Side: Ipswich Town F.C.
Nickname(s): Blues, Town, The Tractor Boys
Ground: Portman Road
From Boro: 250 miles southeast, into the spine of Suffolk
Kit: fucking dreadful
Personal Relevance: Sightsee MFC knows of a particularly unstable local chap (turned down a spliff at a party the same night we beat Liverpool 2-0 last season!!) hopelessly devoted to Town…said instability may or may not be attributed to the historical fortunes of the club; also, friend of the blog, the Arsenal-supporting Gunner 71, weaves tales of the ‘help’ at his country estate in Thaxted whilst growing up: they often had to beat it after serving his supper to allow for time to get back to what he surmised to be Ipswich… or Colchester – he really didn’t know where exactly they were from cos his parents forbade any interaction…well posh!
Gaffer Pedigree: fairly rich…Sir Alf Ramsey guided them from obscurity in the 50s to their only First Division title in 1961-62 before taking over the England job; a few managers and missteps ensued before the appointment of Sir Bobby Robson in 1969 – he presided over 700 total matches stretching 13 years, highlighted by an FA Cup trophy in 1978 (beat Arsenal 1-0) and UEFA Cup glory in 1981 (def. Dutchies AZ Alkmaar 5-4 agg.); George Burley, now of Scotland, had a good run from 1994-2002; Keano has some big boots to fill
TheClashBlog
1 year ago
Based on the accents of the gardening staff I’d guess Ipswich, my strongest memory was their fascination with the ‘talking picture box’ – presumably neither television nor electricity has made it to the Suffolk coastline back in the early 70’s.