Ipswich Town FC - away supporters' guide
RTG’s totally and utterly (we hope) indispensable guide to this season’s away grounds.
THE OPPO Ipswich Town
DATE – Sunday 17 April
KO TIME – 12 noon
THE GROUND – Portman Road, Ipswich– click here and here for maps of the area - the arrow points to where the ground is.
Ipswich is in the county of Suffolk in south-east England, about 12 miles from Harwich and Felixstowe on the coast and around 40 miles east of Cambridge. The ground is pretty much right in the centre of Ipswich, close to the river and also handy for Ipswich rail station.
AWAY SUPPORTERS
Away supporters are accommodated at one end of the Cobbold Stand (upper and lower tiers), in blocks V1 and V2.
DISABLED FACILITIES
There are 9 designated areas for disabled supporters in the Britannia Stand Lower, Greene King Stand Upper and Lower, and North Stand upper/lower; within those areas, a total of 300 supporters in wheelchairs can be accommodated. There’s an additional area in the Cobbold Stand with 12 seats for visually impaired supporters and their escorts, and commentary via headphones is provided to these seats. Contact disability@itfc.co.uk for further details. 50 car parking spaces at Portman Road are set aside for disabled supporters, sold on a first-come-first-served basis: contact Aaron Claxton on 01473 400517.
TICKETS
General sale commences Monday 4 April.
GOING BY CAR?
Travelling from the north east, get yourself onto the A1/A1M southbound and stay on for about 190 miles – until you get into Cambridgeshire, past Peterborough and just before Huntingdon.
Look for signs for the A14 signposted ‘London E, M11, Cambridge’ and stay on that road for nearly 70 miles, until you reach jcn 51.
Turn left onto the A1156 (signposted Ipswich West and North) and at roundabout take 1st exit
After 2 miles turn right ,onto the A1214 (signposted ‘Colchester’)
At the next traffic lights go straight ahead onto the A137 West End Road; stay left, then at the next lights turn left into Princes Street then left again into Portman Road.
In total there are 5,800 spaces in the various town centre car parks – three of those car parks are on Portman Road itself; also a multi-storey next to the station. A Park & Ride service operates from 7am to 7pm, for details click here.
ALS BUS
A Love Supreme are providing their usual coach service down to Ipswich. The cost is £23pp and coaches leave the ALS shop (opposite the Stadium of Light) at 5am on the day. To book, either phone or fax 0191 565 4422 (Mon-Fri 9-5 and matchdays) - credit and debit cards accepted. Or go to the ALS shop and pay in person. Or reserve your place online - either email mail@a-love-supreme.com to tell them you want to book a place, or click here to book and pay online.
Reservations and refunds deadline 48 hours before departure.
GOING BY TRAIN?
As it's an early kickoff and a hellish long journey, there are no trains that can get you there in time unless you go the day before.
STOPPING OVER?
- Holiday Inn Express, Old Hadleigh Rd, Ipswich – tel 01473-222279
- Travel Inn, Bourne Hill, Ipswich – tel 08701 977 143
- Travelodge, A12 Capel St Mary, Ipswich – tel 0870 191 1542
- Station Hotel, Burrell Rd, Ipswich – tel 01473 602664
- Highview House Hotel, Belstead Rd, Ipswich – tel 01473 601620
SCRAN AND BOOZE
You’ll find the usual array of chips and burger bars along Portman Road. Most pubs in the area welcome away supporters. The Station Hotel (as the name suggests, close to the station!) is a regular meeting place for away supporters. The Greyhound on Henley Road sells Adnams beer and comes highly recommended, and the Milestone Beer House on Woodridge Road does a wide range of food and the ‘Fat Cat’ pub has won the Suffolk Pub of the Year award more than once. In the town centre there’s a Hogs Head selling Caledonian Deuchar's IPA, and two Wetherspoons pubs.
Head into the town centre area and there are loads of places to eat.
LEND US A FIVER I’M OUT OF CASH
There’ll be cash machines at Kings Cross Station if you’re taking the train down, and more at Ipswich station.
There’s a Barclays and also a Co-Op and a Bank of Scotland on Princes Street that has ATMs, and are quite close to the ground, also close by is the Tesco on Ropes Drive which has a Royal Bank of Scotland ATM.
