Ipswich Town fan column: Relegated Tractor Boys have been well short but immediate Premier League return should be the target

The inevitable relegation to The Championship has been confirmed. The few glimmers of hope after positive results at Aston Villa and Bournemouth quickly faded away and let’s be honest, Ipswich Town have probably been relegated since losing to Southampton back in February.

Up until the new year we didn’t seem to be that far away and but for a few dodgy refereeing and goalkeeper decisions, we may have even been clear of any trouble. But fast-forward to now and Town could potentially finish 20 points adrift of the team above them.

We’ve had a really poor 2025. What have you made of it? On the one hand it’s been an absolute honour to watch Town play in the Premier League. On the other, it’s been really disappointing and even embarrassing at times.

I thought we’d stay up before a ball was kicked. This group had given us so many magical moments and I fully believed it was about to give us another. That feeling was heightened after a fairly decent start, but the quality and closed nature of this division has become stronger and stronger.

I’m not going to sit here and say Town were relegated due to referring decisions. It’s been our performances and naivety which has done it. But we’ve certainly not been helped by the officials and Saturday’s defeat to Newcastle showcased that.

A harsh first yellow, but a definite second for Ben Johnson. I’ve got no problems with that. But the penalty was ridiculous and I am looking forward to being able to celebrate and watch football more in the moment again.

It’s been a tough season and it has felt a bit of a slog at times, but the ambition has to be for Town to be back here and I certainly want to see us give it another go at this level.

However, I am really looking forward to next season and if Burnley and Sheffield United’s campaigns are anything to go by – then we should be.

Lessons learned and pain endured. But we should be stronger for it and let’s hope in a couple of seasons that we may look back at this as something we had to go through first.