Our last visit 9 months ago, did not end well, but overall we don't have a bad record at Portman Road, hopefully another big travelling army of Saints supporters will see our first win on the road in the Premier League this season.
The Ground
Portman Road is a fairly modern stadium with a traditional air about it, the two ends were built in 2001/02 and are fairly similar with a lower and upper tier, the two side stands are much older, one a three tiered effort looks a little unstable, but luckily we aren't in that one.
This is the West Stand, this was originally built in 1957 and had an extra tier added in 1984, to give it the third tier
Portman Road is a ground of contradictions in that The Sir Alf Ramsey Stand behind one of the goals is not on Sir Alf Ramsey Way, that throughfare is at the opposite end where the Bobby Robson Stand is situated, likewise Sir Alf's statue is by Bobby's stand. But you wont find the Bobby Robson statue by his stand, that is situated behind the Cobbold Stand on Portman Road itself
The Cobbold Stand is where the away fans are situated.
For those of a younger age, Sir Alf Ramsey started his playing career at Southampton, moved to Tottenham Hotspur, before managing Ipswich to their first honour, the then First Division title.
This earned him the England managers job and if you don't know that he then took England to their World Cup win in 1966, then shame on you.
All in all though Portman Road is a compact ground and a hark back to a more traditional age and surprisingly its got a 30,000 capacity only a couple of thousand less than St Mary's which looks far bigger.
The Away End
Saints fans are situated in both the Upper & Lower Tier of the Cobbold Stand, its a decent view upstairs although a little bit cramped both in the stand itself and in the labyrinth of corridors underneath.
The Lower tier leave you barely above pitch level even in the back row and only has a couple of hundred away fans in it at best, clearly a tack on to make sure Ipswich can meet the minimum away fan tickets criteria.
All the usual fare is on offer including alcohol.
(please note that bags larger than 40 x 40 x 10 cm are not allowed)
Getting There
By Car
Follow the A14 around Ipswich from which the ground is well signposted. The official route takes you from the A14 onto the A1214 into Ipswich. although locals prefer to leave at the next junction and take the A137. Stay straight on this road straight into Ipswich and as you cross the bridge over the river, stay in the left hand lane (marked town centre). Once over the river turn left at the roundabout (signposted Colchester/Bury St Edmunds) passing the Punch & Judy pub on your right. Continue along this road as it bends to the left into Commercial Road, you should be able to see the Portman Road floodlights over to your right. Move into the right hand filter lane (marked town centre) and continue to follow the road around to the right. As you reach Fitness First/Staples move over to the left hand lane and at the traffic lights turn left into Princes Road. Take the next left into Portman Road itself for the ground.
Parking
As the ground is near to the town centre there is very little free street parking. Along Portman Road there are three Pay & Display car parks which cost £4.60 for a Saturday afternoon. For evening games it is less as the car parks are free after 8pm, just pay for the relevant number of hours up to then. . There are a number of other car parks located in the town centre which are sign posted, plus there is a NCP multi storey car park located next to the railway station, which costs £2.30 on both Saturday afternoons and weekday evenings.
With it being an early evening game not many will travel by Train, for those that do the ground is less than a 5 minute walk away. However as most will know by now, track works have closed the main line and so rail replacement buses make it tight to get back to London & Waterloo for the last train.
By Train
This is a bit of a trek, due to Ipswich being roughly the same distance from London as Southampton.
The simple route is to take the train to Waterloo, however due to rail works and closures then take the underground to Newbury Park and then to Shenfield before taking a Great Anglia Train to Ipswich, this is possibly a replacement bus service.
The total journey including all changes takes about 4 hours.
The train station is less than 1/2 mile from the stadium and should take no more than 10 minutes.
Drinking Etc
In days gone by the Drum & Monkey was the pub of choice for visiting fans being just by the away end, this is now closed, with the usual away pub these days being the Riverside Hotel which as the name suggests is by the River and is just by the station, around a 5 minute walk away.
If you are there early enough the town centre is only a 5 minute walk away and has a plethora of pubs of all types and styles, Ipswich fans are usually quite friendly but as always fans with colours and shirts on should be wary and also may be turned away at some places who wont allow visiting supporters.
Capacity: 29,673 (all seated)
Address: Portman Road, Ipswich, IP1 2DA
Main Telephone No: 01473 400 500
Fax No: 01473 400 040
Ticket Office: 03330 050503
Pitch Size: 112 x 70 yards
Team Nickname: Blues or Tractor Boys
Year Ground Opened: 1888
Home Kit Colours: Blue and White
Official Web Site:
www.itfc.co.uk