Ipswich Town: Massimo Luongo on his journey to the Premier League

He'd not long turned 30 and was about to become unemployed after failing to make a single appearance in four months at new club Middlesbrough.

For three-and-a-half years he'd regularly been living away from his wife and young daughter, who were settled down in Bromley. Had the sacrifice been worth it? Maybe, he thought, after more than a decade playing in the second and third tiers of English football, it was time to return to his native Australia.

“Even before I signed for Middlesbrough, I had a decision to make as to whether to go back to the A League," he says.

"No-one was really wanting me (after an injury-hit few years at Sheffield Wednesday). It was a weird window. Teams were quite full up and it was hard to get a club. I ended up at Middlesbrough, didn’t play and it was like, ‘let me just sort my life out outside of football’.

"I was thinking, ‘I can just go sign for a local team, I don’t need the wages’. I just wanted to enjoy my life with my family."

Massimo Luongo holds the Championship's second-place trophy aloft during Ipswich Town's promotion parade. (Image: PA)

Then came an offer from Ipswich Town. He'd be dropping back down to League One, would have to prove his fitness in a trial period over the Christmas period and there was no guarantee, with Sam Morsy and Lee Evans a proven midfield partnership, he would play. Still, he'd be back down south and the vibe of the club sounded good. So, after much consideration, the answer was yes.  

"I thought, ‘am I really going to play?’" he recalls. "I came here on the chance that I could enjoy football again maybe. I was thinking, ‘You don’t have to play, but just get back into the love of the game'.

"Who would have thought that 18 months later we'd be in this position. It’s been a hell of a scenario that’s played out for me." 

That's an understatement.

Luongo signed for Ipswich on January 5 last year. It looked like he'd been brought in as a good dressing room guy and experienced squad player. He himself noted, 'if I come on and play just one minute to help the team get promoted then so be it'.

Massimo Luongo scores an equaliser against his former club Middlesbrough, at Portman Road, in April. (Image: PA)

But then Evans suffered another knee injury and the door was ajar. On February 18, he made his debut as a 59th minute substitute in a 4-0 thrashing of Forest Green Rovers at Portman Road. On March 4, he started a 4-0 home demolition of Burton. The rest, as they say, is history. 

Luongo has been a key cog in the machine as Kieran McKenna's men have stormed their way to the Premier League via back-to-back second place finishes. The team's record when he starts reads: P50 W33 D12 L5. 

A career that had started out at Tottenham has gone full circle, I tell him. He's a top flight player at last.

“Yeah, okay, I was at Tottenham, but I only came through the system there and I never thought I’d play for the first team once I realised how far away I was from it," he says. 

“I came here (on loan in 2012) and lasted three or four months until Mick McCarthy came in and said ‘we don’t need you anymore’. It was probably the right club at the wrong time.

Massimo Luongo celebrates his winning goal in Ipswich Town's 4-3 victory against Blackburn last September. (Image: Ross Halls)

"When I came back last year I felt like I had a little bit of unfinished business. I didn’t think it would lead to the Premier League, but I'm so glad it did."

This interview took place on the morning of Ipswich's open top bus parade. Luongo looks and sounds remarkably sprightly given the prolonged partying that had gone on.

"Last night I stayed at home," he says, with a smile. "Half of me was like ‘ah, the boys are out’, but it felt right to enjoy it with the people that have been through all the bad bits in the past."

Asked if the magnitude of the achievement had quite sunk in yet, he replied: "No, not yet.

"Yesterday I didn’t know what to do with myself. It was like ‘what do I do now?’ I think maybe when the fixtures come out and things like that will be big."

Kevin De Bruyne, Declan Rice, Bruno Fernandes... These are the sorts of players he could be marking next season.

“I don’t care!" he laughs. "Every game, obviously, is going to be ridiculously difficult, but I’m there! As long as I get on the pitch or am part of the squad then I’ll be happy.

"I came here not expecting to play much. I didn’t expect to play as much this season. It's been good to prove some of the doubters wrong and just enjoy football again."

On what is achievable in the Premier League, Luongo adds: “I think (chief executive) Mark Ashton is big on the culture of the club and the boss (Kieran McKenna) is really big on the culture too. That seems to be the theme and the ethos of everything we do here.  

“It’s probably necessary for us to be bring in some big guns, some new players, some upgrades and all that, but they’ve done really well so far and I’m sure they’ll find the right people again.

“We’ve just got to enjoy it again, as we did this season, and take every game as it comes.

“It was said in the group chat last summer that 'we’re not going to win as many games as we did in League One, so how are we going to prepare ourselves to be after a loss?' In the end we didn’t get to experience that much!

"I think next year will be that year where that gets put to the test."

I'm sure it will. Beware the team that plays with smiles on their faces though. Luongo and co certainly do that.