FIVE more Ipswich Town legends were inducted in to Hall of Fame last night.George Burley, Allan Hunter, Arnold Muhren, Billy Baxter and Roy Stephenson, were all honoured at the 30th annual players' reunion at Portman road in front of nearly 230 people.

Derek Davis

By Derek Davis

FIVE more Ipswich Town legends were inducted in to Hall of Fame last night.

George Burley, Allan Hunter, Arnold Muhren, Billy Baxter and Roy Stephenson, were all honoured at the 30th annual players' reunion at Portman road in front of nearly 230 people.

Special merit awards, decided by the-players were presented for the first time, with Sir Bob Robson and his secretary Pat Godbold both being honoured.

After rising from the youth team ranks Burley played 500 games for Town, winning an FA Cup winner's medal in 1978 and helping them reach the UEFA Cup final in 1981, although missed out in the victory with a knee injury.

Burley led Ipswich to the Premier League via the play off final at Wembley and then took them up to a fifth-placed finish qualifying for the UEFA Cup.

Now manager of Scotland, Burley will be at this afternoon's game casting an eye over potential international full back David Wright.

Fellow Scot Baxter joined the Blues in 1960 even though he was still in the Army based in Aldershot. He helped Town win the second division title twice, in 1961 and 1968 and the First Division under Sir Alf Ramsey.

Muhren, another of Sir Bobby's successful side, has also been inducted. Town paid �20,000 to FC Twente in 1979 for the Dutchman who scored in each leg of the UEFA Cup final against AZ Alkmaar, and his first of 16 gals came in the East Anglian derby. The classy midfielder, who joins Franz Thijssen in the elite group, is now a youth coach at Ajax.

Still living in the East Anglian area is Hunter who attended last night's glittering ceremony. The Ulsterman signed for Town in 1971 from Blackburn Rovers and went on to make 355 appearances, including the FA Cup win over Arsenal at Wembley. Hunter was the club's player of the year for the 1975-76 season and now works as a special needs teacher in Ipswich.

Roy Stephenson, the flying winger signed from Burnley in 1960, was inducted posthumously. Stephenson was instrumental in providing the service for many of Ray Crawford and Ted Phillips' goals that helped win the Second Division title, scoring a century of goals in the process, and then the league championship the following season when Town were best team in the land and played in the European Cup the next year.

Stephenson left the Blues in 1965 to play for Lowestoft Town and passed away in February, 2000.

The players join a prestigious list of eight current hall of famers with Mick Mills, John Wark, Kevin Beattie, Ray Crawford, Ted Phillips, John Elsworthy and Jimmy Leadbetter and Franz Thijssen, already inducted.

derek.davis@eadt.co.uk