Portman Road - Ipswich Town

Portman Road - Ipswich Town
By SeasideEssexXile

Saturday sees another long trek south, this time to the home of Ipswich Town.

Last season saw us take in a trip to the tractor boys for the first time in 37 years and ironically this season`s fixture list has given us the away trip on the exact corresponding weekend as last time round.

Our record against the boys in blue is awful but as we've shown on more than one occasion a poor home defeat isn't followed by the same again away from home.

How to get there
M55, M6 South, all the way to the end past J1 but before you join the M1 South hanger left on to the A14. Keep on the A14 until J53 & at the roundabout join the A1156. At the next roundabout take the 2nd left signposted A1156. At mini-roundabouts turn right onto the A1214 Signposted Colchester A12. At the traffic lights continue forward onto the A1214 (signposted Colchester A12). At the traffic lights continue forward onto the A137, turn left onto Portman's Walk, continue forward onto Sir Alf Ramsey Way, turn right onto Constantine Road and you`ve arrived. Ipswich to Knobbersville last season on the Sunday morning just over 3 hrs…
Sat nav fans - IP1 2DA.

For the Virgin lovers amongst us
The ground is only a quarter of a mile away from Ipswich train station and is visible as you leave the station.

The Ground
I was quietly impressed by Portman Road on my last visit. It looks nice, a mixture of the old and the new and the statues of old favourites outside the ground gave it a feeling of being cared for. The ground holds over 30000.

The away fans are sat in the top corner of the Cobbold Stand, there's room for 1900 here. Last season I sat by the halfway line in the same stand but in the family section. Not a bad view from here and considerably cheaper than the away seats. The pastie bought inside the ground before the game was the tastiest I`ve had in many a year.

Where to Drink
Limited choice around the ground, that said we drank quite happily in the Old Orlean's. Relatively close to the ground on the retail park and it held a good mix of both home and away fans. Other suggested pub is the Station Hotel near to, surprise, surprise the station.

Plod & Stewards
The antics seen last week at home will hopefully not be repeated this week. That said one of more vocal posters saw the long arm of the Suffolk law here last season unlike the end of the game. Should be relatively hassle free.

Fear factor Rating - 2

This rush of games over the next 4 weeks will go a long way in deciding our fate for the season. Luckily our away form this year is superb, and with the game being played on Valentines day here's hoping we love the final result and that cupid puts his little arrow right through a blue heart and not a travelling tangerine one.

Onwards + Upwards