ten things...

Ipswich
1 It was probably too much to expect a town without either castle or cathedral, to rise in and maintain a Premiership prominence. The Anglo Saxons called this area Gipeswic, which seemed to suit its very average existence for centuries.
2 Cardinal Wolsey was a top manager there among all those Monks orders in the 16th century. He tried to set up a Youth Academy but Henry eight dropped all his erstwhile pie in the sky habits, after demotion to non-league affiliation.
3 The Cobbolds, a brewery owning family donated Christchurch Mansion to the town to save it from property development. It was either that or convert part of the park into a pitch for those popular new local football teams.
4 Town played at Portman Road from 1888 instead but drank their club's first president's beer to celebrate maintaining all amateur status.
5 In WW1 the place was taken over by an army but not one made up of fans. When peace returned and England went football crazy yet again, Ipswich went back to being an extended library, with additional museum or aging alternative Priory to visit.
6 In 1935 John Cobbold took Town into realms of professionalism as a rival Ipswich United threatened to beat 'em to it. But brewers could reach parts others couldn't and suddenly they had Southern League champions to boot.
7 WW2 interrupted establishing in FL div3 but they'd done enough to recruit a half decent crowd to future home games. Cobbold died in the war but his legacy was to ensure the club got cash to progress.
8 In the fifties enter Alf Ramsay who did a job at Ipswich and some. He was able to make a team from other clubs 'surplus to requirements' and blend them into a viable unit - as winners.
9 In the seventies enter Bobby Robson and game on a second time. He didn't get a title but went all International and became a Sir too like his predecessor.
10 During the nineties Ipswich were a damn good div1 side, consistently in play-offs. They tasted delights of the Prem but returned to roots and that Monkish life, forever on fringes of a big and very bad 21st century world.