It barely needs repeating that less than three years ago, there was a three-division gap between these two clubs, and it is a gap that existed for a very long time. Today is the first time we have visited Ipswich for a League game since 12 November 1960 when a goal each from prolific strike duo Ted Phillips and Ray Crawford, and another from Doug Millward, gave Alf Ramsey's side a 3-0 lead before Andy Graver pulled one back in the last minute. Interestingly, today's crowd should be around twice that of the 10,197 that turned up sixty years ago.
Phillips and Crawford scored 70 of Ipswich's 100 league goals that season. Crawford went on to be top scorer in the First Division the following season and become the first Ipswich player to be capped by England. Phillips still holds the club record for goals scored in a season (46 in 1956-57). Sadly, he died of dementia in 2018.
Ipswich went on to win the Second Division title by one point from Sheffield United, thereby winning promotion to the First Division for the first time in their history. Lincoln were relegated of course, and within two seasons had finshed in the bottom four of the Fourth Division. Lincoln have not been back to the second tier since.
For Ipswich, what happened the following season is the stuff of legend: they won the First Division title at the first attempt in 1962. Three league titles in six seasons (Div 3S, Div 2, Div 1) earned Ramsey the England job in 1963, and we all know what happened after that.
There is a final twist: Ipswich were relegated in 1964, just two years after being league champions.