Oh, What A Knight
Back in early June I was making my way from the hotel car park around the front entrance of the Unibol to attend the opening day fixtures business breakfast networking event. I bumped into a mate who was heading to work and cutting across the concourse of the sunshine laden stadium. “Who do you fancy first then?” He asked. “Ipswich… away!” I quickly replied, “I’m on holiday that day and don’t fancy that one!”
Safe to say, just over an hour later when the fixtures were announced for the 2022/23 season I only got my bloody wish! I’ve not been back to Portman Road since May 2000 and for most of you there’s no guessing why. Anyway, all that aside, I thought I’d take a look at eight key games that have taken place over the last 40+ years between the two sides.
Many thanks to Ipswich journalist Phil Ham at TWTD.co.uk for his contributions.
Bolton 2-3 Ipswich
First Division • 21st April 1979 • Attendance 20,073
An encounter with Ipswich Town that was more famous for the amazing Frank Worthington goal in the first half. However, it was a game that Ipswich won and many tend to overlook this.
Under manager Bobby Robson, Ipswich had ended the previous season by winning the F.A. Cup final which meant they would enter the Cup Winners Cup for the 1978/79 season. A nice distraction to have. However, it didn’t distract enough for Bolton’s visit to Portman Road earlier in the season, with the Tractor Boys running out 3–0 winners. Clearly a team on the up and up, in fact they went on to finish this season in 6th place and followed that up in subsequent seasons with a 3rd, 2nd and 2nd plus of course a UEFA Cup final victory. No surprise that the F.A. came knocking for manager Bobby Robson in the mid 1980s.
Bolton came into the match at Burnden lying in 17th spot after a run of just one defeat in eight games – which had been just about enough to secure their top flight status. Whilst the Whites had been embarking on this run, Ipswich, 10 places above them in the league, had themselves been competing in the latter stages of the ECWC beating Barcelona at Portman Road 2-1. Unfortunately they were agonisingly knocked out in the 2nd leg at the Nou Camp on away goals, losing 1-0 on the night, 2-2 on aggregate. The away goals rule! More about that later.
There’s been much said about Bolton’s Number 10 and his wonder goal. We’ve all heard how the ball boy behind the goal was Julian Darby, later to become a Wanderers player, dancing around in front of the Embankment as Frank celebrated wildly whilst the Town keeper Paul Cooper, in an unfamiliar red shirt, lay helpless on the Burnden turf. However, there were a couple of other cracking goals scored in this game. No more so than Alan Brazil’s jinxing run in the second half that saw him round keeper Jim McDonagh and tap in. Brazil had in fact equalised Bolton’s wonder goal when he was picked out unmarked on the left hand side of the box and slammed into the top of the net during the first half. It was a half that saw the game turnaround in favour of the visitors when rugged Scottish midfielder John Wark scrambled the ball into the Lever End nets.
The scoring ended when ‘Big’ Sam Allardyce barged into the box and powered a bullet header past Cooper for what turned out to be a consolation goal.
The following season saw Ipswich do the double again over Bolton with 1-0 victories in both league games.
Ipswich Verdict: I interviewed Terry Butcher about the goal a couple of years ago as it is generally regarded as the best goal scored against Town. Russell Osman has said Alan Brazil scored an even better goal in that game, which it should be remembered we won 3-2!
Terry Butcher: “I remember that goal and I remember I was marking Sam Allardyce and he scored the second, so I didn’t have a particularly good game that day but we still won the game 3-2,” Butcher recalled.
“It was the first goal. They had a throw on the left and it got cleared to the edge of the box and it got played eventually to Frank on the edge of the box with his back to goal and we thought we were OK because he was juggling with the ball. He was a very skilful player on his left foot, he was very left-footed but what a tremendous left foot. So we came up to the edge of the box and we thought everything was fine. I was marking him, I had my hand on his back as I do normally but I couldn’t win the ball, I couldn’t really see the ball. And then he’s flicked it high over me and spun and I thought it was going through to Paul Cooper but it didn’t. It was nicely weighted just over the top and he got there on the volley and he hit the volley past Paul. It wasn’t what you would say was the sweetest of connections but it was enough to get the ball past Paul and into the back of the net. From a defensive point of view, it wasn’t very good, in fact it was a disaster but we still recovered from it.”
“We’ve all heard how the ball boy behind the goal was Julian Darby, later to become a Wanderers player, dancing around in front of the Embankment as Frank celebrated wildly.”
Ipswich 0-3 Bolton
League Cup • 21st September 1994 • Attendance 7,787
Some 14 years passed without playing each other and then the draw for League Cup (Coca Cola Cup) 2nd round was made and suddenly a first leg trip to Portman Road was on the cards. Being a division apart, it had to be said that many supporters of both teams didn’t expect the tie to be decided by four clear goals in favour of the lower-ranked side. Bolton under the guidance of manager Bruce Rioch were searching for promotion to the promised land of the Premier League, whereas John Lyall’s Ipswich were simply just hoping to keep that status.
For me it was a midweek car journey with a few mates from Astley Bridge. I’d known them for many years, but hadn’t travelled with them before. The journey was pretty non-eventful, stopping in Bury St. Edmunds pre-match for a couple of beers.
In the stadium we soon picked up on strange atmosphere. Whilst Bolton fans lived in hope, the home support were still licking their wounds after a home defeat to their most bitter rivals Norwich just a few days before.
Bolton soon took the lead through Jason McAteer. When both John McGinlay and Alan Thompson added two more goals, the huge grins on our faces started to resemble those we’d experienced in the two seasons previous under Rioch. This incredible manager had inspired massive cup upsets against Liverpool at Anfield, Everton at Goodison and Arsenal at Highbury. Now we were going to add Ipswich Town to that list. Less glamorous but quite probably the most convincing.
As it turned out, Bolton won the second leg 1-0 at Burnden through a Richard Sneekes strike and went on to cause another upset beating West Ham at the Boleyn (3-1) before reaching the League Cup final, the club’s first major final since 1958.
Ipswich did recover with immediate effect, beating reigning champions Manchester United just three days later. But they paid for that victory over the Red Devil’s when they then travelled to Old Trafford later in the season and got smashed by a Premier League record score of 9-0. Not long later they suffered relegation.
Ipswich Verdict: It was an embarrassing night in an embarrassing season in which we were relegated. From a personal perspective it was made worse by my Bolton-supporting friend from university joining me for the match.
Bolton 1-2 Ipswich
First Division • 14th December 1996 • Attendance 13,314
Quiz question. Who was the last ever team to beat Bolton Wanderers at Burnden Park in a league game? Bolton fans might not remember this and Ipswich fans probably don’t care.
It was a cold dreary December Saturday. With Christmas looming, it was one of those fixtures that would struggle to draw a huge crowd. The song “you should have gone Christmas shopping” is usually rolled out around this time. With my Friday night hangover still lingering, I wish I had!! Stood on the stone cold Burnden Paddock, shivering my knackers off and thinking to myself “we’ve feckin’ blown it!”
Setting the scene, Bolton were top of the league having lost only two games all season, whilst Ipswich were in a lowly 17th spot. The previous couple of Saturday’s had seen The Blues slump to a 3-0 defeat at Tranmere before a goalless draw at home with Wolves. Meanwhile Bolton, just a few weeks before, had absolutely thrashed Premier League Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup by an emphatic 6-1 scoreline (we had a 7th wrongly chalked out).
But, as many people tend to forget in a season that witnessed the Super-Whites running riot with 98 points and 100 goals, we had a mid-season slump. We really did. Eight games without a league win, two defeats and six draws. The seventh game in this run and the second defeat was on this dark, drizzly, drab and dank Saturday. James Scowcroft had sent the away side into a half time lead with a 39th minute goal. No real alarms were set. Of course, we weren’t in fine form, but some of our draws had been against teams chasing promotion themselves. Ipswich surely offered no further threat. We equalised as expected, through Gudni Bergsson, but with still 20 minutes left the game drifted into obscurity once more and we all sank into that all too familiar state of mind – “another bloody draw!”.
With seconds left on the clock and many home fans making their way to the gates grumbling about the dropped two points… boom! Up popped James Scowcroft for his and Ipswich’s second goal. George Burley’s team had won on their final trip to Burnden Park. In fact they continued their winning form, finishing the season on a high by taking maximum points from five of their last six games in which they conceded just one goal. This form saw them rise into the play-off places but unfortunately they suffered more away goals heartbreak in their semi-final with Sheffield United.