THIS SEASON
Currently 3rd of 24 with 76 points:
P40 W22 D10 L8 F72 A46 Pts 76 GD 26
HOME FORM
P20 W15 D2 L34 F42 A20 Pts 47 GD 22
LAST 6 MEETINGS
21/11/04 Sunderland 2 Ipswich 0 (Elliott, Brown)
12/04/04 Ipswich 1 Sunderland 0
24/01/04 Ipswich 1 Sunderland 2 (Smith, Arca)
30/09/03 Sunderland 3 Ipswich 2 (Breen, Oster, Kyle)
29/12/01 Ipswich 5 Sunderland 0
18/08/01 Sunderland 1 Ipswich 0 (Phillips)
TRIVIA
Two former Ipswich managers have both left their post to take over as England manager, and both were later knighted by the Queen: Alf Ramsay and Bobby Robson.
George Burley, who managed Town from 1994 for eight years, played for Sunderland for three years in the mid-1980s, after a 12-year spell playing for…..Ipswich, his first employers in football.
Our own Marcus Stewart signed for them from Huddersfield in February 2000, for the club’s then record transfer fee of £2.75m. He stayed for two and a half years, scoring 37 goals in 93 appearances. He was a crowd favourite but in his last season at Portman Road, scored only 10 goals compared against 21 the season before.
The first president of the club was T C Cobbold; there’s been a member of his family on the board ever since.
The club was founded in 1878 as Ipswich AFC, as a rival to one already playing, known as Ipswich FC They didn’t settle at Portman Road until 1884, but Ipswich FC also laid claim to that ground, so the two sides joined forces in 1888, becoming ‘Ipswich Town’.
Famous ex-Ipswich players: Alun Armstrong, Marcus Bent, Chris Bart-Williams, Matt Holland, John Moncur, Tony Mowbray, Martijn Reuser, Alan Sunderland, John Wark, Richard Wright.
Ex-Ipswich players with an SAFC connection: Ian Atkins, Rod Belfitt, Keith Bertschin, George Burley, Terry Butcher, Alec Chamberlain, Lee Chapman, Pat Curran, Eric Gates, Danny Hegan, Lee Howey, Chris Makin, James Nelson, Marcus Stewart.
Credits Ipswich Town FC, London Clarets, Ipswich borough council, Pride of Anglia, Link, Multimap, Rough Guide to English Football, Soccerbase, streetmap.co.uk, The AA, BBC.
Rumor Mill
There are so many Rumors floating around SAFC at the moment I thought that it might be nice to put three of the ones that are big enough to have crossed the pond and reached my ears in New York all in one place and see if any of them actually come to fruition by next season.
THE RUMOR: Murray to Sell Sunderland AFC?
Probably the biggest rumor currently flying around is that there are possible buyers out there who are interested to take over SAFC. Although the numbers vary there apparently could be up to four individuals, almost certainly Sunderland supporters, possibly in some sort of conglomerate…although one is more likely. Possible names range from the probable and include Reg Vardy , David Bannertyne (not of hulk fame) and the Cowie family to the less then likely McCartneys of Beatle fame.
BELIEVABILITY: 8/10
SUBSTANCE?
Timing is everything in this game and Murray’s recent acquisition of the majority of club shares, together with SAFC’s current cash-in promotion push give this rumor real substance. Although it could conceivably be profit taking you must remember that SAFC was taken off the stock-market and currently SAFC’s shares are self-valued, so political rather then financial gain are the most likely reasons.
THE BIG BANANA:
Because Sunderland are currently in line to be promoted there’s still a big chance Bob is profit taking. Also, even if this rumor is true, a deal has to be brokered and that means that it might not happen any time soon.
THE RUMOR: Diadora going bust?
Sunderland home shirt prices reached an all time low recently thanks to one or two sports chain stores in the UK, further fueling rumors that Diadora was selling its UK business and that sunderland would have a new home shirt to go with its smart new black away shirt next season. Possible buyers include Patrick shirts and Lonsdale of Blackburn fame (I hope not Lonsdale doesn’t look a particularaly appetizing choice).
BELIEVABILITY: 4/10
SUBSTANCE?
Current shirts have never been so cheap, workers in several sports stores across the UK have reported that the reason for the sale is because Diadora are indeed pulling out of the English market.
THE BIG BANANA:
Don’t forget the recent ruling regarding the maximum of one home shirt every two years. More likely then Diadora pulling out of england, or alternatively us getting a new home shirt, are the possibilities that we’re changing the kit somehow (possibly to satisfy the current suggestion by the FA that teams with white stripes in the premiership have white spaces over where the numbers are, my understanding that this rule is voluntary however).
