When Will Ipswich’s Relegation Be Confirmed?

Ipswich Town are all but down with five games to play, however, they have not yet been officially relegated. They currently sit 15 points behind 17th placed West Ham and although the Tractor Boys have performed much better than many fans would have expected in their first season in the top-flight since 2002, they will be disappointed to not able to fight for much longer.

Kieran McKenna’s side’s fate may be confirmed as early as Saturday. Ipswich will travel to St. James’ Park knowing anything but a win, will instantly confirm their relegation back down to the Championship. Alternatively, they will also be relegated no matter their own result if Graham Potter’s Hammers pick up any points off an out-of-form Brighton outfit.

The current PL table after Matchweek 33 💜🩵👌 pic.twitter.com/fAm9TSILUR

— Alex Males (@footballlover63) April 22, 2025

Ipswich Season Review

Ipswich have only managed to win four matches all season, it has really set the rest of the league apart from the newly promoted teams. They have managed nine draws alongside this, with some impressive performances against big teams. Two of their wins have come against Tottneham and Bournemouth, with perhaps their best coming against Chelsea- their only home win of the season. They also managed to draw games home and away versus Aston Villa, and a draw with Chelsea in the return fixture. So, you have to think, had Ipswich had a little bit more consistency, they may well be in a full-fledged relegation scrap right now.

The Tractor Boys splashed an estimated £152 million in the summer window, as they need to spend big in order to have a chance of staying up. Opting against the usual safe bet of signing more experienced and established players, the East Anglian side opted instead to look towards the youth to bring energy and speed. However, despite some of the exciting players they signed in Jaden Philogene, Omari Hutchinson and Liam Delap, it was not enough for them to see another year in the Premier League.

As you can see below, it was not just in comparison to Premier League clubs that Ipswich spent a lot. In terms of some of the biggest names in Europe, Ipswich sat third after the summer window on net spend.

⚽️ | #PL

People love net spend stats, so here they are for the 2024 summer transfer window ⬇️

🥇Brighton with the biggest net spend in Europe at £186m.

AVFC 🟣🔵 14th in the net spend table - an £11m overall outlay.

[Great work by @SwissRamble, as always.] pic.twitter.com/4IAq1HvmpP

— Mark Galli (@sportssolicitor) September 2, 2024

Key Players

Liam Delap will certainly have many suitors wanting his signature in the summer, with the 19-year-old becoming available for as low as £30 million as a result of his relegation release clause. He has scored 12 goals for the Tractor Boys this term, outperforming his xG by three. He also has most goal contributions at 14, nine ahead of next best Hutchinson.

Leif Davies has also been a quality player at Portman Road this season, he ranks above 87% of positional peers for shot-creating actions per 90, at 2.98. Because of this, he also has by far the most xA of all his teammates, however, he does not perform to the assists he is expected to have, possibly due to a result of Ipswich not being clinical and getting dominated in most games by better opposition.

Heroic and Haunting Moments

Two of their best performances came within four games of each other. During the busiest and most fixture congested time, in December, McKenna’s side made the trip to Wolves. Ipswich scored in the 15th minute off a counterattack and Chaplin’s shot cannoned off two Wolves defenders into an own goal. The Tractor Boys then later scored the winner from a corner where Jack Taylor crossed the ball to Jack Clarke, who headed past Sam Johnstone to give Ipswich just their second win of the campaign.

Ipswich then lost back-to-back matches against Newcastle and Arsenal before hosting Chelsea, winning 2-0. Delap won and converted an early penalty. Then in the second half he turned provider, as he set up ex-Chelsea academy baller Hutchinson to earn their first and only home victory of the season so far.

𝑰𝑷𝑺𝑾𝑰𝑪𝑯 𝑺𝑼𝑹𝑷𝑹𝑰𝑺𝑬 𝑪𝑯𝑬𝑳𝑺𝑬𝑨 🚜😲 pic.twitter.com/r5kIW37Fnz

— 433 (@433) December 30, 2024

On gameweek 31, Ipswich sat nine points off Wolves in the relegation battle, however they hosted them knowing a win would decrease the gap to six, but a loss would all but end their hopes of a Leicester-esque survival escape. This was their most important match of the season indefinitely, and Ipswich came into this game off an impressive 2-1 win at European-chasing Bournemouth. After a nervy opening 15 minutes, Ipswich took the lead, with Axel Tuanzebe whipping in a deep cross, with Dara O’Shea heading the ball across for star man Delap to slot home. Ipswich held on to their precious 1-0 lead until the last 20 minutes, when lightning struck twice in 10 minutes, increasing their gap to safety to 12, and almost ending any hopes they had left of survival.