IPSWICH TOWN v TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

Date : -  Saturday 11th August 1962

Kick off : -  15:00 p.m.

Venue : -  Portman Road.

Crowd : -   20,179

Weather : -  Dry, warm.

Referee : -  . . - (-)

Score : -

Goalscorers : -           

Ipswich Town : -  Roy Bailey, Larry Carberry, John Compton, Billy Baxter, Andy Nelson, John Elsworthy, Roy Stephenson, Doug Moran, Ray Crawford, Ted Phillips, Jimmy Leadbetter.

Tottenham Hotspur : -  Bill Brown, Peter Baker, Ron Henry, Danny Blanchflower, Maurice Norman, Dave Mackay, Terry Medwin, John White, Bobby Smith, Jimmy Greaves, Cliff Jones.

Surprise League Champions Ipswich Town, who took the title in their first season after winning Division Two, faced FA cup winners Spurs at Portman Road for the 1962 FA Charity Shield.

Alf Ramsey's side has adopted a style suited to their limited resources and the all action, dynamic play provided their forwards with goal-scoring opportunities through clever play by their half back line.  It almost paid off within three minutes against Tottenham, with Phillips putting in a cross that Crawford missed, but it found Stephenson at the far post and his cross-shot fizzed just past the post.  Spurs were deploying Danny Blanchflower and Dave Mackay to counteract the effectiveness of Ipswich's wide midfielders and they were worked hard in the early stages, with Mackay denying Stephenson with a lunging block and Peter Baker having to hare back to dispossess Phillips. 

Ramsey had done his homework too, forcing play inside to stop the wingers Jones and Medwin getting around the Ipswich full-backs.  But they were unable to stop Spurs going into the lead in the 37th minute.  With Baker breaking forward from defence, the Town game-plan went AWOL and his pass to Bobby Smith was neatly turned on to Jimmy Greaves, who took the ball past Billy Baxter at speed before slipping the ball past the keeper Roy Bailey.

Within five minutes, Tottenham had a two goal gap thanks to Bobby Smith, who smashed a shot past the goalie after taking Greaves' pass and dragging it back past Nelson before finishing with power. 

The score remained 2-0 until the end of the first half and when the teams turned around, the home side played a longer, wind-assisted game, getting the ball up to their strikers in the quickest way possible.  However, the rock that was Maurice Norman ensured that the Ipswich surge ran aground and from the second ball, Spurs began to put their own moves together, with many of them revolving around midfield creator Blanchflower.  The weak point in the Ipswich side was Larry Carberry, whose late first half ankle injury was strapped up and he came back on in the second half, although his effectiveness was extremely limited.  Carberry's direct opponent, Cliff Jones utilised his pace to almost get on the end of some crosses into the box, but Spurs were struggling to get their third goal.  Dave Mackay missed a great chance from close in after he had raced in on goal, just after White had hit his shot straight at the keeper, with only him to beat.

Reliable Jimmy Greaves was the one to put the game beyond Ipswich's reach in the 60th minute.  His run to meet John White's through pass was well-timed and his control of the ball was immediate, allowing him to sweep the ball first time past Bailey with his left foot.  This allowed Tottenham to take things a bit easier with the league programme ahead, as well as a European Cup-Winners Cup campaign to be fought.  Ray Crawford forced a very good save from Bill Brown, as he took Leadbetter's diagonal pass and belted it at the goal.

Perhaps annoyed by the upstarts' league dominance last season, Spurs were intent on showing them who were the better side on this occasion by passing the ball around and making the Suffolk side chase after them.  Chances were coming regularly and the Tottenham strike force were being profligate with them.  Smith hit the upright from White's cross and Greaves did all the hard work by taking the ball past four blue shirted players and the keeper before he slipped over in front of goal.  Jimmy also hit the woodwork denying him his hat-trick.

It was John White, one of the smallest players on the pitch, who headed in Tottenham's fourth from Medwin's cross, although three minutes later, Roy Stephenson gained some consolation for the champions with a goal scored with a fierce shot that beat Brown.

However, it was Spurs who had the final word, with Greaves setting up Medwin for the fifth with just four minutes to go, wrapping up the Charity Shield for Tottenham for the second year running.
 

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