| Vibe around Portman Road, etc. 18:12 - May 2 with 915 views | dominiciawful |
Will seem strange to some considering we've just finished 11th, equalling the 2019-20 PPG season and our lowest league placing in about 70 years. But the feeling at Portman Road, at least in my experience, for the Charlton game and others has been really good.
Obviously the football we have been aspiring to play has been lovely. Charlton weren't particularly good but we could have scored double what we did against them. If Morsy had finished that move off it would have been delightful. But the general atmosphere amongst everybody has seemed to me to be really good. I'm sure I've noticed more children and families at the ground this season. That might even be in part to the work of PR Paul and the ticket promotions of our relegation season which got a few extras along, but the whole upturn in quality of football is surely the main draw. It's fantastic to have those kids supporting us when the best they may have seen from Ipswich Town is 2014/15 and they've never seen us beat Norwich, not to mention the enticement of supporting a handful of PL clubs who they can watch on TV almost every other day.
Looking at the pictures in the matchday galleries on here and seeing all kinds of people in the stands and looking like they're enjoying themselves is great to see. I've even seen a handful of people with blue-and-white face paint on their cheeks as if we were at a Wembley final. The club shop has been very busy when I've been in there, although possibly in part due to people still having credit to use up. It was queueing out the door on Saturday. 26,000 for a mid-table end-of-season game with no ticket promotion is as good as, if not better, than we had 15 years ago. More than 24k even if you ignore the Charlton following.
All the good which the club is doing is so refreshing and pleasing. The popularity of the Fan Zone and the "family club" award are great things. And Blue Action are excellent. Bit of a rambling post but I just wanted to say how it is enjoyable again to travel to Ipswich to go to Portman Road and how it no longer feels like a chore. Next season has pressure on it, but I have faith in those at the top - sounds weird saying that - to ensure that we do well. I'm definitely looking forward to it. |  |
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| Vibe around Portman Road, etc. on 10:24 - May 3 with 505 views | Harlestonblue |
Well said and I share the feel good factor. We have our club back and I am confident we are going in the right direction. Really looking forward to the future. |  | | |
| Vibe around Portman Road, etc. on 10:35 - May 3 with 477 views | STYG |
I know this will be deeply unpopular with some but, to a degree, I don't care that much what division we are in.
I've seen us be one of the best teams in the world and consistently one of the best in England. Even when I'd accepted that would never happen again, we got promoted, finished 5th and went back into Europe.
There is so much I hate about the Premier League now. Of course, it would be wonderful on some levels to get back there, sign players that could be or go on to be world class, go to the best stadiums in the world and win the odd match against one of these giants. There's a slim chance we become the next Leicester or Wolves and establish ourselves again.
But for me, some of this is old fashioned, I grew up with ITFC playing youths like Burley, Mills, Wark and Beattie, being renowned for good football, for Sir Bobby and Sir Alf, for a sense of community. You only need to look at Social Media to see even the likes of Burnley and Palace have become these teams that have massive followings in America, China, Japan, Africa and when they lose you'll be inundated with ridiculous comments from people who have probably never seen their team live.
I enjoy the fact, whether it's the Championship or League One, that most of our fans are 'fans' if that makes sense. People that follow the team, go to matches and the share of idiots we have on social media are probably local idiots at least!
For me, this season has been the second most enjoyable in 17 years, with the playoff season beating it. This is the best football I've seen us play in well over a decade and the most hopeful I have been of success. It doesn't matter to me if we are playing Sunderland or Sheff Wed down here or Hull or Coventry in the Championship.
What I want is to be proud of my club, entertained and have a sense of belief we can win things whatever level that is at. I also love again, like 2015, how every player seems to love being here, something you can't say of a lot of the Premier League mercenaries (we had a few of those ourselves).
Being a Town fan at the moment is brilliant again. I'd love us to have success and compete at the top end ultimately, but there's also a lot of problems that come with that too that take away from the sense of belonging to a degree. The further up the pyramid we go the more we are likely to lose bits of what make ITFC wonderful, but at least the likes of Hreidarsson and Reuser and Wilnis show it's possible still (even in the 20 years the game has moved on) to get to the top and have a team of players that adore the club - similar to the Leicester and Wolves teams that have done so well.
Whatever happens though, whether it's Europe again or Swindon again, it's just nice to enjoy football again because in the last 10 years we must have had 7 or 8 seasons where it was so depressing either because of results, the ownership, the boring football or all three. [Post edited 3 May 2022 10:38]
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| Vibe around Portman Road, etc. on 10:43 - May 3 with 442 views | Steve_M |
Yes, and that's all well and good but we have to build on it next season - and that means delivering on promotion (or at absolute worst a heartbreaking 1999 style missing it by a tiny amount).
The atmosphere, and general matchday experience improved greatly in McCarthy's first three years here: the end of 2014-15 and the start of the following system saw big crowds - but we didn't build on that on the pitch and it all deteriorated again.
We have failed to even trouble the play-offs in the third division for three seasons now so, as much as I've enjoyed an awful lot of this season, the feelgood factor will not be sustained without success on the pitch. |  |
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| Vibe around Portman Road, etc. on 10:53 - May 3 with 413 views | STYG |
| Vibe around Portman Road, etc. on 10:43 - May 3 by Steve_M |
Yes, and that's all well and good but we have to build on it next season - and that means delivering on promotion (or at absolute worst a heartbreaking 1999 style missing it by a tiny amount).
The atmosphere, and general matchday experience improved greatly in McCarthy's first three years here: the end of 2014-15 and the start of the following system saw big crowds - but we didn't build on that on the pitch and it all deteriorated again.
We have failed to even trouble the play-offs in the third division for three seasons now so, as much as I've enjoyed an awful lot of this season, the feelgood factor will not be sustained without success on the pitch. |
This can't be argued. We've always had an excuse but no longer.
We had Evans and Lambert. An absolute disaster of a manager and an owner.
Then again, followed by Cook who had to rip up the whole squad.
We then had a manager in Cook with no Plan B and a squad that barely knew each others names making a poor start, which cost us.
Now it's a squad of quality players, a very good young coach, very capable and supportive owners and a premier league level infrastructure being built.
If we can't deliver next season (playoffs minimum) then either the players, manager, CEO or all of them will be under serious threat. | | | |
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