Ipswich Verdict: I remember being in a pub in Ipswich following it on the TV as we continued the first of our many late nineties play-off pushes with an important away win.
“The only team who can stop us getting promoted is ourselves… by making a mess of things. When you look at the way results went elsewhere, a draw would have been a good result” – Jimmy Phillips
Ipswich 4-3 Bolton
19th May 1999 • First Division Play-Off • Attendance 21,755
In a season where Bolton beat Ipswich three times to nil, there would be no immediate signs of a goalfest in the First Division play-off 2nd leg at Portman Road. In the league Bolton won 1-0 on their travels and also beat the Blues 2-0 at the Reebok. Then in the play-off first leg at the Reebok the Whites took a slender 1-0 lead. Close games, few goals, nothing to suspect what would take place in the return leg in Suffolk.
How both teams ended up in the play-offs tells its own story. Bolton under the guidance of Colin Todd had been in fine form for much of the season and on Valentine’s Day evening sat in the top two, eight points off the leaders Sunderland but with a game in hand on them and the chasing pack. Automatic promotion seemed very much within their grasp until a shocking run of just four wins in their final 16 league games ended that dream. In fact, going into the very last game of the season down at Fratton Park, the Whites (in 7th) needed to better whatever Wolves (in 6th) did in their final home game against promotion chasing Bradford City. Thankfully the Wanderers (2-0) and Bradford (3-2) both came good and the final play-off berth was secured. On the other hand, Bradford’s victory had denied Ipswich their chance of automatic promotion. They had hit a bump in the road themselves losing three of their last five league games (one of which was at the Reebok) and missed out on second spot by just one point.
As always the 3rd placed team got to play at home in the 2nd leg and this must have felt like the perfect advantage for George Burley’s side.
In front of a packed crowd the incredible to and fro of the game preceded as both teams traded goals. Matt Holland put the home side 1-0 up at half-time (1-1 on agg.) only for Bolton to draw level through Bob Taylor after the break after great work down the wing from Ricardo Gardner. But within a minute Ipswich were back in front when Kieron Dyer scored a soft goal. With the match now just six agonising minutes away from extra-time Bolton’s Per Frandsen saw a deflected shot whistle past keeper Richard Wright – all now seemed lost for Ipswich – it was 2-2 on the night and 3-2 to Bolton on aggregate.
With Wembley in their sights, the away support engaged in the traditional whistling, hoping referee John Kirkby (Sheffield) would signal the end. What he did whistle for next was immense ecstasy for the home support as looped a header over the Wanderers’ keeper Steve Banks and the home ends went totally mental much to the dismay of the Wanderers players and support.
Extra-time and the impetus was firmly with Ipswich. Or so everyone would have thought. As Frandsen unleashed another strike on goal, Wright parried the ball into the path of Bolton striker Bob Taylor who scrambled it in and sent the away end back into delirium! Ipswich now needed to score twice to rescue the tie and though Matt Holland did pull another back to make it 4-3, it wasn’t enough to stop the visitors from progressing to the Wembley final on goal difference.
Having succumbed to the away goals rule on a number of occasions in their history, it was no surprise to see Ipswich chairman David Sheepshanks launching an initiative to remove the ruling from future play-offs, something he succeeded in and benefitted from the following season.
The final at Wembley was an anti-climax after the thrill-a-minute semi-final. Arriving the day before the match and seeing dejected Gillingham fans staring into their pints as Manchester City fans danced on tables like they’d won the Champions League final – after their incredible Division Two play-off triumph, the nerves began to set in. Nerves that were realised very much after Bolton’s Eidur Gudjohnsen failed to take his early chances as eventually Watford ran out 2-0 winners.
Ipswich Verdict: We were denied a blatant penalty in the first leg by referee Mark Halsey when David Johnson was tripped. In the second we looked destined to go on to win when Kieron Dyer headed his last-minute equaliser in what would prove to be his final game, but it wasn’t to be.
“Having succumbed to the away goals rule on a number of occasions in their history, it was no surprise to see Ipswich chairman David Sheepshanks launching an initiative to remove the ruling from future play-offs.”
