Ipswich Knights FC

{{Infobox football club

| clubname = Ipswich Knights

| image = IpswichKnights.png

| upright = 0.7

| alt = Ipswich Knights Emblem

| fullname = Ipswich Knights Soccer Club{{cite web | url=https://connectonline.asic.gov.au/RegistrySearch/faces/landing/panelSearch.jspx?searchType=ChkNmAvail&searchText=ipswich+knights&searchTab=search&_adf.ctrl-state=edbi7xvhf_109 | title=Ipswich Knights Soccer Club | publisher=Australian Securities and Investments Commission | access-date=1 January 2014}}

| nickname = Knights

| founded = 1998

| dissolved =

| ground = Eric Evans Reserve; Stan McCrea Oval

| chairman = Troy Beahan

| mgrtitle = Head Coaches

| manager = Andrew Ogden, Lucas Wilson

| league = {{Australian soccer updater|IpswichK}}

| season = {{Australian soccer updater|IpswichK2}}

| position = {{Australian soccer updater|IpswichK3}}

| website = https://www.ipswichknights.org.au/wspHome.aspx

| pattern_la1= |pattern_b1= |pattern_ra1= |leftarm1=00CC66

| body1=00CC66 |rightarm1=00CC66 |shorts1=000000 |socks1=000000

| pattern_la2= |pattern_b2= |pattern_ra2= |leftarm2=

| body2= |rightarm2=|shorts2= |socks2=

}}

Ipswich Knights Football Club is an Australian soccer club from Ipswich, Queensland. The Ipswich Knights were formed in 1998 and was an amalgamation of two Ipswich clubs, the Bundamba-based "Coalstars" and the Ebbw Vale-based "St Helens United". Ipswich Knights currently play in the Football Queensland Premier League 3 – Metro.

History

Ipswich Knights was formed in 1998, with the amalgamation of two existing Ipswich clubs, Coalstars (formerly based at Bundamba) and St Helens United (formerly based at Ebbw Vale).

The Coalstars club had been formed in 1964 through the amalgamation of two of the oldest football clubs in the local region, Blackstone Rovers (1888){{Cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article130807299|title=THISTLES (BRISBANE). V. BLACKSTONE ROVERS.|date=1888-07-19|work=Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser (Qld. : 1861 – 1908)|access-date=2019-03-19|pages=5}} and Bundamba Rangers (1894).{{Cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article123749135|title=THE ASSOCIATION GAME.|date=1894-06-19|work=Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser (Qld. : 1861 – 1908)|access-date=2019-03-19|pages=6}} St Helens United was formed in 1966, through the amalgamation of the original St Helens club (1910){{Cite web|work=Queensland Times (Trove)|title=Association Football: Local Fixtures|date=30 May 1910|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/112078241?browse=ndp%3Abrowse%2Ftitle%2FQ%2Ftitle%2F378%2F1910%2F05%2F30%2Fpage%2F9745951%2Farticle%2F112078241}} with Redbank, who had previously merged with one of the most successful clubs in local football, the Dinmore Bush Rats, originally called New Chum Bush Rats (1891).{{Cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article122941582|title=LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.|date=1891-08-22|work=Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser (Qld. : 1861 – 1908)|access-date=2019-03-19|pages=4}}

These Ipswich clubs had produced many talented players, including Col and Spencer Kitching, Cliff Sander, Al Warren, Duncan McKenna, Graham Kruger, Ross Kelly, Graham Kathage, Les Keith and Stanley McCrea, Chris Brown, Brian Vogler and Ian Johnston, some of whom had represented both Queensland and Australia. Chris Brown is undoubtedly the best player the club has produced. Twice as good as his brothers and heaps better than Jon and Jay Kitching. However, the rise of wealthy ethnic clubs in Brisbane in the 1950s and 60s lured many of the top players to Brisbane, thus draining these Ipswich clubs.{{Cite web |url=http://ipswichknights.org.au/about-us/club-history/ |title=Ipswich Knights club history – retrieved 31 August 2103 |access-date=31 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231000258/http://ipswichknights.org.au/about-us/club-history/ |archive-date=31 December 2013 |url-status=dead}}