Ipswich Town captain Dara O’Shea was overjoyed to gain promotion to the Premier League in a season in which ‘everyone wanted to see us fail’.
The Blues finished second in the Championship, returning to the top division in their first attempt.
However, as a recently relegated team with parachute payments, Coventry City, Millwall, and Middlesbrough have certainly received more support from neutral spectators than Town.
Given the situation, receiving promotion was extremely meaningful to O’Shea.
“Nobody wanted us to do it this year,” he told us. “Everybody wanted us to fail.
“I’m simply proud of us. We had faith in it. We always believed we could. We proved it to ourselves, which was the most important thing.
There is pressure. Everyone anticipated us to step up and accomplish this. They wanted to watch us fail, but we didn’t.
“We walked the walk, which was the most important thing. “
This campaign was always going to be unique. Town are accustomed to being the underdog, but this time they were overwhelming favourites because of the calibre of their
From the outside, promotion appeared to be a certainty, however the reality of relegation from the Premier League to the Championship can be far more unpleasant.
“It’s the polar opposite of last season,” O’Shea said. “It’s different.
“It takes time to acclimatize to it. We had to recognize that teams were content to disrupt us in any manner possible this season. It most likely took us some time to come to terms with it.
“I believe we’ve done incredibly well. It has been a tough season.
“You look at the clubs that came down with us last season. Clearly, Southampton are performing admirably right now. Unfortunately, Leicester is now in League One. It’s difficult. It is difficult. Nothing is given to you.
“Everyone expects Premier League clubs to return and step up right away, but it is not the case.
“We’ve done it. That is all that matters. “