Ipswich 5-3 Bolton
17th May 2000 • First Division Play-Off • Attendance 21,543
So here we were again. Bolton vs. Ipswich in the play-offs, but this time around the Wanderers wouldn’t be arriving in Suffolk with any advantage after a classic 2-2 encounter at the Reebok. This first leg in itself could easily have featured as a ‘stand out’ game on this page.
For the record Bolton raced into a very early lead through a Dean Holdsworth header and doubled it midway through the first half as the highly talented Eidur Gudjohnsen smashed in a left foot shot from the edge of the box passed keeper Richard Wright. Marcus Stewart then bettered that with a swerving 25-yard strike that flew into Jussi Jaaskelainen’s top corner, 2-1 and game on. It was the £2.5m man Stewart who then brought the tie level midway into the second half and put a huge smile onto the face of manager George Burley.
Between the ties things couldn’t have got any worse for me. The Mrs suffered a miscarriage and I got a bad leg injury playing in a works match over at Farsley Celtic. There seemed little hope of me going down for the second leg. However, the Mrs wasn’t one for moping and told me to get down there, and so at the very last minute I managed to arrange a lift with a friend of a friend. This was pre-internet days and I was hammering the landline for hours trying to get transport sorted.
My first real memory of the occasion was sitting in a pub before kick-off and hearing that all-too familiar roar as a bunch of Ipswich thugs smashed the pub windows trying to get at Bolton fans. It was over within seconds and nothing much more came of it. For me though, it had already created an antagonising feeling towards our opposition.
I won’t bore everyone with full scoring details of the match. With Gudjohnsen injured from the first leg, Bolton had to line-up with a 4-5-1 formation, and it provided some early success as Holdsworth fired the Whites in front. It was the Bolton striker who then foolishly upended Jim Magilton in the box, who in turn fired in the equaliser from the spot. Holdsworth then curled in a superb 25-yard free kick to send Bolton 2-1 up at the break but not before Jussi Jaaskelainen had saved a second Magilton penalty.
Take a breather.
Ipswich levelled again through a tricky Magilton run and clinical finish. The ground erupted and the Blues supporters were bouncing and dancing around for what seemed like a lifetime. They’d still not got back into their seats when loanee Alan Johnston rattled in Bolton’s third. Insane! The home end noise suddenly dropped to a complete silence as we got the chance to go mental. What a goal, what a match!
With only seconds left to play Jim Magilton popped up again on the edge of the box to rifle in his hat-trick and the goal which would send the tie into extra-time, again! However, referee Barry Knight still had another senior moment lofting his red card into the night sky after Mike Whitlow had been adjudged to take out ‘last man’ Marcus Stewart as he was running through on goal. Anyone can watch the video back of that night and see he was far from the last man and some would argue that Whitlow actually trips up and falls into Stewart – hardly cynical.
With one-man short and Ipswich in the ascendancy it was no surprise that they finished the job off with two more goals in extra-time, of course, there was still time for a 3rd penalty to be awarded and a second red card for Bolton’s Robbie Elliott.
As the match drew to its close the home fans invaded the pitch with many heading towards the away support – this created a huge stand-off and came as a surprise considering they’d just won and reached Wembley.
The fallout from the result started immediately after the final whistle as Bolton manager Allardyce let fly into referee Knight.
Sam Allardyce: “He could have done untold damage to this football club that will be felt over the next two years. You just don’t know how long it might take us to get into a position like this again. He should be made accountable for what he’s done. Words just can’t describe how I feel. I don’t think he should ever be allowed to referee a game again. I can’t believe what happened to us out there because of an official. I’m not saying all three penalties – but at least one of them was wrong. But he’s given three decisions, booked 10 of our players and sent two of them off and given nothing against the opposition.”
The drive home was one filled with anger and resentment. Each of us would take turns in muttering our obscenities aimed at referee Knight, all in total disbelief at what we had witnessed and genuinely shocked at his decision making throughout the night.
It was alleged that in the coming weeks Knight received “stuff” in the post from Bolton fans.
Ipswich Verdict: The first leg was a classic in itself, Marcus Stewart turning around a two-goal deficit when it looked like a fourth year of play-off disappointment for Town.
