Portman Road Ipswich Town
Championship League v Colchester United
Saturday, October 27 th 2007, 3pm
David Prior
Portman Road Ipswich Town
Championship League v Colchester United
Saturday, October 27 th 2007,
3pm
David Prior
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I visited Portman
Road for the eagerly anticipated local derby (very local - only 17 miles
of the A12 separate both towns) with limited hope as their home record was
only bettered by Chelsea.
On arriving at
Ipswich station we were greeted by a sizeable police presence and made our
way to the Station Hotel directly opposite the station. As this is the
only away pub between the ground and the station; it will take a while to
get served. After what seemed like an hour of smiling politely in the vain
attempt to get served, we eventually gave up made our way to the
ground, itself only 1/2 mile from the station, where we were greeted by
the largest number of fast food outlets on one road I have ever
seen!
Away fans are usually
accomodated in the 1st 2 blocks of the Cobbold stand upper tier with
around 1700 tickets made available, however as this was a local derby, we
were also allocated 500 seats in the lower tier (families only).
On entering the
stadium you find yourself in the very cramped but very efficient bar which
serves Carling or Greene King IPA and also reasonably priced fayre - pies,
burgers etc, from £2.50. There is also a Ladbrokes kiosk for those
impulse bets.
Making your way up
the stairs to your seat is a joy to behold as these are some of the
steepest stairs i've ever experienced, but nevertheless, a good view
awaits you when you get there, unless you're right at the back as a few
pillars and roof struts may slightly obscure your view but no major
problems.
Stewarding was ok,
not too fussy about standing unless you're in the 1st few rows. Word of
warning - you are likely to be ejected for persistent swearing and
offensive hand gestures!
The stands at either
end are virtually identical and house the majority of the home support,
with the more "vocal" element located in the North stand to your right.
The Brittania stand opposite is a decent enough looking structure, however
is totally shown up by the modern and impressive stands at either
end. Despite averaging 25000+ home crowds, the Ipswich faithful
are very quiet unless they are winning, with 2000 Colchester fans
outsinging them even at 3-1 down.
All in all, the
stadium is far more impressive than the atmosphere which is virtually
non-existant in the home areas.
Getting away isn't a
problem as the stand away fans are housed in is nearest to the station so
a 5 minute walk is all it'll take to get on your way home.
On reflection, not a
bad game to go to, but a little bit of banter with home fans wouldn't have
gone a miss!
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