The Challenger Space Shuttle disaster had shocked the world; A-ha were about to be knocked off the No 1 spot by Billy Ocean; the England cricket team had started their Caribbean tour that would take a route from bad to worse and the UK was experiencing a cold snap that would see large parts of the country covered in snow. Welcome to the winter of 1986.
Admittedly the clubs have not played each other much since, but you have to go back to February 1986 for the last time Ipswich defeated Liverpool at Portman Road. Even Kieran McKenna was not born, although is it just me or are more football managers looking younger now?
Handed a tough opening match on their return to the Premier League on Saturday, McKenna will be hoping his Ipswich team improve ever so slightly on the previous meeting between the two clubs in Suffolk: Ipswich 0-6 Liverpool.
Portman Road was not always so accommodating for visiting Liverpool teams in top-flight fixtures. When Kenny Dalglish took his title chasing side to Ipswich in 1986, Liverpool had not won a league match at the ground since 1979.
Failing to defeat Bobby Robson’s superb team away from home in the early part of the decade was understandable, yet since Bobby Ferguson had taken the managerial hot seat at Ipswich the club had been steadily declining.
In fairness, Ferguson had his hands tied slightly. Investment in a new West Stand had restricted the club financially at a time when attendances began to decline and the transfer market levelled out after the madness of the early 80s. With Robson’s team gradually breaking up in the next few seasons, finishes of ninth, 12th and 17th in Ferguson’s three years in charge highlighted an alarming decline.
Both teams were in desperate need of three points in February 1986. Ipswich were in the drop zone, with only the extremely poor Midlands pair of West Brom and Birmingham below them. Liverpool were involved in a three-way battle for the title with rivals Everton and Manchester United, with Chelsea and West Ham lurking in the background holding games in hand. Failing to win at Ipswich would seriously damage Liverpool’s hopes of regaining the title.
There was a ray of light for Ipswich. Two defeats at Anfield in the 1985-86 season – 5-0 in the league and 3-0 in the League Cup – had seen Ian Rush score three goals, with the striker giving Terry Butcher a torrid time in the recent League Cup win. But Rush would be missing for the league trip to Portman Road, a thigh injury keeping out the star striker. Sammy Lee would be recalled to the team, with Craig Johnston partnering Paul Walsh in attack.
Ferguson was certainly talking positively on the day before the fixture. “My youngsters are beginning to believe in themselves,” he said. “I think the world of them. They are keen and fresh – and they’re honest. My ambition is to see this ground full again and I believe we can do it.” With just 11 goals in 13 home league matches, it was hardly a surprise that average attendances were down, although the gate of 20,551 against Liverpool would be a high for the league campaign.
On a filthy day of wind and rain, Ipswich started on the front foot. Bruce Grobbelaar flapped at a long throw before recovering and later on he saved a long range drive from the 18-year-old Jason Dozzell. But after weathering the storm it would be the away side that took the lead, Ronnie Whelan heading home a 36th-minute Jan Molby free-kick. As half-time approached, it appeared as if Liverpool’s extra class and experience was telling.
Yet Ipswich would turn the form book upside down in a second half that suggested Ferguson’s pre-match bullishness had been justified. Frank Yallop stung the hands of Grobbelaar from a free-kick, with Ipswich appealing that the ball had crossed the line when Ian Cranson headed the rebound back towards goal. Grobbelaar showed great agility to keep out the header, but his ill judgment was once again exposed for Ipswich’s equaliser.
Mark Brennan’s ball into the box was dangerous, yet Grobbelaar arrived too late, allowing Mich D’Avray to head home the leveller after 54 minutes. Three minutes earlier, Ferguson had withdrawn Yallop for 19-year-old forward Michael Cole, moving Trevor Putney to full-back. It would be a tactical ploy that changed the match, Cole proving a handful for Alan Hansen and Gary Gillespie, with Dalglish’s use of Molby in a sweeper role later questioned.
D’Avray had scored the winner against Liverpool in October 1982, and his partnership with Cole rattled the Liverpool defence. Cole tested Grobbelaar twice, Romeo Zondervan sliced a half-chance high and wide, yet Johnston could have given the visitors an undeserved lead when he missed a close range header. Johnston was later substituted by the former Ipswich hero John Wark, the Scottish midfielder booed as he came on with a little over 10 minutes left.
Shortly after coming on, Wark saw his former team take the lead. Another Brennan pass into the area proved decisive, with Steve Nicol only able to head the ball back towards Kevin Wilson. Taking the ball down on his chest, Wilson pulled back his left foot and fired past a helpless Grobbelaar. Liverpool had no response. As news filtered through of Everton’s win against Tottenham, Liverpool’s latest Portman Road disappointment raised concerns.
“We got what we deserved – nothing,” Dalglish was forced to admit after the defeat. Ipswich fought hard for it. The two goals were both down to us.”
A draw against Manchester United and an Anfield defeat at the hands of Everton looked to have wrecked any chances of winning the title. With Liverpool trailing 1-0 at White Hart Lane the season was at the point of no return. Rush’s last-minute winner ignited Liverpool’s charge. Remarkably they ended Dalglish’s first season in charge with a double.
Ferguson was adamant that the drop could be avoided. “The crowd are beginning to believe in us now,” he stated, as he focused on the FA Cup replay against West Ham and the next home league match against Arsenal. But the team exited the FA Cup at a snowy Portman Road, and the cold snap meant that the club would not play another league game for a month. The team would pick up four more home wins, but it was not enough to prevent the drop.
It would take Ipswich six years to get back to the top flight. Come Saturday the club will take on Liverpool to end a 22-year absence. Beating Arne Slot’s team on their Premier League return may be unlikelybut sometimes the odds can be defied. Just ask any Ipswich fan who was lucky enough to witness the last Portman Road triumph over Liverpool in 1986.