IPSWICH TOWN HAVE been condemned to third-tier football for the first time in 62 years after they played out a 1-1 draw with Birmingham City today in the Championship.
The result confirmed their relegation as Paul Lambert’s side are now 13 points adrift of fourth-from-bottom Wigan Athletic with just four games remaining in the campaign.
A year ago this week, current Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy took charge of Ipswich for the final time, guiding the Tractor Boys to a 1-0 win over Barnsley.
McCarthy left his post early after it had previously been announced that he and the club would go their separate ways at the end of the season.
“It just felt right that it was time for us both to look at different options,” the club’s owner Marcus Evans said at the time. A year later, Ipswich are preparing to play in the third tier of English football for the first time since 1957.
They’re likely to be joined in League One by crisis-ridden Bolton Wanderers, who are nine points off safety following a 4-0 defeat to Derby County. On-loan Chelsea man Mason Mount scored a hat-trick for Derby, who are now just two points outside the play-offs.
A place in the play-offs is already guaranteed for Sheffield United, but their prospects of automatic promotion were hampered when they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Millwall, a game in which Ireland defender John Egan was sent off for a deliberate handball.
West Bromwich Albion and Aston Villa consolidated their places in terms of the play-offs. West Brom were 4-1 winners at home to Preston North End, while Ireland midfielder Conor Hourihane scored the second goal for Villa in their 2-1 home win against Bristol City.
Elsewhere, Middlesbrough kept their promotion hopes alive with a 1-0 win over Hull City. Nottingham Forest fell out of realistic contention, Martin O’Neill’s side suffering a 2-1 home defeat to Blackburn Rovers.
English Championship results (3pm kick-offs)
- Aston Villa 2-1 Bristol City
- Derby County 4-0 Bolton Wanderers
- Ipswich Town 1-1 Birmingham City
- Middlesbrough 1-0 Hull City
- Nottingham Forest 1-2 Blackburn Rovers
- Queens Park Rangers 4-0 Swansea City
- Reading 2-1 Brentford
- Sheffield United 1-1 Millwall
- Stoke City 2-2 Rotherham United
- West Bromwich Albion 4-1 Preston North End
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