Portman Road's dugouts will undergo a major overhaul in the summer, leading to a number of season ticket holders being forced to switch seats. The change is being made due to health and safety concerns regarding the current arrangements.
The new dugouts will meet Premiership standards which require space for 16 players plus staff. The entire central section of the lower tier of the Britannia Stand below the directors' box will now be used by the home and away squads and their management.
The move will mean that Portman Road's capacity, which stands at 30,310 this season, will be reduced by 52 with seats lost in rows D, E, F, G, H, J and K of the Britannia Stand. Fans with season tickets in these sections have been offered new seats in other areas of the ground at the same price as their existing seats.
In a letter to the affected season ticket holders, Town ticket office manager John Ford explained some of the reasons for the switch: "Throughout the summer we will be carrying out essential health and safety work on the home and away dugouts. There is some concern about the current structure's proximity to the pitch and to reduce the risk to players, we are planning to move the position of the dugouts.
"The dugouts will be one metre further back from the pitch and, because the concrete drop down steps will be removed, the structure will be higher. The dugouts will be a more modern style and made from reinforced glass with a minimum amount of pillar supports. This should help minimise the obstruction of views of the pitch from nearby seats.”
As well as concerns about player safety, the new arrangement should prevent incidents where management and fans come into conflict, as famously occurred in the mid-nineties when then-Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan reacted angrily to supporters hammering on the roof of the away dugout.