IPSWICH Town are to play in an unprecedented four Suffolk county cups this season.

An Ipswich Town XI are entered into the newly-named Turners Hyundai Suffolk Premier Cup, and Ipswich Town Women will be defending the HomeStore Self Storage Suffolk Women’s Cup.

In addition, the club have also entered sides into the CNet Training Suffolk Senior Cup and the Suffolk Boys’ Under-18 Midweek Cup, the latter for the first time.

The county’s only professional club will field an under-18 side in the CNet Training Suffolk Senior Cup.

Ipswich have a long and successful history in the Suffolk Senior Cup, losing in the inaugural final 3-1 to Woodbridge in the 1885-56 season, after 2-2 and 0-0 draws.

The club won the competition the following season, defeating Ipswich School 2-1 in the final – the first of three successes in the space of four years.

The last time an Ipswich Town side reached the final was in the 1954-55 season, Ipswich Town losing 2-0 to Long Melford.

The club will be represented for the first time in the Suffolk Boys’ Under-18 Midweek Cup by an under-16 side.

The draw for the Suffolk Boys’ Under-18 Midweek Cup has already taken place with Ipswich drawn away to Coplestonians FC.

As in recent seasons in the Suffolk Premier Cup, Ipswich will be the away side across all three men’s competitions, even if they are initially drawn as the home team.

Lee O’Neill, Ipswich Town’s general manager of football operations, said: “As well as providing an opportunity for our younger players to continue their education in knock-out competition football, it’s also beneficial for the club’s role in the community to be out there playing local teams.”  

Suffolk FA Chief Executive Richard Neal said: “How exciting it is that Ipswich Town will have three teams in Suffolk County Cups for the 2019-20 season, indicating the standard of play within each of the competitions.

The experience of playing in such highly-competitive fixtures will do the young ITFC players the world of good with their development, and I’m sure the opposing teams will find it equally beneficial.”

The draw for the HomeStore Self Storage Suffolk Women’s Cup will be broadcast on BBC Radio Suffolk’s sports programme between 2.30pm and 3pm on Saturday afternoon.

The draws for both the Turners Hyundai Suffolk Premier Cup and CNet Training Suffolk Senior Cup will be broadcast on the same programme between 5.30pm and 6pm.

With 17 sides taking part in this season’s Turners Hyundai Suffolk Premier Cup, only one first-round tie will be drawn, so the second round draws will also be made.

A total of 32 teams will be in the first-round draw for the CNet Training Suffolk Senior Cup and 20 teams in the HomeStore Self Storage Suffolk Women’s Cup.