Leeds United and Sheffield Wednesday share Ipswich Town blow but Whites wear it harder: View | OneFootball

Leeds United and Sheffield Wednesday were both beaten to automatic promotion by Ipswich Town in the last two seasons.

Highlights

Ipswich Town are preparing for life in the Premier League after their promotion from the Championship.

The Tractor Boys were only promoted from League One in the 2022-23 season, but they seamlessly made the step-up to the second tier, and they sealed back-to-back promotions after a remarkable campaign.

Despite operating with a significantly lower budget than their promotion rivals, Ipswich finished second in the table with an impressive 96 points, and they will return to the top flight for the first time in 22 years next season.

Incredibly, the Tractor Boys have accumulated a total of 194 points in the last two seasons, but they have needed to maintain those high standards having been involved in two competitive races for automatic promotion.

Leeds United and Sheffield Wednesday have experienced similar Ipswich Town frustration

Sheffield Wednesday were the first team to be on the receiving end of Ipswich's ruthless winning mentality after being beaten to second place by the Tractor Boys in League One in the 2022-23 season, despite achieving a total of 96 points.

After Ipswich endured a tough winter period, it looked as though the Owls were comfortably heading towards automatic promotion, but a run of just one win in eight games in March and April saw their place in the top two come under threat.

Wednesday's decline in form coincided with a remarkable upturn in fortunes for Ipswich, and Kieran McKenna's side went unbeaten in their final 19 games of the campaign to secure their return to the Championship.

Having made an outstanding start to life back in the second tier last season, Ipswich again found it tough over the festive period, and many questioned whether they would be able to maintain their promotion challenge, particularly with Leeds beginning to build momentum.

The Whites won their first nine league games of 2024, but just like Wednesday, their form dipped at the wrong time as they won just two of their final eight games of the season, and the Tractor Boys took full advantage.

Leeds' total of 90 points should have been enough for second place, but defeats to relegation-threatened teams such as Blackburn Rovers and Queens Park Rangers will haunt Daniel Farke's side, and they would live to rue those missed opportunities even more after their play-off failure.

Leeds United suffered at Ipswich Town's hands more

Wednesday will have been gutted to miss out on automatic promotion, but they still managed to achieve their goal of returning to the Championship in the 2022-23 season.

The Owls produced one of the most incredible comebacks in play-off history as they recovered from 4-0 down to beat Peterborough United in their semi-final second leg, and Josh Windass scored a 123rd-minute winner against Barnsley in the final to seal promotion for Darren Moore's side.

Leeds would have been optimistic that they would go on to secure promotion after a comprehensive 4-0 win over Norwich City in their semi-final second leg, but it did not work out that way.

The Whites produced an underwhelming performance as they were beaten 1-0 by Southampton in the final, and while the disappointment of failing to reach the Premier League was devastating enough, there could be much bigger consequences of the defeat.

The Daily Mail claimed in May that Leeds would need to raise up to £100 million in player sales this summer if they were not promoted, and that could result in the departures of stars such as Archie Gray, Ilia Gruev, Wilfried Gnonto and Crysencio Summerville this summer.

Both Wednesday and Leeds have both been dealt big blows by Ipswich in recent years, but there is no doubt that the Whites will feel it more than the Owls, and they could suffer the effects for a long time to come.