This little question is open to everyone, regardless of your age, because we have had some great forward-thinking defenders over the years. I suppose it’s a bit like comparing boxers from a different era but let’s give it a go anyway!
I have only highlighted a fraction of those who have proudly worn the wing back Ipswich shirt over the decades. Any left-back or right-back can be included in this list, which of course, was the term we used before wing-backs started to come into fashion.
Leif Davis: He has been sensational as a forward-thinking defender who needs just one assisted goal more to beat the Championship record for a defender. He is on 14 with just 9 games remaining. This is an amazing performance, but defensive duties sometimes leave a lot to be desired, and we are talking about the second tier of English football and not the elite league. That said, it is a remarkable achievement.
Aaron Cresswell: He came to Ipswich Town via a football tribunal from Tranmere, and they eventually got 420,000 quid for him with add-ons. I loved watching Cresswell play, and he was a great free-kick specialist which of course, Davis is not. He went on to play for Ipswich 134 times scoring 6 goals, before being sold to West Ham United in 2014 for around 4 million. He went on to play for England three times and is still with the Hammers as this goes to print. He had a wonderful left foot and could cross a ball.
Tyrone Mings: He followed Cresswell into the club in December 2012, after a short trial for a fee of £10,000, after Ipswich agreed to play a pre-season friendly game against Chippenham Town. Mings started as a left-back but moved to right-back and later central defence with Aston Villa, and the 6ft 5-inch defender has represented England on no less than 18 occasions, scoring twice for the national team.
Fabian Wilnis: The Dutch defender signed for Ipswich in 1999 for around 200,000, which is around the same fee that Ipswich paid for Frans Thijssen many years before! He featured regularly during the 1999–2000 season as Ipswich challenged for promotion to the top flight. On the 22nd of August 2000, in Town’s first home game back at Portman Road, he scored a screamer against Manchester United in a game that ended 1-1! A great player who had a very modest persona for a player with such an abundance of natural talent. He played 282 times for Town scoring 6 goals.
George Burley: I was lucky enough to watch George Burley many times in the flesh, and what can you say about this man that does not make you feel he belonged here? He made 394 appearances for the club and had his senior debut against Manchester United way back in 1973! Burley played in the FA Cup-winning side against Arsenal in 1978. He eventually left for Sunderland at the back end of his career, but this was not the last we would see of Burley as he took on the manager job here in 1994, and during an eight-year reign, he took Ipswich to three play-offs semi-finals, before finally winning promotion to the Premier League in 2000. He was a very nifty, forward-thinking player-defender, who was way ahead of his time under Sir Bobby Robson.
