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Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football.
Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn professional until 1936; the club was elected to the Football League in 1938. Ipswich won the league title in 1961–62, their first season in the top flight, and finished runners-up in 1980–81 and 1981–82. They finished in the top six in the First Division for ten years, and won the FA Cup in 1978 and UEFA Cup in 1981. They have never lost at home in European competition, having defeated Real Madrid, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Lazio and Barcelona.
Ipswich Town have played their home games at Portman Road since 1884. The club's traditional home colours are blue shirts with white shorts and blue socks. They have a long-standing rivalry with Norwich City, against whom they contest the East Anglian derby.
Early years and entry to the Football League (1878–1954)
The club was founded as an amateur team in 1878 and were known as Ipswich A.F.C. until 1888 when they merged with Ipswich Rugby Club to form Ipswich Town Football Club. The team won a number of local cup competitions, including the Suffolk Challenge Cup and the Suffolk Senior Cup. After playing in the Norfolk & Suffolk League from 1899 and the South East Anglian League between 1903 and 1906, they joined the Southern Amateur League in 1907 and, with results improving steadily, became champions in the 1921–22 season. The club won the league a further three times, in 1929–30, 1932–33 and 1933–34, before becoming founder members of the Eastern Counties Football League at the end of the 1934–35 season. A year later, the club turned professional and joined the Southern League, which they won in its first season and finished third in the next.
Ipswich were elected to the Football League on 30 May 1938, and played in the Third Division South until the end of the 1953–54 season, when they won the title and promotion to the Second Division.