Town CEO Mark Ashton says away fans will remain in their current position in the Cobbold Stand during 2023/24 but with discussions about moving them elsewhere ongoing.

Ashton has previously said he’s not happy with their current position in the top corner of the Cobbold Stand towards the Sir Alf Ramsey Stand end with their section stretching across towards the middle of the stand and some of the ground’s best seats.

Away supporters have been in that position since Portman Road went all-seater in 1992.

“The reality is that primarily they’re going to stay where they are,” Ashton told TWTD. “We’ve had some discussions with SAG (Safety Advisory Group) and it’s not an easy move and it’s going to need to run longer from a planning perspective.

“We’re going to make a decision to stand still, which is a little bit frustrating, to be honest, because I don’t like standing still, but we’ll stand still more or less for this season, but we will work with SAG and the relative authorities through the season to probably come up with two alternative options next season that we can deliver in reality.

“The challenge is that the stadium is a not a natural design for away fans. We’ve worked in the South-East corner, we’ve worked on the turnstiles in that area to try and improve access and egress to the stadium.

“We’ve had substantially increased police bills this season, I mean substantially increased police bills, that’s no shock or surprise from the police.

“We sat down at the start of the season and there were points where both the police and us were concerned that the levels of disorder were just starting to bubble a little bit.

“There were a couple of away games early on in the season where we had some issues, so we worked through a plan with the police, and the police were outstanding, because we wanted to nip that in the bud because while we want a great atmosphere in Portman Road, we also want it to be a safe place for families to come.

“So we’re going to sit on our hands for this season more or less on location and then work through next season on where we can or might move them to.”

Where might visiting fans move to? “I’d better not at the moment because I’ll get myself in trouble with SAG because we’ve started those conversations, and if I put the cart before the horse, they’ll tell me off and I’ll cause them problems.”

The Mark Ashton Interview

• Ashton Open to Debate on UEFA Article 48
• Championship a Natural Fit For the Tractor Girls
• New Pitch is On Track
• Work to Continue on Playford Road Pitches and Building
• We're Working on Development Master Plan With Local Authority
• We'll Forge an Informal Link With Rhode Island
• Kit Sales a Sign of How Big This Club Could Become
• McKenna's Contract Will Take Care of Itself at the Right Time
• Contract Conversations in the Summer
• First Summer Recruitment Meeting With McKenna Took Place This Week
• We Knew Our Top Targets and Got Them Across the Line
• Away Fans to Remain in Cobbold Stand Next Season But Discussions Ongoing
• I Wanted to Be Respectful to Fans on Season Ticket Prices
• No Explanation From Jamaica on Leigh
• We Will Be Relentless in Taking This Club Forward

Photo: Matchday Images

JackSted added 13:15 - Mar 24 Before the home singing section was moved there, I always thought moving the away fans to block A of the Cobbold would've been a game changer.
1

ghostofescobar added 13:48 - Mar 24 Couldn't we stick them in Colchesters Jobsworth Community Stadium and they could watch the game on iFollow, or something? Or, doesn't that twonk Evans still have a box that he never uses? We could just cram as many away fans in there as possible. First come, first served.
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davidsc1971 added 14:04 - Mar 24 Any link you think to this and the purchase of land behind the SAR South Stand? Improved access would help wouldn't it if you wanted visiting fans behind a goal like most away fans are usually kept?
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Bazza8564 added 14:26 - Mar 24 Its an interesting issue, I don't think the Russell Road buildings were intentionally bought with this in mind but it does give the club an ability to tweak things. What we dont know yest is what the guys ultimately see PR looking like. In an ideal world we could go round the corner (at least with a top tier to retain access for vehicles underneath) and put them in that section, potentially with a bit of SRA and a bit of Cobbold so they were much more in a corner rather than on a side, but that's years away I guess. Cant see them going into Block A or Magnus and the North is full so it has to be in the SE corner of SRA??

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Westy added 14:30 - Mar 24 Although not ideal, it is still probably the best place for them.
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Taricco_Fan added 14:49 - Mar 24 While moving away fans to the North Stand end of the Cobbold would instantly fix the atmosphere problems, the issues that would be created outside the stadium are considerable.
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Bert added 15:33 - Mar 24 The issue is not so much where away supporters sit but how they access the ground without unduly causing potential conflict. Most away supporters behave but the Police will not want to exacerbate the mixing of fans that is almost inevitable with a stadium situated where it is.
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Cakeman added 15:47 - Mar 24 Don't let them in at all. Joking aside the Eastern half of Sir Alf Ramsay Lower May work. Sorry to potentially offend current season ticket holders but getting visitors in and out of Sir Alf lower could be easier for the Police. Change is needed though as away fans should be nowhere near the centre of the Cobbold stand. It really is unfair on the season ticket holders there and quite intimidating too I would imagine.

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bringmeaKuqi added 15:48 - Mar 24 Agree with Bert. I also think the primary concern for the club here is freeing up higher value seats for home supporters. I can see value in them being moved to the upper northwest tier of the Magnus stand. This would a) move them closer to the North stand, b) move them into seats less often filled by home supporters (than, say, the SAR lower) and c) be an even worse view for away supporters than the Cobbold and d) there's lots of space behind the Magnus that could accomodate turnstile tweaks.

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ArnieM added 17:30 - Mar 24 What or is “ SAG”?
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chepstowblue added 17:51 - Mar 24 SAG is when breasts lose their fullness and elasticity. But that's a debate for another forum !
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ImAbeliever added 17:54 - Mar 24 (Safety Advisory Group)
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IpswichT62OldBoy added 18:15 - Mar 24 We should go old school and cage them up in the third of the North Stand they always had.
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YorkshireBlue1967 added 20:39 - Mar 24 Too right 'IpswichT62OldBoy!' The good old days...now that would create an atmosphere!!!
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BurleysGloryDays added 21:40 - Mar 24 Ashton is so good, his instincts are excellent and he's a man of action, things happen. Agree re position, and also our (rubbish) camera angles just end up showing away fans and empty seats around them - which makes us look like we don't fill seats. Doesn't do us justice. SAG will face the graceful impatience of our man Ashton on this and get a good fix.
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atty added 09:03 - Mar 25 If Ashton wants to put away fans in the SAR he should be challenged. It's the best for facilities. It's better much better than the Magnus. How much trouble have we had with away fans really? He's got enough on his plate without this. Me thinks he thinks, and speaks, too much.
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FifeITFC added 11:17 - Mar 25 A lot of clubs have moved away fans AWAY from behind the goal as it removes any psychological advantage attacking your own end. Leeds, Middlesbrough are two off the top of my head that have done this.
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BangaloreBlues added 14:49 - Mar 25 It's definitely a financial issue when the away support is in the lower hundreds, as with some L1 and L2 teams. However, looking forward to the Championship, the away end would be full or almost full so yes, where do they go safely? If you are going to use either stands behind the goal, you need to use upper and lower tiers with netting segregating fans. It's not an ideal solution. Lower or upper-only tiers cause many issues. I've been spat on many times from home fans in the above tier, so it's not a safe option in my eyes. It's one flaw with PR - Ashton is correct - it's not away fan friendly, so where they are now is the best place, at the moment a least. A dilemma I cannot see being resolved easily. One option would be to do a Wolves - put them along the entire bottom tier of the Cobbold, but are there enough seats?

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