Ipswich Town will have had League One frustration on Tranmere Rovers evidence: View | OneFootball

James Norwood couldn't help fire Ipswich Town to the Championship despite an impressive goalscoring record at Tranmere

Ipswich Town have been on an incredible journey in recent seasons and find themselves competing amongst some of the world's best in the Premier League, but it wasn't too long ago they were stuck in the third tier of English football.

The Tractor Boys were relegated to League One in 2019 after finishing rock bottom of the Championships, and were active in the summer transfer window as they looked to strengthen their squad in a bid to bounce back to the second tier at the first attempt.

After a very impressive spell with Tranmere Rovers, who he'd helped fire to promotion from League Two during the 2018/19 season, Ipswich Town signed James Norwood on a free transfer on a three-year deal.

Given how prolific he was in League Two with Tranmere, signing Norwood on a free transfer in League One looked like a seriously impressive piece of business from Ipswich, but he wasn't quite able to help fire the Tractor Boys to the Championship during his three-year stay at Portman Road.

Ipswich Town will have had James Norwood, Tranmere Rovers frustration

Norwood had spent four years at Prenton Park with Tranmere and had developed a reputation as a prolific goalscorer, helping the club from Birkenhead win two promotions.

In total, Norwood made 180 appearances for Tranmere, scoring 90 goals, an impressive strike rate of a goal every other game, but it was his final season at Prenton Park which really made people sit up and take notice.

The 2018/19 League Two campaign saw Tranmere make it back-to-back promotions after a play-off final win against Newport County at Wembley, and the campaign saw Norwood become one of the deadliest finishers in the EFL.

He scored a total of 32 goals, including the only goal in the play-off final, and with his contract up that summer, Ipswich swooped to bring him to Portman Road.

Norwood had a decent enough goalscoring record at Ipswich, but it perhaps wasn't quite as impressive as they'd hoped for, and the Tractor Boys missed out on the play-offs in all three of his seasons at the club, certainly not the plan for a club of their stature.

He scored 11 goals in his first season at the club, making him their joint top scorer, before scoring another 10 during the 2020/21 campaign, making him the top scorer for the season.

The 2021/22 season was the final year on his three-year deal, and after just seven goals, he departed on a free transfer in the summer of 2022.

In total, Norwood scored 28 goals in 88 appearances, not an awful return by any stretch of the imagination, and the fact he was top scorer in two of his three seasons shows that he was a decent player for the Tractor Boys.

However, he managed more goals in one EFL season at Tranmere than he did in three seasons at Ipswich, and the Portman Road faithful may regret the fact that he wasn't quite prolific enough to fire them to promotion like he was at Prenton Park.

James Norwood's career after leaving Ipswich Town

Norwood joined League One side Barnsley on a free transfer after leaving the Tractor Boys, and he played an important role for Michael Duff's side during the 2022/23 season, helping them reach the League One play-off final, where they were defeated by Sheffield Wednesday.

During his one season at Oakwell, Norwood made 49 appearances and scored 11 times, but he dropped down to the National League with Oldham Athletic in the summer of 2023, and that's where he remains to this day.

After playing in League One prior to his move to the National League, it's clear that Norwood was a standout player in non-league, and he scored 17 times in 41 appearances during his first season at Boundary Park, reuniting with his former Tranmere boss Micky Mellon.

The 34-year-old hasn't quite been as prolific so far this season, scoring just once and registering one assist during his first couple of weeks of the season, but given his pedigree, there's no doubt he'll start finding the back of the net on a regular basis as the season progresses.

The best spell of Norwood's career came with Tranmere Rovers, where he helped them win back-to-back promotions, and it will perhaps frustrate Ipswich Town supporters that he couldn't quite replicate that form when he made the move to Portman Road in the summer of 2019.