Ipswich faced Forest Green Rovers in the league just over a year ago, so it’s mad to think that next season they’ll be four divisions apart.
The Tractor Boys secured promotion to the Premier League on Saturday after 22 years away, 12 months after leaping from League One to the Championship. Conversely, Rovers have suffered back to back relegations, sliding from the League One into the National League after two successive rock-bottom finishes.
News of the clubs’ divergent fortunes swept around social media, with fans completely aghast. One X user wrote: “This is mad.” Another said: “Craziest stat I’ve heard all week,” while a third added: “Amazing. The beautiful game, eh?”
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Bonkers though the situation might seem, it’s actually happened more than you might think in English football.
Yeovil Town and Hereford United were in the Conference (now the National League) together in 2002/03, and by 2004/05 the former were in League One and the latter had dropped down to the seventh tier, the Southern League Premier League Division (now the Southern Premier South).
Similarly, during the 1995/96 season, Swindon Town and Kidderminster Harriers were both in Division Two (now League One), and two years later Swindon were playing Premier League football while Kidderminster had sunk to the Conference.
What’s more likely next season: Ipswich getting relegated or Forest Green Rovers getting promoted? Let us know in the comments section below.
(Image: Geoff Caddick/REX/Shutterstock)
Ipswich have come on in leaps and bounds under manager Kieran McKenna, who took over in December 2021. After finishing 11th in League One that season, the East Anglian club sealed promotion to the Championship with a second-placed finish in 2022/23.
They then joined a select group of English clubs by securing back-to-back promotions with another second-place finish, stamping their ticket back to the big time after spending over two decades in lower league football.
(Image: Alan Walter/REX/Shutterstock)
Forest Green Rovers, meanwhile, ended the 2022/23 season bottom of League One, and followed that up with a second-successive 24th-placed finish this season.
Over the last 18 months they’ve barrelled through five different managers, with Ian Burchnall, Duncan Ferguson, David Horseman, Troy Deeney and Steve Cotterill all failing to get a tune out of the hapless Green Army.