 After a good start to the season , Ipswich were in fourth place in the league in January 1993 , but a dip in form during the final weeks of the season saw the club finish 16th . The next season was almost a mirror of the previous ; Ipswich again made a good start , followed by a late slump in results . The club only avoided relegation when Sheffield United suffered a last @-@ gasp 3 – 2 defeat at Chelsea on the final day of the season . Lyall was sacked as Ipswich manager in December 1994 with the club at the bottom of the Premiership . His successor George Burley was unable to turn things around and Ipswich suffered a " humiliating " 9 – 0 defeat at Manchester United in early March , the biggest margin in a Premiership match . Relegation was confirmed soon afterwards and Ipswich ended the season having conceded 93 goals in 42 league games . Patrick Cobbold had left his role as club Chairman in 1991 , handing his position to John Kerr . His brother had died in 1983 and Patrick died suddenly in 1994 , but the Cobbold connection continued when Patrick and John 's nephew Major Philip William Hope @-@ Cobbold joined the board in 1995 . 
