Terry Butcher backs Ipswich to continue their 'relentless surge' when they take on rivals Norwich in the East Anglian derby... as the Championship high-flyers look to score their first win over their bitter rivals since 2009

There is something stirring in the east. The Tractor Boys of Ipswich Town are gathering momentum with Kieran McKenna at the wheel, and legends of the past are enjoying the ride again.

‘We’re higher than them in the league, playing better football, on a relentless surge, it’s got to be a win,’ insists Terry Butcher ahead of today’s Old Farm derby against Norwich City.

‘I can’t see Ipswich losing but I’ve played in enough derby games to know you never know,’ he adds, wary perhaps of tempting fate against rivals they have not beaten since 2009. ‘The atmosphere will be terrific. It will be more like an Old Firm game.’

Ipswich could have sold Portman Road out many times over for this fixture. Second in the Championship, they are playing fast and fluent football under bright young boss McKenna and firing visions of a return to the top flight.

‘Everybody’s dreaming,’ says John Wark — like Butcher, a hero of the golden era under Bobby Robson when they brought the FA Cup and UEFA Cup to Suffolk. ‘It’s too early to say we’re going back to the Premier League but we’re in a great position. It’s a great feeling.’

The place is transformed since American investors bought the club in April 2021 and installed former Manchester United coach McKenna, two years ago to the day. ‘An unbelievable coach who has bought into what Ipswich is about,’ says Butcher. ‘He leads the way — not only in the way they play but the way he represents the club. He doesn’t seek glory, doesn’t seek the limelight. He just wants to do his job.

‘He is like a young Bobby Robson. Quite revolutionary, he likes to do things well and doesn’t get carried away. Very good with the press. Very, very good with the players, which Bobby was. There are lots of similarities.

‘They zip the ball about, they don’t lump it long in the channels. It’s lovely to watch. It’s not like watching Manchester City, it’s more exciting than that.’

A goal by Wes Burns, curled in with the outside of the boot after a sweep out of defence against Coventry, is the latest illustration of the McKenna aesthetic. Another was Conor Chaplin’s strike against Hull in October. It starts with a drag-back turn by keeper Vaclav Hladky in his six-yard box and ends when Chaplin smashes it into the top corner at the other end.

Hladky has poise on the ball that makes him perfect for McKenna’s passing style and after a career in the backwaters is now tipped for a Czech Republic call-up at the age of 33.

Similarly, midfielders Sam Morsy and Massimo Luongo are thriving in their 30s as the heartbeat of this team after jobbing around this level for years. Then there is emerging talent such as Leif Davis and Nathan Broadhead, signed for seven-figure fees, big money in League One terms, but whose value has soared since promotion.

Davis is a stylish left back with the most assists in the division and Broadhead has seven goals.

McKenna’s mantra, however, is all about the collective and it extends beyond the dressing room, with Ipswich keen to recapture their old reputation at the heart of their community.

‘The buzz is back,’ says Matt Holland, captain of the last Town team to win promotion to the Premier League, 23 years ago. ‘And not just on the pitch. You see investment around the ground, the offices are being renovated. There’s wet paint everywhere.’

Shirt sales are soaring and every game is sold out to capacity. ‘Everything has changed for the better but it couldn’t have got much worse,’ says Butcher.

Chief executive Mark Ashton tells a story about a broken toilet in the offices. Rather than mend it, someone stuck an ‘out of order’ sign on the door and it stayed there so long nobody could remember what was wrong with it by the time Ashton turned up and asked the question. The toilet is working again, symbolising a new flush of success, but McKenna has not been afraid to embrace the glittering past.

A photograph of Robson adorns the wall of his office and he invited half a dozen players from that era to the boardroom to meet him and the owners, and canvass their thoughts.

‘The first time that’s happened in a long time,’ says Wark. ‘It was a nice touch.’ One of many, as Ipswich weave their heritage into an exciting future.