During the 1962–63 English football season, Ipswich Town F.C. competed in the Football League First Division. As defending league champions, they also participated in the European Cup, the club's first foray into European competition. Ipswich struggled badly to repeat the form of their title-winning campaign.
A 5–1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at Portman Road in the Charity Shield set the pattern as Ipswich spent most of the season fighting against relegation. They took just one point from their opening three league matches, just as they had done a year previously, but this time there was no upturn in form until a late rally (six wins and four draws from the final 12 matches) enabled them to finish in 17th place, four points clear of the drop zone.
Ipswich's European Cup campaign began in the preliminary round with a 14–1 aggregate win over Maltese champions Floriana, with Ray Crawford scoring seven goals across the two ties. In the first round, Ipswich faced Italian giants A.C. Milan and were unable to overturn a 3–0 defeat in the San Siro, despite winning the second leg 2–1 at Portman Road. Milan went on to win the trophy, beating Benfica in the final at Wembley.
On 25 October 1962, Ipswich manager Alf Ramsey agreed to take charge of the England national team, commencing 1 May 1963. His replacement was Newcastle United legend Jackie Milburn, who oversaw the final four matches of the season.
The Big Freeze of 1962–1963, was one of the coldest winters on record Football matches in the English leagues suffered because of the severe effects of the winter weather. Some matches in the FA Cup were rescheduled ten or more times. Matches in the fifth and sixth rounds, scheduled for 16 February and 9 March respectively, were played on 16 and 30 March. A board known as the Pools Panel was set up to adjudicate postponed matches to provide the football pool results. From 26 December to 23 February, Ipswich completed no league matches. The delays occurred before under-soil heating became widespread at major venues. When the thaw arrived, a backlog of fixtures had to be hastily determined. The Football League season was extended by four weeks from its original finishing date of 27 April. The final league fixtures took place one day before the rescheduled FA Cup final. Squad Players who made one appearance or more for Ipswich Town F.C. during the 1962–63 seasonPride of Anglia – Ipswich Town Football Club Season 1962–63 Pos.Nat.NameLeagueEuropean CupFA CupOtherTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGKRoy Bailey350402010420GKWilf Hall7000000070DFBilly Baxter423402010493DFLarry Carberry290202010340DFJohn Compton340302010400DFGeorge Dougan1000000010DFJohn Laurel1000100020DFKen Malcolm210300000240DFAndy Nelson390302010450MFBobby Blackwood194412100256MFJohn Elsworthy330312010391MFJimmy Leadbetter352102310395MFReg Pickett3010000040MFRoy Stephenson415402011486MFDennis Thrower7100000071FWRay Crawford42254820104933FWDermot Curtis6000000060FWDoug Millward3000000030FWDoug Moran3294200103711FWTed Phillips3593420104113
League standings
Results Home team listed firstPride of Anglia – Ipswich Town Football Club Season 1962–63 Charity Shield
Division One
European Cup
FA Cup
References
Bibliography