The East Anglian derby is a sobriquet used to describe football matches held between Ipswich Town and Norwich City. In recent years it has sometimes been described humorously as the Old Farm derby,[1] a reference to the Old Firm derby played between Celtic and Rangers. According to the Football Rivalries Report 2008, the East Anglian derby is the second fiercest rivalry in England after the Black Country derby between West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers.[2][3]
There have been 138 instances of the derby, with Ipswich winning 59 to Norwich's 53. The most recent matches were in the 2010–11 season, when Norwich won both games, 4–1 at Carrow Road and 5–1 at Portman Road.
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The first derby was held between the two clubs on 15 November 1902, when both sides were still playing at an amateur level. The Norfolk & Suffolk League fixture was played in Norwich and finished 1–0 to Norwich City. Norwich turned professional in 1905, Ipswich following in 1936. Ipswich were elected to the Football League in 1938 and the first league game between the two clubs (in the Third Division (South)) was on 2 September 1939. Played at Portman Road, Ipswich, the match finished 1–1, although the league was abandoned due to the Second World War.
As the clubs have tended to play in the same division over the years, the derby has been contested in most seasons since this time, the longest gap being for a period of six seasons between 1986–87 and 1991–92.[4] Occasionally one team or the other will play in a different division resulting in the derby not being contested. This will be the case in the 2011–12 season following Norwich's promotion to the Premier League.
Two of the more notable meetings between the two clubs have come in cup competitions. In the 1972–73 season Ipswich beat Norwich 4–2 on aggregate to win the two legged Texaco Cup, with 2–1 wins in both games.[5] In 1985 the clubs met in the semi-final of the League Cup with a place in the Wembley final at stake. Ipswich won the first leg 1–0 at Portman Road, but Norwich scored early in the return leg at Carrow Road to level the tie. With extra-time looming, Steve Bruce scored a late winner to send Norwich to Wembley.[6]
The derby has been contested 107 times in competitive games, 55 of which have been played at Ipswich and 52 at Norwich. The clubs have also played each other in friendlies and testimonials. The highest attendance in the derby at Portman Road is 35,077 in a First Division match in September 1975 while Carrow Road hosted 39,890 spectators in an FA Cup match in January 1962. John Wark is Ipswich's leading goalscorer in the derby with nine goals,[7] while Hugh Curran remains Norwich's top scorer with five, a record that has stood since 1968.[8]
A summary of derby games in individual competitions, as of 11 May 2011, is shown below.
| at Ipswich | at Norwich | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Competition | Played | Ipswich win | Draw | Norwich win | Ipswich goals | Norwich goals | Played | Ipswich win | Draw | Norwich win | Ipswich goals | Norwich goals |
| Norfolk and Suffolk League | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| League | 43 | 23 | 7 | 13 | 81 | 45 | 42 | 15 | 9 | 18 | 49 | 55 |
| Division 3 South Cup | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| FA Cup | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| League Cup | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Texaco Cup | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Full Members Cup | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Friendly/Testimonial/Charity | 16 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 29 | 23 | 17 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 25 | 33 |
| Total (excluding friendlies) | 55 | 28 | 8 | 19 | 97 | 65 | 52 | 17 | 12 | 23 | 56 | 65 |
| Total (including friendlies) | 71 | 39 | 11 | 21 | 126 | 82 | 74 | 21 | 16 | 32 | 81 | 98 |
One team has scored five goals in a derby match on five occasions – Ipswich in 1946–47, 1947–48, 1976–77 and 1997–98 and Norwich in 2010–11. The highest aggregate score in a match is seven goals, Ipswich winning 3–4 in a Division 2 match at Carrow Road in 1968–69. At least six players have scored hat-tricks in derby matches–Hugh Curran in 1968–69 and Grant Holt in 2010–11 for Norwich[8] and Albert Day in 1946–47, Colin Viljoen in 1967–68, Trevor Whymark in 1976–77 and Alex Mathie in 1997–98 for Ipswich.[9]
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