Ipswich ⁱ/ˈɪpswɪtʃ/ is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell. Nearby towns are Felixstowe, Needham Market and Stowmarket in Suffolk and Harwich and Colchester in Essex.

The town of Ipswich overspills the borough boundaries significantly, with 85% of the town's population living within the borough at the time of the 2001 Census, when it was the third-largest settlement in the United Kingdom's East of England region, and the 49th largest urban area in the United Kingdom.

The modern name is derived from the medieval name 'Gippeswick', probably taken from the River Gipping which is the non-tidal section of the River Orwell. As of 2007, the borough of Ipswich is estimated to have a population of approximately 128,000 inhabitants.

Under the Roman empire, the area around Ipswich formed an important route inland to rural towns and settlements via the rivers Orwell and Gipping.^{[citation needed]} A large Roman fort, part of the coast defences of Britain, stood at Walton near Felixstowe (13 miles, 21 km), and the largest Roman villa in Suffolk (possibly an administrative complex) stood at Castle Hill (north-west Ipswich).

Michael Joseph "Mick" McCarthy (born 7 February 1959) is an English-born former Irish international footballer who was most recently the manager of Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers.

McCarthy began his playing career at Barnsley in 1977, and he later had spells at Manchester City, Celtic, Lyon, and finally Millwall, retiring in 1992. He also played internationally, representing the Republic of Ireland on 57 occasions.

After his 1992 retirement, he managed Millwall, and then the Republic of Ireland. He guided Ireland to the knockout stage of the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan. He later managed Sunderland, and most recently Wolverhampton Wanderers. He has also worked as a television pundit and commentator, most recently in South Africa as part of the BBC's 2010 World Cup coverage.

Born in Barnsley, Yorkshire and a boyhood Leeds United fan, McCarthy made his league debut for then-Fourth Division Barnsley on 20 August 1977 in a 4–0 win over Rochdale. He spent two years in the basement league, before the club won promotion. Two years later, the team again went up to the (old) Division 2. A strong central defender, he was a virtual ever-present for his hometown club, but departed in December 1983 for fellow Division 2 club Manchester City.