The most likely reason is that SAFC is unhappy with Diadora for letting the shirts go so cheap outside of the club shops and is threatening to pull out of the deal, not the other way around.
THE RUMOR: Kevin Phillips to come back.
Kevin Phillips was spotted attending more then one home game recently giving fans reason to believe that he’s on his way back.
BELIVEABILITY: 4/10
SUBSTANCE?
Recent family problems could mean that the striker is unsettled in Southampton. Plus he was definitely at the Stadium of Light more then once recently.
THE BIG BANANA:
Probably wishful thinking on the fans part. Even Peter Reid still attends some home games sometimes and after reading a recent poll thread on the SMB Phillips would probably rather be on the next bus to Mexico rather then sunderland. More likely is the possibility that we’re going to sign an ex-sunderland Birmingham player who has expressed an interest in returning to the north east.
TICKET NEWS: Ipswich (A), West Ham (A)
Coca Cola Championship
Ipswich v Sunderland AFC
Sunday 17 April 2005
Kick Off 12pm
General sale commences Monday 4 April.
Adults £20-£29, Junior £5.50-£8.50
Coca Cola Championship
West Ham v Sunderland AFC
Friday 29 April 2005
Kick Off 7.45pm
Season ticket holders can apply until Monday 11 April - voucher 35 required.
General sale commences Monday 18 April.
Adults £24, OAP £12, Junior £12
Club confirm extra pre-season game
The club has today announced an extra game on the pre-season tour of America/Canada in July.
The lads start the far-flung schedule with a game against Victoria State on Thursday 14 July, at the Centennial Stadium, at the University of Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia
No ticket prices have yet been announced, but more details are available from Justin Flett at jflett@whitecapsfc.com or telephone 00 604-669-9283 (ext. 227).
Sunderland will also play the Vancouver Whitecaps, the Seattle Sounders and the Portland Timbers on the pre-season tour.
Show me the way to Aston Villa - report on QPR game
Another victory in London after being behind at half time. The only disappointment being that the previous one was four years ago at Chelsea with a Don Hutchison inspired fight back to win 4-2. Was that really in this lifetime? Well, this one might have been a long time coming. We are now a different club inhabiting a different world. But the red and white army celebrated as loudly and as proudly.
To hell with this “one game at a time”, “there’s still a lot to play” for nonsense. I’m going straight from terrified worry to complacent arrogance – we are going up. This current run reminds me of the 95-96 promotion season when we weren’t doing much (and actually were quite pleased about it – the previous season we thought we were going down). Then suddenly we won 10 games (I think it was) straight off the trot and without realising we were in with a shout, we were promoted. This seven game run has been like that. It just keeps on happening. We haven’t quite settled down from grumbling about the Brighton game and here we are 21 points out of 21. Amazing. Having been on the other end of teams having such runs we know how Wigan and Ipswich supporters must feel about our run. They’ll have seen us 1-0 down at half time and thought “ah-ha, our chance to catch them up”. Seeing the full-time score of 3-1 would make their hearts sink and their minds move on to “OK, it’s between us two for the other promotion place now” (see, I told you I was going for complacent arrogance).
It was a beautiful day in West London. As usual, the red and white army were present in every pub and many were taking the opportunity to drink al fresco. The only downside is that it is a surprisingly long walk from Shepherd’s Bush Common (where a good proportion of us chose to drink) to the away end. It isn’t that far as the crow flies but not many crows had made the trip down from the Northeast. Loftus Road, despite their support not generally being regarded as amongst the most passionate, generates a fantastic atmosphere, being tightly closed in and squeezed right up onto the pitch. We were in the lower tier, second row right over by the corner flag on the left hand (as you looked from the stand) side. Fortunately most things of note happened down our end.
McCartney was out, which I was worried about as Ringo has been playing really well lately. Arca dropped back, which was fine if we were to attack, but I thought this was a game that we might end up doing a decent amount of defending. That meant Welsh played on the left wing. More surprising was that there was no place for Brian Deane on the bench. Afterwards we found out he had a slight strain so one hopes we’ll see him on the bench on Tuesday. Sadly that probably means no place for Bridges as Brown is on fire and can count himself unlucky not to be getting a starting place.
