal is still fresh in my mind. I can still see Roger Osborne smacking that ball past Pat Jennings at 4.27pm on a glorious day in May. Roger finished off a cross from David Geddis after Willie Young had failed to clear. Brian Talbot, Kevin Beattie and Paul Marnier were brilliant on that wonderful afternoon.

Ipswich won the UEFA Cup in 1981 and that came as no surprise because Bobby Robson had a team which included gifted players such as goalkeeper Paul Cooper, Mick Mills, Paul Mariner, John Wark and the two flying Dutchmen, Arnold Muhren and Frans Thijssen. What a team! Yes, Ipswich Town were the trail-blazers when it came to importing players from other countries. Muhren and Thijssen were different class.

The ’90s was a strange time to be a supporter of the club. The term ‘Tractor Boys’ is not the club’s original nickname, that tag was given by the red-top tabloids across the water when the Premiership began. Ipswich were members of the elite that historic first season, when Sky Sports first threw their money in behind the project. John Lyall, a man who will always be linked to West Ham, came to the club and he brought success before making way for George Burley, a former Town player who played in the FA Cup Final and the UEFA Cup decider (that game was over two legs). Under Lyall and Burley the club went through something of a roller-coaster ride. Play-offs, promotion and relegation from the first grade league to the second was the norm. That said, it was never dull, believe me. Under George Burley, the club failed in three play-offs before finally winning promotion back to the top flight in 2000 after a 4-2 win over Barnsley. When Burley left, he was replaced by Joe Royle, who at times managed the club more like Jim Royle. However, it has been a truly wonderful 40-plus years supporting the club.

Mick O’Brien

When Ipswich Town appointed Roy Keane as their new manager the entire world and his brother turned up at Portman Road to hear what the Cork born man had to say. The British press and indeed the Irish press ran away with the idea that Keane was the first former Republic of Ireland player to take charge of the Blues.

But, when the club became members of the Football League in 1938 their first manager was a former Ireland player, Mick O’Brien. Between 1927 and 1932, O’Brien made four appearances for Ireland. It is worth noting that that those four caps were won while he was playing for four different clubs: Derby County, Walsall, Norwich City and Watford.

Many years ago a former chairman of Ipswich Town, Patrick Cobbold, made a famous comment that has gone down into football folklore. The team were struggling somewhat at the time. A reporter asked him if there was a crisis at the club following a heavy defeat against Manchester City. Mr Cobbold’s answer would have done justice to Brian Clough. “Young man,” he replied, “The only time there is a crisis at Ipswich Town Football Club is when we run out of white wine in the boardroom.”

Roy Keane has decided to move to a glorious part of England. The gorgeous Suffolk county town is deep in fertile agricultural region of East Anglia. The population of the town is only 128,000 and it was named the cleanest town in the UK last year. The quaint Tudor buildings in the town and in the delightful villages around Ipswich are a joy to behold. Stansted Airport is only a one-hour drive from the town. Another travel facility in London, Liverpool Street Railway Station is 55 minutes away from Ipswich.

The rolling hills between Ipswich and the Felixstowe Port would take your breath away. I think Roy will enjoy walking his dog in that area. If he decides to stay in town I suggest that he try ‘The Rose and Crown’, a pub which serves a hefty Ploughman’s Lunch. Tolly Cobbold and Greene King are the popular locally-brewed ales. Tasty, very tasty. There is an Irish pub in the town centre also. It is owned by a lady from Co Wicklow. ‘Ginnety’s’ is the place for the craic but I don’t think it would be Roy Keane’s cup of tea however.

Another comment which caused much laughter some time ago was made by Frans Thijssen. He could not understand why players who play in England did not train in the afternoon. In Holland the squad always returned for an evening session, but in England the majority of players headed for the pub. A Dutch reporter asked him if his game had improved since he signed for Ipswich Town. “Not really,” answered Thijseen, “but I have become a very good card and pool player.” I have a strange feeling that the Ipswich Town players of 2009 won’t be able to say the same.

Though he was once described by Brian Clough as “a greedy child”, personally I wish Roy Keane all the best. Welcome aboard. It is going to match everything that has occurred since 1960 for this scribe. In many ways his new club is still regard by a as a sleepy, ultra-conservative family club which was run for decades by the old Etonian Cobbold brewing family. Under the guidance of the new owner, Marcus Evans, Simon Clegg and Roy Maurice Keane, all of that is about to change.