We today continue our series on past matches against each of our League One opponents for 2020/21 by recalling a rare positive outcome against ‘The Tractor Boys’.
10. Ipswich Town
The Dons have never beaten Ipswich Town in ten attempts. They came close in January 1994 when Joe Kinnear’s impressive team were one of the Premiership’s leading lights. The photo above shows John Fashanu battling with John Wark for possession (pic credit: Paul Willatts).
Saturday 22nd January 1994: FA Carling Premiership
Ipswich Town (0) 0
Wimbledon (0) 0
Good enough to beat both the Premiership title contenders, Manchester United and Blackburn Rovers, in a brilliant late run that saw them end the season in sixth place, the Dons were unable to overcome a stubborn Ipswich Town outfit 26 years ago. Having just been knocked out of the League Cup at the quarter final stage by Sheffield Wednesday, Wimbledon were eyeing the FA Cup, in which they faced lower league Sunderland the following Saturday, to make their season.
With a spine of Hans Segers, John Scales, Robbie Earle and Dean Holdsworth, one of the most powerful teams in Wimbledon history came closest to breaking the deadlock when John Fashanu curled a second half shot onto the bar and Warren Barton hit the post from the rebound. “We’ve been mugged by them before and we were determined it wasn’t going to happen again,” Joe Kinnear said. “It might not have been pretty but we certainly had the better chances.”
As speculation continued about his star forward, the manager was not prepared to comment on reports that the club had turned down a £3 million bid from Manchester United for Dean Holdsworth except to say: “He is worth at least £4 million.” Then in its second year, the Premier League was not designed for the likes of Wimbledon and Ipswich but while the Tractor Boys went down the following season the Dons survived until the Millennium year.
Segers, Joseph, Scales, Fitzgerald, Elkins, Sanchez, Barton, Earle, Ardley, Fashanu, Holdsworth (Blissett 82).
The picture below shows Gary Elkins getting in a shot at Portman Road (Paul Willatts).
Dons v Tractor Boys (1989 to 2019)
|
Season |
Comp |
H |
A |
|
1989-90 |
ZDS |
|
1-3 |
|
2012-13 |
ZDS |
0-2 |
|
|
1992-93 |
PL |
0-1 |
1-2 |
|
1993-94 |
PL |
0-2 |
0-0 |
|
1994-95 |
PL |
1-1 |
2-2 |
|
2019-20 |
Lge1 |
0-0 |
1-2 |
|
Total W0 D4 L6 |
|||
This series is written by Stephen Crabtree, the editor of the Historical Don. To sample a copy contact him at stephecrab@aol.com .