The first half was forgettable. They seemed to have a lot of corners (a feature of the game generally) but on the whole did nowt with them. We were sluggish and weren’t creating much. We had a flicked on corner cleared off the line (well, that is how it looked from my angle – it could have been the edge of the 18 yard box) and Robbo got into a perfect Quinnesque position at the far post to Quinn-like cushion the header back towards the far corner. Did I say far corner? I meant just past the post – but well-done Robbo for getting there. One of their corners Wright (who was otherwise OK) decided to mark their big centre half by running a couple of yards behind him. The ball came over to the centre just outside the six-yard box. Myrhe decided that was way too far out for him and stayed on his line (am I the only one who gets riled by Myrhe doing this? And yes – I do remember what happened when he tried at Wolves a few weeks back). So Shitu (or whatever his name is) got a free header to give QPR a lead they deserved.
Five minutes before half time something happened that we rarely see at this stage of the game – Mick made a tactical (well, at least I think it was) substitution – Brown coming on for Whitley (who had being having a shocker). Good move I thought to try to snatch an undeserved equaliser just as they were relaxing and looking forward to the half-time cup of tea. Of course it didn’t work but never mind. I was fairly happy at half time. I still have the Brighton scars and was worried that if we conceded a second like we did down there we’d not get back into it. As it was we’d played poorly and were only 1-0 down. We could up our game an awful lot. There were a few boos as the lads went off. Free country and everything but always seems counter-productive to me – it’s the manager’s job to kick them up the bottoms. I’ve never felt we could do anything more than try to help by giving vocal support (which generally we did magnificently).
Apparently Mick had a real go at them at half time. It “worked” in as much as we got an equaliser in the first minute that transformed the game. I’d spent half-time saying that Welsh had had an awful half (on the basis that he was the only player I could get a clear view of from where I was). So him scoring was inevitable. Wright floated over a ball Mickey Gray like into the centre of the box. There was Robbo, again doing his Niall Quinn impersonation (very strange but highly commendable). He got the flick on to Welsh in the inside left channel who fired the ball across goal like they tell you to do in coaching manuals. I’ve said before on these pages how much better an away game is when the lads score at our end and so it was here.
The game now took on a different character. They collectively seemed to think “oh god, we are playing Sunderland, who are clear at the top and have won their last six games”. We collectively seemed to think “hold on, we are Sunderland, who are clear at the top and have won our last six games.” We suddenly played with confidence; they played with nerves. The only similarity to the first half was that they still got loads of corners. As before they did little with them.
Our second goal was a lovely move – Stew, I think, threading through for Whitehead, who squared it for Brown, who made a difficult conversion look easy. Then to make us able to relax we got a third. Hmm, this is not the SAFC I know and love. I like to be biting my nails into the last seconds of injury time – often breaking down in despair as we throw away a one-goal lead. An excellent through ball was played for Stew who was racing (honestly! – well OK, moving relatively quickly) down the middle. He took a good first touch to take the ball goalwards. Then for reasons not clear to me, he took a very poor second touch to knock the ball too close to the goalkeeper. I’ve talked before how unimpressed I am by thirty-yard screamers. Leave them for Sky. Real goals are the ones that show the “never say die, never surrender” attitude. This team is not the most skilful. We all know that. But it does display that attitude really well. And no-one more than the reinvigorated Marcus Stewart. Despite knocking the ball too far he continued to go in for it and didn’t allow the keeper to get a proper hold of it. Arca (who was now at left wing – Collins D coming on at left back for Welsh) had also not allowed the misfortune of Stew’s second touch to put him off. As the ball squirmed out, Arca was there to make what other pundits might regard as an “easy” goal but I celebrated as a proper football goal.
Tubby came on for, err… Whitehead, I think – yes it must have been Whitehead. I feel sorry for Sean – he wants to be the dazzling creator but is often having these close the game down cameos. On the other hand it is probably doing a lot for his footballing maturity and I thought he played the role very well.
So, mass celebrations and back down to the pubs round Shepherd’s Bush Common for rousing renditions of a song I hadn’t heard before but I hope catches on over the next few weeks. To the tune of “Show me the way to Amarillo(sp?)”:
“Show me the way to Aston Villa
Man United, the Scum and the Boro
Say goodbye to the Coca Cola
The Premier League waits for me”
(followed of course by the nah, nahs of the original)
Things got even better as we heard Wigan had been beaten at home so we were now 5 points clear of both clubs. And this was all before we got home to see Match of the Day, which included the unscheduled comedy all-in wrestling.
