Why are Ipswich Town nicknamed the Tractor Boys?

After a tremendous League One campaign in 2022/23, there is a good buzz around Ipswich Town at the start of the 2023/24 season.

With the club embarking on their first season at this level since 2018/19, there is a real sense that Kieran McKenna’s side can avoid the drop, and by some distance.

The club’s early performances this season certainly suggest that there is potential for that to be the case.

The team has played five league games so far this season, winning four of them while losing just one, as of the first international break.

These four wins have also included some noteworthy triumphs, including Ipswich’s away victory at Sunderland on the first day of the season.

Following that outcome, the team won back-to-back matches in the league with convincing victory of 2-0 and 1-0 over Queens Park Rangers and Stoke City, respectively.

The Tractor Boys’ lone league loss came at the hands of Leeds United, who defeated them 4-3 at Portman Road.

But to be really honest, this post won’t really focus on results now that the international break has begun.

In actuality, the term “Tractor Boys,” which is frequently used to refer to Ipswich Town, is what we are looking at.

In fact, because Championship football is currently on hiatus, we’re researching the history of EFL club monikers.

In this article, we examine how Ipswich Town came to be known as “The Tractor Boys.

Why are Ipswich Town nicknamed the Tractor Boys?

After doing some study, it appears that Ipswich Town’s “Tractor Boys” moniker is rather recent, whereas the majority of nicknames are typically quite old.

In fact, it appears to have started as a sarcastic moniker created in the late 1990s; the term was first used on a road trip in 1998 against Birmingham.

The history of the moniker is explained in an interview with Phil Ham of the Ipswich Town fanzine ‘Those were the days’ by BBC Sport.

In fact, 23 years ago, Ham told BBC Sport that the situation was “a long-term one that has really developed over the years.”

“Away fans have historically chanted “Ooo-arr, oooh-arrr,” but things changed two years ago at Birmingham.

“”We were being taunted, so we responded with ‘one-nil to the Tractor Boys’.

“We may be rural country cousins but we were actually 1-0 up.”

It appears that the rest is history!

Interestingly, in the same interview, Ham revealed that there was a split among players, staff and fans as to whether they actually liked the nickname, and, he predicted it wouldn’t last long.

How wrong could he have been!

In the BBC Sport interview, Ham made light of the fact that there was a division within the team.

There is a lack of irony on the part of some participants.

Jim Magilton is upset by it. He envisions straw-chewing hoboes emerging from the tunnel.

But John Scales and Matt Holland like it.

The season will likely go to the finish, at which point we will give up and stop supporting the Tractors.

For the upcoming season, we even have ex-Tractor fan t-shirts.

Of course, Ipswich also go by the moniker The Tractor Boys; the team is more commonly known as The Blues.

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