Emotions got the better of the Norwegian supporter: – Completely lost control

– Yesterday it was just a feeling of unreality, but it actually happened! It is an enormous joy, and today I have recognized that my life quickly “peaked” just then. It is absolutely wonderful to exist and live right now.

The words belong to Ole Bernt Krogstad. He is chairman of Ipswich’s Norwegian supporters’ club, and has been given a short day to land when Discovery picks up the phone.

In recent weeks, “The Tractor Boys” have fought an intense battle for the second direct promotion place in the Championship behind Leicester.

After Saturday’s victory against Huddersfield in the last league round, it was finally confirmed.

A 22-year wait is finally over. Ipswich are back in the Premier League for the first time since 2002.

– There were a lot of Ipswich supporters in Oslo yesterday, but I don’t know what happened next. I just have to admit that I completely lost control, Krogstad laughingly tells Discovery.

– I went home early, because it was no longer possible. It was simply too emotional. I remembered standing and talking to some people, and when I first started crying, I couldn’t stop, he continues.

The promotion to Ipswich is of the sensational kind. Last year the club played League One football but moved up with 98 points, three points behind Plymouth.

This year, the adventure has only continued. Ipswich finished the season on 96 points. It was a point behind Leicester, but six points ahead of Leeds.

– It was a total discharge. When I woke up today, I felt that I had slept properly for the first time in several weeks, Krogstad announces.

Because the season, and especially the run-in, has been of the dramatic kind. Both Leicester, Ipswich, Leeds and partly Southampton have fought for the two direct promotion places throughout the spring.

– I am so experienced with the Championship and the lower divisions, and especially in the Championship there are between 22 and 24 teams that go for promotion before the season starts. It’s absolutely crazy. You will not find any other league where all the teams have promotion as their goal. It’s tight as hell, Krogstad points out.

After 38 league rounds, it was Leicester and Leeds who were likely to move up, but after Leeds gave up points in the following round, Ipswich seized the opportunity.

They retained 2nd place through the last eight series rounds.

– There are always some teams at the top who get nervous when the going gets tough. It takes so little, and it happened with all four teams at the top. That’s how close it has been. Three of the teams get 90 points or more, although they have had a few hits, continues the Norwegian Ipswich supporter.

All of the top teams had periods where the results were variable. Ole Bernt Krogstad himself was at Portman Road and watched the draws against Watford and Middlesbrough.

But Ipswich was one of the teams that coped best. He believes much of the reason was the constant support from the stands.

– I saw that there were a lot of nerves there, but the audience was happy, unlike the Leicester and Leeds supporters. There were no negative things from the stands, and the players have got through it.

– They must have played under a hell of a lot of pressure, he adds.

At the forefront of the almost miraculous promotion is 37-year-old Kieran McKenna.

The Ipswich coach is not like any other head coach in England. His playing career was never great, and he had to retire at the age of 22 due to a hip injury.

Since then, he has fully invested in the coaching profession, and it has yielded immediate returns.

After several years as a youth and assistant coach at Manchester United, he was hired by Ipswich on 16 December 2021.

– It is his first managerial position, think about it, Krogstad begins.

The success coach has crazy results to show for it. In 131 games as Ipswich coach, he has a points average of 2.01.

He joins the ranks of successful young Ipswich coaches. Both Sir Alf Ramsey and Sir Bobby Robson took over Ipswich at the age of 35 – the same age McKenna was when he got the job.

– He is not quite up there with the two yet, but it is worth comparing. It’s a bit funny that a club like Ipswich can do something like that, says Krogstad.

The chairman of the Norwegian supporters’ club is, not surprisingly, full of praise for the coach. He is particularly impressed by how much he has put in over the last few months.

– McKenna said after the game yesterday that he had worked so hard that he cannot understand what has happened. He can’t take it into his head that they are going to the Premier League, and he hasn’t thought about it either. He has only focused on what has happened now. Maybe that’s what you have to do when you’re such a clear underdog.

What makes Ipswich’s promotion even more impressive is the squad of players at McKenna’s disposal.

The line-up in this year’s Ipswich edition is the same that ended up behind Plymouth last year.

– Eight of the players who played against Huddersfield yesterday also started the last match in League One, points out Krogstad.

Axel Tuanzebe and loanee Omari Hutchinson were the only two newcomers ahead of this year’s season who started Saturday’s game.

Apart from that, it was the players who together have contributed to Ipswich’s strong climb in the division system.

Krogstad singles out West Burns, who was brought in from Fleetwood for £60,000 in 2021, and first keeper Vaclav Hladky.

The Czech last chance arrived for a whopping £20,000 from Salford three years ago.

– It is so unreal and strange. It is a different club right now, so we will see how it will be next year, points out the Norwegian Ipswich supporter.

– It is a bit ambivalent emotionally to leave the Championship. In the Premier League there are huge differences between the teams, and I am very excited to see how Ipswich will manage up there, he continues.

Because with two promotions in a row with almost the same squad of players, a challenge also arises now that the Premier League is on its way.

From meeting clubs such as Rotherham, Millwall and Preston, they will now face Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool.

– If you look at the squad, we should basically have no chance in the Premier League. It won’t work. If I’m being completely honest, only Leif Davis is at Premier League level, is the honest and petty-brutal verdict of Krogstad.

Ipswich have wealthy owners, but at the same time it is limited spending that has given them results over the past two seasons.

This means that the club is faced with a dilemma.

– There will probably need to be some investment, but the challenge is that it is a very homogeneous group of players. They go in the same direction, support each other and have an extreme sense of togetherness. It is a level of professionalism that is sky-high. If you’re going to renew with ten new players, what will happen to that cohesion? wonders the Ipswich supporter.

The success of the English club could be similar to what Luton achieved in the same division last year. The Hatters were also huge underdogs before their first season in the Premier League, but this year have proven to be competitive despite limited funds.

Ole Bernt Krogstad believes the players who will come in this summer must match the values ​​on which the club has built its success.

– It will be a difficult period now. They must find the right types, because unity must be maintained if we are to achieve something in the Premier League and stay up. We can’t bring in any prima donnas. It doesn’t work, there are workhorses that have to come in.

Regardless of how things go in their first season back at the top level since 2002, it will be a giant upturn after many lean years.

Krogstad has been a fan of “The Tractor Boys” since 1978, and a very special match was decisive for the choice to fall on Ipswich.

– I was five years old. It was then the FA Cup final between Arsenal and Ipswich. The boy next door stuck with Arsenal, and then it was out of the question. Then it became Ipswich instead. I remember coming home to my four older brothers. We were sitting down in the basement, and they asked me which team I was with. Then I clearly said Ipswich in a slightly aggressive voice. They laughed themselves to death, but then Ipswich won. After that, it’s been like that, he says.

The 1-0 victory over Arsenal in front of 100,000 spectators at Wembley remains one of the clear highlights. Three years later, Ipswich also won the UEFA Cup final against AZ Alkmaar, but since then the trophy haul has been minimal.

Especially over the last few years, there hasn’t been much to cheer about as an Ipswich supporter. After a number of years in the second tier, they finished bottom of the Championship in the 2018/19 season. They remained in League One until promotion last year.

– There have been over 20 years of sheer decline and terrible things. It has been horrible. We’ve had people stop going to Ipswich games because it’s been a crappy atmosphere. Now, however, it is back, reveals Krogstad

The supporter’s club in Norway has also received the label.

– Perhaps you shouldn’t say that the admissions supporters have woken up, but we have in any case noticed an enormous interest. In the last week alone, we have received close to 100 new registrations in a supporters’ club that previously had around 370 members, he adds.