Azor Matusiwa's Journey to Ipswich Town Glory
Azor Matusiwa limped his way into Ipswich Town folklore.
The Dutch midfielder, the heartbeat of Kieran McKenna’s side all season, revealed he played through significant pain during the run-in as Town dragged themselves over the Championship finish line and back into the Premier League.
“I played in a lot of discomfort, to be honest,” the 28-year-old admitted, reflecting on a brutal final stretch that began with a thumping dead leg on Easter Monday against Birmingham. He was forced off that afternoon at Portman Road and, from that point on, he never quite looked like the relentless destroyer who had dominated midfields for months.
Everyone could see it. The legs didn’t always drive with the same power, the snap in the tackle wasn’t quite as sharp. But he kept going.
“I was struggling a lot,” he said. “I played with a hamstring injury for two games after the dead leg against Birmingham. This one was a big impact. It’s still hurting, but we found a way to get through it.
“I’m so happy that I didn’t stop, that I kept going, because we knew how important the moment was. I had to play, whatever the cost.”
That last line could sit as the caption under his entire season.
The engine that never stopped
Signed from Rennes last summer for £7.8m, Matusiwa arrived with expectation heavy on his shoulders and Sam Morsy’s No.5 shirt on his back. He didn’t just inherit a number; he inherited responsibility for the engine room of a side chasing something extraordinary.
He delivered. Relentlessly.
Matusiwa started all but one league game, missing only the 3–0 home defeat to Charlton through suspension. Across the winter months he walked a disciplinary tightrope, constantly a booking away from a ban, yet never dialled down the aggression that makes him so effective.
The numbers tell part of the story. A stunning match-winning strike against Hull. A division-leading 75 interceptions, more than any other midfielder in the Championship, with Preston’s Ben White a distant second on 51. But they don’t quite capture the constant sense that if Ipswich needed a fire put out, Matusiwa would be the one sprinting towards the flames.
His reward? A clean sweep. ITFC Player of the Year. Supporters’ Player of the Year. Both richly deserved.
“Amazing. Proud, proud feeling,” he said, speaking just after Monday’s open-top bus parade had wound its way through a sea of blue and white. “Especially the way we’ve done it. It was not easy. A lot of tough moments. But we found a way. I’m so happy, very happy.
“I came for this. I came to help the club to get promoted, to get back in the Premier League. And we did it!”
Settling in, stepping up
It didn’t all click instantly. Matusiwa is honest about that.
“As we spoke already about it, the first game at Birmingham was tough, really tough,” he recalled. “And after, I think the second game was already better. And after that, with the house and everything, I got settled. My level came back and I think I adjusted well.”
The adaptation was as much off the pitch as on it. New league, new country, new demands. But once he settled, Ipswich had exactly what they thought they were buying: a midfielder who hunts the ball, protects the back line and sets the tempo.
“The boys, the staff helped me a lot to adjust,” he said. “They bought me because of my qualities and I’m happy that I’ve been an important player for the club, for the players. But most important is the promotion.”
He kept circling back to the same theme: this wasn’t just about him.
“I really think that the crowd and the community deserve this. Because they supported us through the whole season. Even when it was tough, they stayed behind us. They deserve this as well. I’m happy that we have done this for us, but also for them.”
Premier League incoming
Now comes the reward. Azor Matusiwa, Premier League player. The phrase lands with a smile.
“Yeah, Premier League incoming! Sounds very good, man!” he said, grinning. “It’s a big dream. It’s a dream that I had since I was young, to play in the biggest league in the world. Saturday this dream became reality. It’s an amazing feeling.
“I’m so excited, really excited to play against the biggest teams and the best players in the world. I can’t wait.”
There are certain fixtures that still live on bedroom posters and childhood TV screens, and he doesn’t hide which ones stir him most.
“Since I was a kid, I really looked up to Man Utd. To play at Old Trafford is amazing. But also at Anfield or Villa away. And also the home games are going to be even better than they already were this season.”
Portman Road under Premier League lights. Matusiwa snapping into tackles against some of the best technicians on the planet. It’s exactly the stage he’s chased since those early days at Ajax.
This time, they mean to stay
The last time Ipswich reached the top flight, in 2000, they dazzled before the fall. The more recent memory is far uglier: relegation with 22 points in 2001/02, a campaign that still stings around Suffolk. The question now hangs in the air: can this version of Ipswich do more than simply make up the numbers?
Matusiwa doesn’t blink.
“We go for it,” he said. “We don’t want to go up to come back again. Because this league, the Championship, is tough. This league is so tough. And it’s going to be even tougher next season.
“So I think it’s the right moment to get out of this league and, hopefully, to never come back again.”
He has already proved he will drag himself through pain to make that happen. The next time he does it, it will be under the gaze of the world’s biggest league.
