Internet Football Ground Guide - Portman Road, Ipswich Town FC

Portman Road Ipswich Town
Premier League v Arsenal
Saturday, December 1st 2001, 3pm
Lee Roberts

I'd been a little worried about securing a ticket for a fixture a Portman Road for some time as the ongoing re-development of the stadium meant a reduced capacity and tickets were at a premium. Unable to get one for Everton's visit back in October, I was beginning to believe that I would complete the 92 at Ipswich, but that I would have to wait until the building work had finished. Fortunately, a work colleague knew a couple of season ticket holders at Portman Road and through that contact I learnt that a limited number of tickets for the unfinished North Stand were being made available that day for the Arsenal game a couple of days later. A quick phone call later and I'd secured my seat, with the ticket office proving their efficiency as the ticket arrived through my letterbox the following morning.

The road trip to the Suffolk town is relatively short however I decided to take the train as it allowed me to visit some clothes shops in central London on the way. Having arrived at Liverpool Street station for the service to Ipswich, I managed to find a spot where I got a decent reception on the radio and listened with excitement to the draw for the World Cup; my excitement was soon deflated once I realised how tough our group is. The rest of the journey across to Ipswich was painless and I arrived with plenty of time to kill before the kick-off.

The ground is clearly visible once you exit the station and is a mere two minutes' walk away. There were many Arsenal fans already milling around and the atmosphere was building; the home fans obviously swelled in numbers by the North Stand and the topic of conversation all around me was of the forthcoming matches against Inter Milan in the UEFA Cup. I took in the club shop and it was awash with all manner of souvenir t-shirts, scarves and flags in readiness of the big games ahead. The other items of interest around the outside of Portman Road included the statue of Sir Alf Ramsey behind the growing North Stand, and the area directly behind the Main (West) Stand; this large plot of land incorporated training pitches - upon which a number of children's games were being played prior to kick-off - and VIP/hospitality tents that seemed to be doing a brisk trade.

Once inside the ground I soon discovered that the remainder of my afternoon would be a little uncomfortable, especially if it rained. All fans entering into the North Stand were handed cheap rain-macs as the roof was not in place. Furthermore, the refreshment outlets and toilets were of the temporary nature - indeed, the food stand comprised of little more than a young lad stood behind a wooden desk making it seem like a church fete. With such bare facilities it was clear to see that large queues would form and this they certainly did. As always on my stadium visits, I try to obtain a few photos of the stand in which I was sitting or standing and this is usually done at half time. However on this occasion I noticed large numbers of fans making a similar move to visit the greater number of toilets etc within the adjacent Cobbold Stand. I chanced my arm and attempted to do likewise and was amazed at the ease in which this was achieved. Stranger still was the lack of stewards or police that prevented me from walking straight through into the Arsenal section of the lower Cobbold Stand, and it was from within that section that I grabbed my pictures.

The North Stand seemed to be progressing nicely - although with no roof I still worried about the darkening December clouds overhead - but it seemed to be of a slightly smaller size than the impressive Churchmans Stand behind the opposite goal. Both stands comprise two tiers of blue seating but the upper tier of the Churchmans was strange in that it is larger than it's counterpart down below. The Cobbold Stand to the left of the North Stand looks rather mundane sitting between the two new structures at either end of it. The shallow lower tier is perched below a row of standard executive boxes and a larger upper tier houses both home and away fans, who are allocated the corner towards the Churchmans Stand. The West Stand to my right looked larger in reality than it appeared on the TV and underneath a cavernous old roof was 3 tiers of seating.

During the game Arsenal completely outclassed their hosts and it was evident as to why they were pursuing the Premiership title, and why Ipswich were languishing at the bottom of the table. At times, Arsenal's attacking play was majestic but they were helped by naive defending by the home side. The game ended without any rain and I joined the hordes of visiting Gooners walking back to the train station with their 3 points in the bag. Upon arrival at the station I could make out the usual heavy policy presence but as I got close to the entrance I noticed that they were joined by rail officials and no passengers were being allowed in. It soon transpired that a train had caught fire just outside of Colchester and all services to London were suspended. A two hour wait followed until the trains were allowed to resume their journeys and so my pleasant day out to Suffolk ended in frustration. Living only 70 miles away, it was amazing to arrive back home nearly five hours after the final whistle had blown. Overall, I thought Portman Road was a decent ground and the crowd certainly had feelings for both their club and ever-improving stadium.

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