Swigging a bottle of Peroni in his full kit, Luke Woolfenden walks towards the tunnel where the media are waiting to talk to him after the 2-0 win against Huddersfield Town.
“Luke Woolfenden. Premier League player for Ipswich Town. How does that sound?” I ask.
“It’s got a great ring to it, mate. It sounds good,” the defender replies.
His side have just secured a top-two finish in the Championship to return to the highest level of English football for the first time since 2002, and they made it look easy, managing a tense situation to limit the Terriers to just two shots on target across 90 minutes.
“You can say it was easy, but I was *****ing myself mate,” he laughs. “It was a really good game, the boys played really well and the crowd was unbelievable. A great day again.
“From about the 70th minute, the clock went so slow, it was unbelievable. About the 82nd minute, I see one of my best mates standing by the sides.
“Harry Burman. I used to play Sunday league with him. Then around the 82nd minute I hear: ‘Woolfie!’. I thought: ‘I know that voice’, turned around and there he was.
“It blew my mind, it was unbelievable. I need to have some more beer before I start crying!”
His manager, Kieran McKenna, revealed after the match that he never expected his side to secure back-to-back promotions, and despite their astonishing points tally, neither did Woolfenden, who described it as the ‘impossible’.
“If I’m being honest, all season I’ve been saying: ‘it can’t happen, it can’t happen’. It probably helped us, to be fair,” he argued.
“The majority of the changing room would’ve been the same, sitting there saying: ‘nah, it’s impossible, it’s impossible’. We’ve just made the impossible happen.
“It’s unbelievable.”
What’s even more incredible is that they’ve done it ahead of two relegated Premier League sides in Leeds United and Southampton, who reached 90 and 87 points respectively. Town’s squad isn’t much different from their League One days, which Woolfenden believes has helped them.
“That’s been our strength,” he explained. “There haven’t been a lot of changes, the group knows what the boss wants and I’d be surprised if there’s a team out there in the league that works harder than us on a day-to-day basis.
“When you work that hard, you get your rewards. That’s what we got today.”
It must’ve been hard for them to stay focused on taking one game at a time, and the relief knowing that they’re going to be facing some of the top teams in the world will be immense. That being said, it isn’t really in Woolfenden’s mind.
“Yep, one game at a time, then we’ll go one pub at a time, then we’ll think about the Premier League,” he jokes.
Inside the dressing room, celebrity fan Ed Sheeran was on FaceTime to congratulate the players. While he’ll clearly be hurting that he couldn’t be at Portman Road, Woolfenden revealed that he got a special treat from a member of the squad.
“Dom [Ball] was serenading him, and he enjoyed it!” Woolfenden said. “It was good to see Ed. I know he’s gutted he can’t be here, but he’s got to make money somehow I guess.”
It is very much a case of letting the emotions sink in. It might take until fixture release day for the players to realise what they’re in for next season.
For now, it’s about living in the moment. They’ve had to stay so focused, but now they get to celebrate.
“It’s not really sunk in yet,” Woolfenden added. “Someone was saying to me out there about playing Manchester United at Portman Road. I’ve not even thought about it.
“Really I’m just living in the moment and enjoying every minute of it, and to be fair, the boss is big on that.
“When he’s talking about nerves before the game, he said this is what you get into football for, this is why you work.
“The boss is big on that, working day in, day out and enjoying what you do. You get your rewards for that.
“We work really hard, and as I said, I haven’t thought about the Premier League yet, but we’re there!”
It also helps that Ipswich are a fit squad, which has allowed them to last the course of a nine-month campaign to achieve their goal. Just how hard does McKenna work them?
“I’ll tell you one example – we’re in on Tuesday! We just got promoted and we’re in on Tuesday,” he chuckled.
“We get bodyfat tested more than I ever have in the entirety of my career. We run more, we work hard in the gym, recovery is massive for us.
“As a group, it’s probably the most professional bunch I’ve been around. It really, really helps.
“When you work that hard, it kind of takes away the nerves because you’re not leaving things to chance. You know that Huddersfield today could turn up and play how they want because their season is what it is, we’re out there with massive pressure on us so we have to think: ‘we do this every day’. It’ll stand you in good stead.”
This promotion will mean so much to everyone, but it’s extra special for Woolfenden. Not only is this his boyhood club, but he’s also endured some incredibly tough moments in his career, which is put to him at the end of the interview.
“****ing hell, have I?” he joked in response.
“It’s mental. Football is one of those sports where opinions – if there’s someone in charge of you who’s opinion is different to someone else’s, the game can change.
“No matter how hard you work, a lot of it is down to timing and luck. Another manager could’ve come in that wasn’t Kieran McKenna and not enjoyed the way that I play football. Then things go differently.
“Luckily for me, it worked out the way I wanted it to.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel