April 28 is a special date in Ipswich Town's chequered history.

On this day in 1962 Ray Crawford hit two goals at Portman Road to beat Aston Villa and secure the old Division One Championship title, way before the inception of the Premier League.

For Ipswich to be the best in England was something on a stunning achievement as this sleepy Suffolk team, led by Alf Ramsey were a far cry from being ranked among the huge teams of the day.

Tottenham Hotspur, Everton, Burnley and Wolves were the big boys of that era, and even though Town had won the Division 2 title the year before, no-one saw Ramsey's budget side coming.

Ironically, it was on April 28 in 1999 that Sir Alf passed away, aged 79.

Although Ramsey enjoyed nine years as England manager, and is still the only man to lift the World cup for our country, and had a spell at Birmingham City then as a technical director with Greek side Panathinaikos , Ipswich remained his home.

True recognition for his achievements was somewhat slow coming, especially by the FA, but Sir Alf was the first man to be inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame, first for his achievements as a manager with Ipswich and England, then as a player for his days at Southampton and Spurs. and as an England international.

Statutes outside the new Wembley and on the corner of Sir Alf Ramsey Way and Portman Road in Ipswich now offer the respect he deserves.

Ramsey's roots go back the Felixstowe peninsula and to his grandfather who was a hay and straw dealer born in Levington, his great-grandfather was an agricultural labourer from Martlesham.

Having Crawford, 33 goals in the 1961-62 title winning season, along with Ted Phillips, helped a team carefully moulded by this modest man.

But it was his tactical acumen and wise use of players that earned him a reputation as an innovative manager, who knew his own mind and stuck to his guns. Fiercely protective of his players, without ever really getting close to them at club and country level.

His character was probably summed up in an anecdote told by John Cobbold, of the brewery company family that owned the club then; after all the celebrations were done on that Saturday and everyone had pretty much gone home, a lone Alf Ramsey, took off his jacket and did a solitary lap of honour around the empty Portman Road stadium.

He would go on to complete a more public lap of honour some four years later as he did something no other England manager has done since, just as no Ipswich manager has matched his Championship winning achievement either.