QPR are on the road again this weekend as they visit another team chasing the play offs, Ipswich Town.

Ground Name: Portman Road Capacity: 30 300 (all seated)
Address: Portman Road, Ipswich, IP1 2DA
Main Telephone No: 01473 400 500
Fax No: 01473 400 040
Ticket Office: 0870 111 0555

This guide is brought to you in association with Mrs Clive - she has a season ticket at Ipswich so you can trust her because she goes here a lot, or you can ignore her because you think she might be having you on and trying to get 1200 QPR fans to rattle round Lowestoft for the afternoon just for the craic.

By Car:
Mrs Clive says just stay on the A12 until the Copdock Interchange (the junction with the A14, where the big Tesco and Toys R Us) where it turns into the A1214 (London Rd) going through town.

So, at the Interchange, take the 2nd exit (straight across), over the A12. Follow this road into Ipswich. When you get to the traffic lights at the crossroad with Yarmouth Rd (by Sainsbury's petrol station), turn right and follow the road round. If you want to park by the ground (on the away fan side), get into the left hand lane when you join the one way system by the big ugly council building (the dented steel monstrosity), and the 1st set of traffic lights onto the Princes St. Depending on your timing you should be able to turn onto Portman Rd and go into the car park. If not, continue to the roundabout with Fransican Way, and take the 1st exit. Take the 1st exit at the next roundabout, and the 1st left will be the other end of Portman Rd

Map:

Click map to visit Multi Map site and zoom in/out or tour round.

Parking:
There are several large pay and display car parks around Portman Road however Ipswich loves its park and rides. Every time I go within 30 miles of the place Mrs Clive has me on some bus or other. In fairness the service is cheap, reliable and on a match day when the middle of the town clogs up from lunch time onwards utterly brilliant. If you're coming from London the nearest park and ride is at the Copdock Interchange (regular road commuters will have heard that on the travel news few times) between the A14 and A12. The park and ride is located in amongst Tesco and Toys R Us and all of that bollocks. £3 or thereabouts per car and a regular bus.

Ipswich park and ride website

By Train
Ipswich is a fantastic awayday for those travelling by rail - there are regular high speed services between London and the town and the ground is within easy walking distance of the station and a number of pubs. Try these on for size:

Liverpool Street 1130
Ipswich 1241

Ipswich 1730
Liverpool Street 1845

You can still book this trip for £24 based on buying two single tickets – standard advance singles (two) to be precise.

On arrival come out of the main entrance and everything should be obvious to you. There's a pub dead opposite the station that is traditionally a haunt of the away fans and then the ground is behind that, over the river bridge, and about five minutes away on foot. The town centre is no more than five minutes beyond that.

Pubs:
QPR fans tend to drink in The Station, right opposite the station funnily enough. Failing that the Black Horse is two minutes past the ground on Portman Road as you walk from the Station and is a cracking pub although they don't do food on match days, and it gets packed after 1pm. Failing that again the town centre is a five minute walk away although it's become a bit of a minefield of bouncers, home fan only polices and bans on football colours which is a shame but there are still numerous options. There is a Weatherspoons in the market square not two minutes from the ground where many Rangers fans gathered last season.

Tickets
Negotiating the Ipswich ticket system is like climbing into bed with Carol Vorderman - there's a rewarding 90 minutes at the end of it but Christ the maths is difficult to start with. Not only is it needlessly complicated but it is scandalously priced – away fans in certain seats will be paying fully £8 more than some of the home fans to watch the same match. Ipswich should be totally, utterly and completely ashamed of the prices they charge for Championship football – you thought Palace was expensive, unless you can find a couple of kids to bring with you prepare your wallet for a serious assault.

We have 283 seats in the middle of the Cobbold Stand priced at £31.50 for adults (yes you’re reading that right, £31.50 for Championship football watched from a horrible, cramped old stand) £20.50 for old aged pensioners (again, that’s not a typing error, the cost of an adult ticket at third placed Hull is charged for elderly people at Ipswich) and £9/50 for Under 16s. The 1413 tickets we have in the off centre section are slightly cheaper, but still bloody expensive, particularly for pensioners. £26.50 for adults, £9.50 for under 16s, and £18.50 for pensioners and 16-19 year olds. You can get an adult ticket for £22.50, a senior and teen for £15.50 and a junior for £6.50 in the family stand but you have to go through the turnstiles with two kids and a talking dog or something so good luck with that.

As if that wasn’t scandalous enough – if you pay on the day the cost goes up by £2.50. So you could potentially be charged £34 for an adult and £23 for a pensioner.

Links:

Detailed fans' guide to Portman Road

Official website

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