It seems to me that every time I watch Soccer Saturday, I find myself saying aloud: “He used to play for Ipswich,” and this got me wondering, just how many former ITFC players are now playing competitive football for teams in England?
So I did some research and found out that just under a quarter of teams in both the Premier League and the Football League have at least one former Ipswich Town player in their side.
There are at least thirty five former Blues plying their trade at various levels in English football and of the thirty five, fifteen have graduated through the Town academy. It’s even possible to compose a half decent starting eleven from these former academy players. Below is my former academy XI, but feel free to comment with your starting eleven. Also, I know some players are playing out of position but it’s harder than it looks!
Goalkeeper – Lewis Price
Defence – Matt Bloomfield, Titus Bramble, Tom Eastman
Midfield – Keiron Dyer, Darren Ambrose, Ian Westlake, Danny Haynes
Strikers – Jordan Rhodes, Darren Bent, Connor Wickham
Subs – Ed Upson, Dean Bowditch, Liam Trotter, Owen Garvan
But if all you hardcore Tractor Boys out there are thinking this is either too boring, too inaccurate, too restricted or whatever then here is another selection for you. This one is made up of some of the former Blues I mentioned above. Again, here is my selection but feel free to comment with any changes or your own starting eleven.
Goalkeeper – Kelvin Davis
Defence – David Wright, Gareth McAuley, Hermann Hreidarsson, Dan Harding
Midfield - Keiron Dyer, Darren Ambrose, Jonathan Walters
Strikers - Jordan Rhodes, Darren Bent, Connor Wickham
Subs – Lewis Price, Titus Bramble, Alex Bruce, Danny Haynes, Owen Garvan, Shefki Kuqi, Alan Lee
Reserves – Pim Balkestein, Gavin Williams, Gary Roberts, Liam Trotter, Jon Stead.
Happy management!
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