India, May 7 -- Through the blue haze the black bus emerged slowly, somewhat stately. As the Ipswich Town team coach turned right and headed towards the Portman Road stadium, cheers broke out. Huddersfield were visiting but, complete with an actual tractor, the city was in party mode on Saturday long before kick-off. A party that was 22 years in the making.It is that time of the year when championships are won and promotions gained in most parts of the football world. Last weekend, Real Madrid won their 36th La Liga, Barcelona a fifth successive Liga F, Mumbai City FC their second ISL cup and Sporting Lisbon their 20th Primeira Liga. And Ipswich Town returned to the Premier League for the first time since 2002. In Florida, Ed Sheeran, a fan and the club's shirt sponsor, raised a toast.Which means that the last time the elite English clubs travelled to Ipswich, 135km from London, David Beckham was England captain, Arsenal were champions but 'The Invincibles' hadn't happened and Manchester City were not in the Premier League. It's taken long to change that but following successive promotions - a first since Southampton in 2012 in the Premier League - the 146-year-old Ipswich Town have earned a seat at the high table of English football.To the list of legendary managers for the Tractor Boys, add Northern Ireland's Kieran McKenna. At Ipswich, they don't baulk at mentioning Sir Alf Ramsey and Sir Bobby Robson and McKenna in the same sentence.

McKenna had reportedly fallen foul of Manchester United players for being too "schoolmasterly" and "dry" during his five years there under Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and briefly Ralf Rangnick. A sports science graduate from Loughborough University, McKenna had joined Manchester United as under-18 team manager, a parallel shift from Tottenham Hotspur.It was in December 2021 that McKenna joined Ipswich. As per a report in the Manchester Evening News, the club had tracked him for 18 months before deciding on him as Paul Cook's replacement. This was months after Gamechanger 20, a U.S. consortium, had bought out long time owners Marcus Evans. Don't blame Ipswich fans for feeling that the April 2021 takeover was as significant as Ken Bates selling Chelsea and Saudis taking over at Newcastle.Ipswich came close to promotion in 2004, 2005 and 2017 but for the most part, the between years from 2002 to 2019, during which Mick McCarthy and his bete noire Roy Keane helmed the side, they were a mid-table club, far removed from one that had finished fifth in the 2000-01 Premier League, won the FA Cup in 1977-78 beating Arsenal and the UEFA Cup (equivalent of Europa League) in 1981.In 2018-19, Ipswich were relegated to League One for the first time. The sense of drift was further heightened by one top-10 finish in three seasons. McKenna took charge when the team was 12th. He was 35.Like Xabi Alonso and Julian Nagelsmann, McKenna is a young manager who has galvanised a team.

The Championship is a competition to which Leicester, Leeds and Southampton brought parachute payments and Premier League experience. And McKenna, whose playing career was cut short by injury when he was 22, had managed only under-18s before! For perspective, consider this: Wayne Rooney lasted 15 games at Birmingham City.Since joining, he has amassed 236 points, the most in top four divisions in England, according to "The Coaches Voice." Next on the list is Pep Guardiola at 220 followed by Ian Evatt (215), Nigel Clough (209) and Mikel Arteta (204). In 2023-24, second-placed on 96 points Ipswich lost five games in The Championship. Champions on 97, Leicester City lost 11.Arms raised slightly above his shoulder, McKenna took in the love after the 2-0 win against Huddersfield. "I know it's been done before but it'll never be done like we have done it," he said.The new owners did spend but McKenna's squad is largely what he inherited in League One. Along with Brandon Williams, Kieffer Moore, George Hirst and Omari Hutchinson who were on loan, he forged a side that played without fear. In 1961-62, Ipswich won the first division in the season they were promoted after winning the second. Football's changed a lot since and McKenna has acknowledged the difficulty of being competitive in the Premier League. But at a club where ennui ruled, now exuberance reigns.

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