Orr Remembers Portman Road Red Card
Friday, 21st Dec 2012 06:01

Ipswich loanee Bradley Orr remembers only too well being sent off at Portman Road in November 2007 as well as being on the wrong end of a 6-0 hammering.

He was a Bristol City player at the time and was shown the red card for a professional foul on Town substitute Danny Haynes just two minutes after the interval.

Orr was making his way towards the dressing room as Tommy Miller converted from the spot to make it 3-0 and the Robins’ defence was beaten a further three times before the end of a game in which Jonathan Walters claimed his one and only hat-trick as an Ipswich player.

“On the day I tried to make a genuine tackle but Danny was like a whippet, very quick,” recalled Orr. “It was years ago and I don’t really care about it now.

“Danny later became my team-mate at Bristol and he’s a good lad. He’s at Charlton now and we go there on Boxing Day. You come across people in your career that you’ve played with and against in the past and sometimes certain incidents have popped up. It can lead to a lot of banter.”

He has good reason to be grateful to City, where it was then boss Gary Johnson who signed him from Newcastle and successfully converted him into a right-back.

Orr, who played more than 250 games during his six years at Ashton Gate, said: “I look back with very fond memories. I’ve got nothing but great words to say about the club.

"I’ve said it before but when I signed for them I was still a boy and when I left I was a man. I loved my time there — every minute of it — and some great friendships were started there. I have a real affiliation for the club.

“I arrived there as a midfielder and there were a couple of injuries. I went to right-back and the first time I’d played in midfield since then was for Ipswich at Bolton recently, only about 40 minutes.

“We did okay as a team at Bristol and I was part of a settled back four. One thing I do know is that I was struggling at the time in midfield. I’d come from reserve team football at Newcastle, where I was doing well at that sort of level, and the games in League One were pretty much passing me by.

“I did struggle in central midfield — I’m the first to admit that. Maybe the move to full-back revitalised me as a Bristol City player. It gave me the licence to kick on a little bit and achieve what I have achieved so far.”

Photo: Action Images

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