Ahead of Ipswich Town’s visit to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United on Wednesday, we use the alphabet to take a look at the history between the two teams.
A is for – Alan Sunderland: Ipswich Town are the last team to have battled back from a losing position at half-time to secure a league win at Old Trafford. Remarkably that record goes all the way back to 1984, more than 30 years. Mich D’Avray equalised Mark Hughes’ effort after the break, before Sunderland scored the winner.
B is for – Brazil: Alan Brazil turned out for both clubs but made more of a name for himself with Ipswich, as his goals helped the Blues win the UEFA Cup in 1981. His spell at United three years later didn’t work out so well due to injury.
C is for – Cole: The man who scored five times against the Blues in that infamous 9-0 defeat at Old Trafford in 1995. He holds the Premier League record for most goals in a game, jointly with Jermaine Defoe, Alan Shearer and Dimitar Berbatov.
D is for – draws: The two teams have met 56 times, with only nine games ending in draws.
E is for East: The Ipswich Town fans will be sitting in the upper tier of the East Stand at Old Trafford.
F is for – Forrest: Unfortunate Canadian keeper Craig Forrest was on the receiving end of all nine Manchester United goals in 1995. That wasn’t the end of his story with Manchester United, though, as he conceded another seven while playing at Old Trafford for West Ham in 2000.
G is for – goals: In 56 meetings between the two sides there have been 154 goals in total.
H is for – Hooper: Referee Simon Hooper will take charge of Wednesday night’s game. He was in charge when the Blues beat Burnley 2-0 earlier this season.
I is for internationals: The Ipswich Town squad has 125 international caps between them, compared to United’s 765.
J is for – Jackie Milburn: The Geordie legend had a brief spell as manager of the Blues between 1963 and 64, with his final home game a 7-2 loss to Manchester United before his departure just a few days later.
K is for – Keane: The Irishman opened the scoring in Manchester United’s 9-0 win over the Blues in 1995, but is now best remembered for his disappointing spell as Ipswich manager between April 2009 and January 2011.
L is for – Law: Denis Law scored four for United as they won 5-3 at Portman Road in November 1962 before scoring a hat trick as the Red Devils won 7-2 in Suffolk in September 1963.
M is for Muhren: Another to have played for both sides, Arnold Muhren, inset, was part of the Town side which won the UEFA Cup in ’81, before helping the Red Devils to an FA Cup win two seasons later.
N is for – noise: Sir Alex Ferguson was full of praise for the Portman Road crowd when the two sides met in 2001, describing the 20,000 in attendance as making the noise of 60,000.
O is for – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer: The Baby-Faced Assassin scored two goals in each of the Blues two visits to Old Trafford during their most recent spell in the Premier League, securing 2-0 and 4-0 wins for his side.
P is for – Paul Mariner: The striker scored a treble when Ipswich recorded what is now a famous 6-0 win over Manchester United in March 1980.
Q is for quid: Louis van Gaal has spent a few this summer, with more than £100m spent on transfer fees for new players. In comparison, Town boss Mick McCarthy spent less than half a million.
R is for – Ryan Fraser: Ipswich’s flying Scot is a self-confessed Manchester United fan and will be hoping to run out at the Theatre of Dreams on tonight.
S is for – Sedgley: The former Spurs man scored the winner for the Blues as they beat the Reds 3-2 in September 1994. Paul Mason’s two goals had been cancelled out by Eric Cantona and Paul Scholes, before Sedgley’s strike with only 10 minutes to go.
T is for – Taricco: The Argentine curled home a delightful second goal which, added to Alex Mathie’s effort, secured a 2-0 win for the Blues in the third round of the Coca Cola Cup in 1997.
U is for – unrivalled: Sadly, the Blues’ 9-0 loss at Old Trafford in 1995 remains the Premier League’s biggest-ever defeat. Tottenham scored nine against Wigan in 2009, but Paul Scharner scored for the visitors to ‘preserve’ Ipswich’s record.
V is for – van Nistelrooy: The Dutchman threw himself to the ground under slight pressure from John McGreal and Titus Bramble to win a penalty, which he scored himself, as United beat the Blues 1-0 in 2002.
W is for – Wilnis: The Dutchman scored an iconic goal to give the Blues the lead in 2000, in what was their first home game back in the Premier League. David Beckham went on to equalise in a 1-1 draw.
X is for - X: A cop-out, maybe, but neither side have ever had a player whose last name begins with X.
Y is for – Yallop: The Canadian scored just seven times in more than 350 appearances for the Blues, but his effort in January 1993 was pretty important as he slammed home just after the break to give Ipswich a 2-0 lead. Brian McClair did grab one back for the visitors but it wasn’t enough.
Z is for Zero: The number of goals Ipswich Town have managed at Old Trafford since 1992. Chris Kiwomya scored for the Blues in a 1-1 draw, with Denis Irwin equalising a minute later.
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