Claim made on who will be better out of Norwich City and Ipswich Town in the Championship next season | OneFootball

Rivals Norwich City and Ipswich Town look likely to meet again next term

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

With the end of the season fast approaching, it looks like Ipswich Town are set to rejoin the Championship after a one-season stop in the Premier League.

Having gone a goal up against Wolverhampton Wanderers – one place above them outside of the drop zone – they frustratingly conceded two late goals, likely putting any hopes of survival to bed.

It won’t, however, have been as gutting for everyone, with rivals Norwich City eyeing up the potential of playing them again next season.

We asked our Norwich Fan Pundit, Zeke, whether he’s excited or nervous about playing the Tractor Boys once again next season.

Norwich fan happy to see Ipswich heading back towards the Championship

Speaking to Football League World, Zeke said: "Well, obviously I’m happy about the likely relegation [of Ipswich], but also, it's expected.

"The fact that all three promoted clubs are going back down isn't a good thing. Really, because it shows that there's not much of a chance if you do get promoted um and it sort of ruins the fun of it a bit.

"Which is lovely in terms of Ipswich because I know there was a lot of confidence that they would definitely stay up, and not even just Ipswich fans themselves. It was pundits and other fans.

"I don't know why, but for some reason a lot of people were confident that they would definitely stay up and I saw lots of shouts for mid-table.

"Which, as a Norwich fan, we know how difficult it is and we won the Championship twice and then went up and then finished bottom.

"So, it is a lot harder than I think they realised, even though they spent a lot of money as well. But yeah, I'm imagining that they are going to be pretty good next season.

"I'm still excited for it because it gives us something to look forward to, even though they are probably going to be better than us.

"But there's obviously this voodoo around it and we're still unbeaten and for some reason, it feels like it will stay like that, but obviously you never know until the actual matchday.

"But yeah, I think overall, happy that they are coming back down and that we will play them next season as well."

Norwich’s strong Ipswich record will give them plenty of hope

Although some of Ipswich’s Premier League-standard players will undoubtedly depart if the club’s relegation – talisman Liam Delap chief among them – some of the squad they’ve built will remain, and the promise of parachute payments will give them money to invest.

It means that Zeke is likely right in his prediction that the Tractor Boys will be stronger than the Canaries next term – save for a Luton Town-style drop off next term.

However, Zeke also brings up Norwich’s record against Ipswich, which is something to behold.

You have to go all the way back to April 2009, around 16 years ago, for the last time Ipswich beat Norwich, home or away.

Since then, the two clubs have met 14 times, and Ipswich have been unable to pick up a single win, including the 2023/24 season that saw them promoted.