1980
Club Founded
The Club started as an under 14’s boys team in 1980 and two years later they entered the lowest division of the Ipswich
Sunday League.
1987
League Founders
Joined the newly formed Eastern Counties Division One sponsored by Jewsons in 1987 as founder members.
1994
Name Change
Home games were played at our present ground at Humber Doucy Lane, under the name of Loadwell Ipswich. Jimmy Barker became a very influential chairman and he negotiated a name change to Lancaster Ipswich FC before we eventually became Ipswich Wanderers. Jimmy died in November 1994 and his presence is sadly missed. Thankfully after all his work he saw the floodlights switched on in September 1994 in a match against Ipswich Town.
Great ground improvements were made in the early years under the direction of Development Officer Roger Woshalo and ground Manager Tim Davey.
1996/97
Div One Champions
A losing Suffolk Senior Cup appearance in 1996/97 leads to the following season becoming Champions of Division One, under the Chairmanship of Alan Haste, nine points clear of Maldon Town and losing only three league matches all season. Reaping the rewards of a successful youth policy which saw numerous trophies filling the clubhouse cabinet, a well-organised side with a good balance between youth and experience saw us establish ourselves as a Premier Division side for a number of seasons until we suffered relegation on the last day of the 2002/3 season at Wisbech.
2005/06
Jason Dozzell Joins
The following season saw Jason Dozzell join the Club as Manager and after a midtable finish in his first campaign, the second season saw the club sweep to the 1st Division title and with the assistance of Kevin Cunningham and Glynn Hague, the team finished 7th in the Premier Division in 2005/6, with the League’s second best defence with home crowds on average exceeding 100.
2006/07
New Chairman
At the end of 2005/6, Jason Dozzell and Chairman David Bugg left. Local businessman Ed Nicholls became Chairman and John Clarkson was appointed Manager having arrived with a reputation from the West Country. During the season he guided the club to the final of the Ridgeons League Cup, the 5th round of the FA Vase and a Suffolk-Premier Cup Semi-Final against Ipswich Town.
2007/08
Relegation & Reserves Cup Win
At the end of the campaign John left the Club and with an exodus of players, the Club appointed ex player Louis Newman to the role, Louis built a young, inexperienced squad and after a poor start to the campaign which included some record defeats, was replaced by another former player Steve Buckle who was brought in to rebuild the squad and hopefully retain the Clubs’s premier status. Unfortunately Steve was unable to prevent relegation and the only positive from the season was the Reserves capture of the Chell Trophy defeating Wroxham.
2011/12
Suffolk Senior Cup
Despite Steve’s best efforts over the following few seasons the Club failed to build a promotion push throughout the campaigns and after a poor start to the 2011/12 season, Steve and Assistant Paul Grainger parted company with the Club. New chairman Terry Fenwick appointed Glenn Read and he brought in his own players and former Stowmarket Town boss Steve Jay as his assistant. He quickly revamped the squad and had the Club climbing the table before the end of the season. The 2012/13 season saw the Club just fail to clinch promotion to the Premier Division and lose on penalties in the semi-final in the First Division Cup. The season did finish on a high as the Club clinched its first-ever Suffolk Senior Cup trophy defeating local rivals Whitton United in the final. It was a remarkable victory coming from a goal down in normal time and then from 3-0 down in the penalty shoot-out.
2013/14
Return to Premier
2013/14 saw promotion achieved with two long
unbeaten runs ensuring a return to the Premier Division, we also lost a tight Senior Cup final against Whitton United and set a new club record with a 12-1 win over Downham Town.
2014/15
FA Vase Run
The 2014/15 was mixed as we adapted to Premier Division and finished 9th and enjoyed a good run in the FA Vase but off-field the club lost one of its driving forces Roger Wosahlo mid-season.
2015/16
Shane Wardley Joins
In 2015-16 we defeated Canvey Island in the FA Cup and enjoy our best ever FA Vase run but with a heavy fixture backlog, relegation fears were only ended just before the season end. Glenn stepped down at the end of the season and for 2016-17 the Club appointed Shane Wardley as Player/Manager.
2017/18
Relegation
Shane’s first season saw us almost emulate our highest ever position, however, after a poor start to the 2017-18 season Shane resigned and following a disastrous spell under Mark Benterman, club legend Mark Goldfinch took over the side ably assisted by James Buckle and Daniel Thrower. Unfortunately, relegation could not be avoided and in 2018- 19 we consolidated and lost in the Senior Cup Semi Final to Cornard.
2019/20
Stephen Boyle Era
In 2019-20 with Stephen Boyle taking over as Chairman, we rebuilt and after a sticky spell in October we were closing in on the promotion pack and reached a Semi Final of the Suffolk Senior Cup before the season came to an abrupt end. With further additions on the field and some good improvements off the field under Stephen’s leadership, we are now looking to gain the vital promotion required for us to take the next steps forward and we are delighted to have recruited Matt Blake and others to add to a good squad. The start to the season has already been positive with a second Senior Cup trophy being clinched in the delayed final with a single strike from Connor Field clinching the trophy.
2021/22
League & Cup Double
After a couple of Covid-19 disrupted and curtailed seasons, for the 2021/22 season Wanderers went into action in the Thurlow Nunn First Division South. With what became a tight run affair with rivalry with Buckhurst Hill also aiming for the title, it went almost to the wire, Wanderers finally having the upper hand, and lifting the trophy with a goal 10 seconds from time in the final home game. With the final of the Suffolk Senior Cup to follow, we finished the season with 26 straight wins, and a well-deserved double of league and cup was won!
2022/23
Back to Back Promotions
The following season started with four cup fixtures in the opening 7 games, and a haul of just 3 points from the first 5 league games meant Wanderers were already playing catch up when our league campaign really got going. A run of 6 wins in an 8 game unbeaten run helped to move us up the table before another rare defeat. More wins followed until in January, we visited top of the table Thetford, which ended in a 1-2 defeat. After this, Wanderers embarked on another 17-game winning run to the end of the season, including coming from behind to avenge the result against Thetford, going above them and ultimately become Thurlow Nunn Premier winners - back to back champions - and into Step 4 football for the first time in the club’s history.
2023/24
Step 4 Consolidation
The 2023/24 season, the first for the club in the Isthmian League North came with added pressure - both on and off the pitch. A poor start to the season on the pitch brought a change in September, with the departure of Mark Goldfinch & James Buckle. Glen Driver came in as manager, with the task of keeping the club clear of relegation. Off the pitch was a mammoth job with a huge amount of work needed to pass the ground grading requirements to stay at this level. The inspection in April brought a great deal of relief, and along with the efforts of Glen and his team on the pitch, meant the aims for the season were achieved. Now to move forwards into 2024/25 and properly compete...
Commercial Opportunities
View our current commercial opportunities, or contact us directly to discuss the various sponsorship packages available at the club. Alternatively, email us at sponsorship@ipswichwanderers.co.uk