Ian Westlake

In his 50th appearance for Ipswich Town against Derby County, Westlake set up the club's first goal of the game, in a 3–2 loss.

Ian John Westlake (born 10 November 1983) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder for Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Brighton & Hove Albion, Cheltenham Town, Oldham Athletic, Wycombe Wanderers, Montreal Impact and Needham Market.

Born in Clacton-on-Sea, Westlake progressed through the youth ranks at Ipswich Town, at the club's reserves and academy.

At one point, he helped the under-17 team to the league title.

Westlake then signed his professional forms with the club during the summer of 2002.

Westlake reflected: "I might never have played professional football had it not been for relegation. Administration meant the club were forced to sell players and that opened the door for people like myself, Darren Bent and Darren Ambrose. It gave us our chance and, as odd as it sounds, I personally feel I owe my career to relegation."

Westlake made his debut for Ipswich Town, coming on as a substitute in a 1–0 home defeat to Gillingham on 26 October 2002.

Westlake made a further three appearances for Ipswich Town during the 2002–03 season.

Having spent months at the club's reserves, it wasn't until on 15 March 2003 when he made his return to the first team, coming on as a 72nd-minute substitute, in a 1–0 win against Sheffield Wednesday.

At the start of the 2003–04 season, Westlake made his first appearance of the season, coming on as a second half substitute, in a 1–1 draw against Coventry City on 23 August 2003.

Seven days later on 30 August 2003, he made his first start for Ipswich Town, as they lost 2–1 against West Ham United.

Westlake then scored his first goal for the side during the 3–4 home defeat to Gillingham on 1 November 2003.

Three weeks later on 22 November 2003, Westlake scored his second goal for the club, in a 3–0 win against Sheffield United.

Initially, his playing time mostly comes from the substitute bench but soon make number of starts as the season progressed.

At the end of the 2003–04 season, he made a further 43 appearances for the club and also scored 7 goals, For his performance, Westlake was awarded Ipswich Town Player of the Year.

It wasn't until on 31 January 2004 when he scored his third goal of the season, in a 1–1 draw against Coventry City.

Westlake scored two more goals in February, coming against Bradford City and Preston North End.

His seventh goal of the season came on 30 April 2004 against Sheffield United, drawing 1–1.

Westlake played in both legs of the Division One Play–Offs against West Ham United, as Ipswich Town lost 2–1 on aggragate.

In August 2004, Westlake was called up to the England Under-21 national team.

Amid to the international call up, he continued to establish himself in the starting eleven, playing in the midfield position at the start of the 2004–05 season, though his performance failed to recapture the same levels as he did with the previous season.

In a follow–up match against Cardiff City, he scored his first goal of the season, in a 3–1 win and scored again four days later on 25 August 2004, in a 2–0 win against Brentford in the second round of the League Cup.

Westlake scored four more goals by the end of the year.

His performance led Manager Joe Royle saw in a potential in him, saying he could one day captain the club.

Since the start of the 2004–05 season, Westlake started in every match until he missed one match, due to suspension.

Despite suffering injuries later in the 2004–05 season, Westlake went on to make fifty appearances and scoring eight times in all competitions.

After serving a one match suspension, Westlake returned to the starting line–up against Reading on 21 January 2005, as the club drew 1–1.

He later scored two more goals for Ipswich Town against Nottingham Forest and Rotherham United, adding his tally to eight goals this season.

Westlake set up the club's first two goals in the match, winning 5–1 against Crewe Alexandra on 30 April 2005.

He, once again, played in both legs of the Championship Play–Offs against West Ham United, as Ipswich Town lost 4–2 on aggragate.

At the start of the 2005–06 season, Westlake started in the first seven matches of the season, playing in the midfield position and scored his first goal of the season, in a 2–1 win against Sheffield Wednesday on 20 August 2005.

This lasted until Westlake suffered an ankle injury that kept him out for six weeks, eventually sidelined for two months.

He didn't make his return to the first team until on 5 November 2005, coming on as a 76th-minute substitute, in a 3–1 win against Plymouth Argyle.

After making two more appearances since returning from injury, Westlake suffered ankle injury once again and was out for a week.

He didn't make a return to the first team until on 10 December 2005 against Queens Park Rangers, coming on as a second half substitute, in a 2–2 draw.

Westlake then scored his second goal of the season, in a 1–0 win against Luton Town on 31 December 2005.

Since returning from injury, he regained his first team place for Ipswich Town, playing in the midfield position.

This lasted until Westlake suffered injuries on two occasions towards the end of the 2005–06 season.

At the end of the 2005–06 season, he made twenty–eight appearances and scoring two times in all competitions.

Westlake then signed a contract with Ipswich Town, keeping him until 2008.