Nathan Broadhead of Ipswich Town is ready for life in the Premier League, having previously spent time on loan at Sunderland and Wigan Athletic. They captivated the public’s attention and received unexpected promotions on consecutive occasions. It’s fair to say that Ipswich Town’s promotion from League One to the Premier League piqued the interest of the football world.
In reality, moving up from the third division was scarcely a tremendous accomplishment for a club the size of the Tractor Boys. After three seasons in the EFL doldrums, it was time. But to go back and be automatically promoted to the top flight for the first time in 22 years was a remarkable achievement. Particularly given the opposition they faced.
Kieran McKenna’s squad competed in a competitive Championship that included demoted Leicester City, Leeds United, and Southampton. Many people expected the trio to make a swift return to the Promised Land. But Ipswich had other ideas. In an intriguing struggle that went down to the final day of the 2023-24 season, the Tractor Boys finished second in the table, one point behind Leicester and ahead of Leeds and Southampton.
An Everton academy product played a crucial role in their progress up the pyramid. Nathan Broadhead progressed through the Toffees’ junior divisions but struggled to break into the first team. An impressive loan spell at Sunderland in the 2021-22 season resulted in League One promotion, with the versatile forward scoring 13 goals. He was then loaned to Championship club Wigan Athletic the following season, although his time there was cut short when Everton chose to sell.
In January 2023, Ipswich persuaded Broadhead to return to the third tier, with Everton receiving a reported sum of roughly £1.5 million. Only 18 months later, he’s preparing for the Premier League. Broadhead scored eight goals on his way to League One promotion, and he added 13 goals and five assists in the Championship.
According to his agent, Neil Sang, Tractor Boys leader McKenna and the Portman Road hierarchy put out a clear plan that led to their success. At the opening event at ChopValue UK, Sang told LiverpoolWorld, “We had a laugh. Some of the Ipswich players posted on social media ‘back-to-back’. Broady posted ‘back-to-back-to-back’ because he was promoted with Sunderland the previous season.
“In football, we all make judgments that either work or don’t, and you learn from them. Everton, I believe, has lost a really excellent player and a really wonderful youngster. But he went to Ipswich and discovered a home like you wouldn’t imagine. They get him, they love him, they play him, they work and develop him, and now to see him in the Premier League is lunacy – and well deserved. “I know Ipswich pretty well, and a lot of people told me that Ipswich were so lucky to get there; it was like Foinavon winning the Grand National – no it isn’t. If you’re part of the work’s inner circle, you won’t think it was a coincidence.
“When Nathan signed, I recall asking Kieran McKenna, ‘Why do you think you’ll get out of League One?’ He was already in the championship. From the outside, it appeared courageous, but after hearing what Kieran McKenna and Ipswich’s management had to say about their plan and ambition, it was dead easy.
“From the outside, people may have questioned, ‘Why would you drop down?’ Here’s why. We go over the advantages and cons in great detail, but it all comes down to the manager. Kieran told me, ‘We’ll get up from League One and go again; I watch Championship football every week, so I know the top clubs, the best players, and how we can work against and beat them. He had this great idea, and fair play, he executed it.”
Broadhead moved to Everton from Wrexham at the age of ten. In December 2019, he made his Europa League debut by assisting Nikola Vlašić’s goal in a 3-0 win over Apollon Limassol. Carlo Ancelotti gave the Bangor-born forward his Premier League debut off the bench in a 0-0 draw at Brighton in April 2021. However, Broadhead struggled to find professional opportunities after that, and he eventually departed his boyhood club permanently.
Sang feels Broadhead, 26, was a late bloomer who should have been given more opportunities to show himself at Goodison Park, despite being regarded by now-five-time Champions League-winning manager Ancelotti. However, the Wales international will have the opportunity to make an impact in the Premier League with Ipswich when the 2024-25 season begins next month.
“I sort of look it at a bit of regret for him because I felt he should have had a chance at Everton,” Sang told reporters. “I used to go and meet them and say: ‘Come on, give him his chance’ but it wasn’t meant to be.”What I always found humorous was that Carlo Ancelotti, Everton’s best manager in a long time, gave him his Premier League start. It was only for a few minutes at Brighton, but he got on the pitch, hung out with the group, and trained daily.
Ancelotti stated that this youngster is not going anywhere, but Ancelotti left and the new team arrived, which was a significant change, and he is now surplus. “He was a late bloomer, and I always thought that if you give him a chance and he doesn’t work out, you and I will know. But if you don’t, you’ll never know, and we’ll find out later whether he was capable of doing it. It’s what it is. I believe in fate, and look where he is today. Had he stayed, he might not be in the Premier League now. He could have struggled at Everton and finished lower than this. You make your decisions, take your chances, and boy did he make a fantastic one.”