The second is regarded by many Blues supporters as the greatest game they’ve seen. It had everything. Whenever we looked like we were getting on top, Bolton would score again until the physical approach which had been taken throughout took its toll.
I know Bolton fans still argue about the penalties and red cards, but if you take each in isolation, only one was even vaguely arguable. Bolton came to disrupt us by kicking us up in the air, an approach taken by Charlton the previous year, but ultimately paid the price.
Not even half-time!!
Ipswich fans trying to get on Soccer AM
Bolton 4-1 Ipswich
6th April 2002 • Premier League • Attendance 25,817
For many Bolton fans this was the first chance to enact revenge for the “Barry Knight Match”. Bolton had started to establish themselves in the top flight under Sam Allardyce and had added some real quality to their ranks, no more so than French World Cup winner Youri Djorkaeff. But more firepower was needed as Michael Rickets began to falter and an ‘out-of-favour’ Fredi Bobic was brought to the Reebok Stadium from Borussia Dortmund. His credentials simply stated that he’d been Dortmund’s top scorer for the previous two seasons. In the 16 games he played for the Whites he scored just four times. A poor return. More so when you consider that three of those four goals came in one match, in fact they actually came in just 38 minutes of that match.
Still, it was enough for him to gain some kind of hero status, especially for this particular afternoon and evening in April 2002.
It would be quite fair to say that Bolton fans had been waiting on this game for a while and when it finally arrived it didn’t disappoint. They witnessed a team on fire, scoring after just 71 seconds and then racing into a four-goal lead before half-time. In fact they only conceded a consolation in the 90th minute when tired legs had kicked in and the fans were already whistling.
Whilst Bobic had gained his new-found hero status Bolton’s ‘main man’ Youri Djorkaeff had chipped in with yet another goal. With the season’s end dawning, Bolton had pulled away from the relegation spots whilst Ipswich were looking doomed. The Suffolk side’s Manager George Burley was left to rue the day: “At the end of the day we’ve made terrible errors and if you look at the four goals, Bolton haven’t had to work hard to score any of them.” Meanwhile his opposite number Sam Allardyce kept it short and sweet: “That was as good as anything I’ve seen this year.”
Bathed in the spring sunshine in East Stand Lower we thoroughly enjoyed goading the travelling Ipswich fans to our left and made the most of the thrashing and their impending relegation. They do say revenge is sweet and my pint(s) that evening did taste rather sugary!!
Ipswich Verdict: A grim afternoon, not least as I was in hospitality among Bolton fans. We were dreadful, some senior players had been rushed back from injury and didn’t look ready to return and it was all over before half-time. Even though there were still four games to go we knew our two years in the Premier League were over that day.
“That was as good as anything I’ve seen this year.” – Sam Allardyce
Bolton 0-5 Ipswich
League One • 24th August 2019 • Attendance 5,454
This game hardly deserves a second of anyone’s time. In fact, if you read below, you’ll see that even Ipswich took very little pleasure from the result.
However, it happened during a chaotic time for the Wanderers and stands as a reminder of what can happen when a rogue owner gets involved at the helm of a club. In the days leading up to the match, Bolton manager Phil Parkinson decided enough was enough, and nobody could really blame him.
With wages unpaid the previous season and fixtures unfulfilled, there seemed little or no hope that Bolton would even start the 2019/2020 campaign. They didn’t even have a proper kit for the opening fixture down at Wycombe, but yet they were backed by a vociferous away support. Days later, with even more payment issues arising, no senior play was available for the home game against Coventry City. But by the 90th minute of that game, every single young man in a White shirt was a hero, holding out for dear life in true Alamo fashion for a goalless draw. The feelings of emotion spread from the pitch as the youngsters even did a lap of honour to the stands and into the media box where the likes of Jack Dearden and John McGinlay were almost in tears with pride.
But that was a one-off and results resumed in a very negative fashion as the club teetered on the edge of the abyss. The next four games saw the Whites concede five goals in each game as Rochdale (5-2), Tranmere (5-0), Ipswich (5-0) and Gillingham (5-0) poured an immense amount of pain on the club’s shoulders. The visit of Ipswich witnessed the “Reebok’s” lowest ever league gate of just 5,454 – and to be honest, I cannot even remember if I turned up or not myself such was the disillusionment at the time.
Even when things started to correct themselves with new owners and new manager in Keith Hill, there were still more drubbings to come at Rotherham (6-1), Accrington (7-1) and Lincoln (5-1).
What a season and thank god it ended early as the cloud of Covid-19 descended and the EFL decided to call it a day. The reverse fixture against Paul Lambert’s Ipswich didn’t even take place – god only knows what scoreline that could have been.
Bolton were relegated and had no complaints at all. The trap door to the basement division had finally been breached once more for only the second time in the club’s history. What a sorry state of affairs.
Ipswich Verdict: Yes, we were well aware Bolton were struggling on and off the pitch and didn’t read too much into it. The game went exactly as imagined and even the players celebrated the goals like a pre-season friendly rather than a league match.
Ipswich 2-5 Bolton
League One • 11th September 2021 • Attendance 19,267
In a piece that has been weighted in favour of Ipswich triumphs (just), it seemed only fair that we ended with last season’s incredible away victory at Portman Road.
If my memory serves me correctly, Ipswich had been appointed the early season favourites for the title, whilst the newly promoted Wanderers hoped for anything between mid-table and the play-offs. Under boss Ian Evatt the stigma and nightmare of the previous seasons had been washed away with an emphatic second half of the 2020/21 season. It took Bolton on an incredible run up the table from 19th (Jan 29th) to 3rd by the final day of the season, losing three, drawing three and wining 16 of their last 22 fixtures.
Fast forward to the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in Manhattan and Bolton’s trip to Suffolk. Could the Whites carry on improving under Evatt or would Paul Cook’s promotion favourites start to live up to their billing after a slow start to their campaign?
Macauley Bonne opened the day’s account for Ipswich before Bolton’s star winger Dapo Afolayan equalised on 10 minutes. Irishman Eoin Doyle put Bolton in front from the spot (are you watching Barry Knight?) before Ipswich pulled level through a Ricardo Santos own goal. The pulsating half wasn’t finished as Afolayan doubled his account in injury time.
With two more second half goals from Josh Sheehan and George Johnston, Bolton sent out a shockwave of a message to their divisional rivals and leapt up into third spot in the table, leaving Ipswich licking their wounds in a lowly 22nd place.
Ian Evatt: “I think when teams do go toe to toe with us, it’s a dangerous thing to do, because we’re a dangerous team. I just said to them after the game, I hope you go home this weekend and understand and think to yourselves, not that we’ve cracked it, but if we keep working hard and stay humble and keep improving, we have a good chance this year.”
Paul Cook: “We have to offer our fans more and I shoulder all that. It is probably the lowest point of my career. I will take that like a man. My job is to solve problems and that is something we will work hard to do.”
Ipswich Verdict: Ultimately a deservedly comfortable Bolton win, but it could have been very different if Macauley Bonne had taken a chance to put us 3-2 up before Dapo Afolayan’s second gave you a lead by the same scoreline at the break.
We were very much work in progress at that stage and never really developed beyond that under Paul Cook. However, we’ve become a more settled side under Kieran McKenna and a repeat of that kind of result would be a big shock.
“Bolton sent out a shockwave of a message to their divisional rivals and leapt up into third spot in the table, leaving Ipswich licking their wounds in a lowly 22nd place.”
So there you have it, eight games between the two sides that both open up their 2022/23 season against each other. From that golden era of the late 70s to mid 80s, when I could quite easily roll the names of the Ipswich team off my tongue (Cooper, Mills, Osman, Butcher, Beattie, Wark, Thijssen, Muhren, Gates, Brazil, McCall, Mariner and probably more) whilst probably struggling to name just a handful of the then Bolton side – all the way to the present day when our new generation of Wanderers’ have, in the words of boss Ian Evatt, stood toe-to-toe. Sandwiched in between all that were the eventful play-off ties and our “revenge” match in the top flight. The latter did make me wonder, seeing as I was fully aware of that tremendous Ipswich team of the 80s, how many young children in the Suffolk area where aware of, and pretended to be, the likes of Okocha, Djorkaeff, Hierro, Campo, Jaaskelainein or Stelios in their gleaming White shirts during the mid 2000s? Few if any I guess.