Town legend Kevin Beattie was delighted to see the Blues paired with his hometown club Carlisle United in today's Capital One Cup second round draw. Beattie is hoping to make the lengthy trip home to see the game at Brunton Park.
Beattie, who is a regular on BBC Radio Suffolk’s Saturday lunchtime show Life’s a Pitch along with TWTD’s Phil Ham, said: "I’m absolutely delighted, absolutely elated as I’m from Carlisle. I’d definitely love to go up there for the game.
"There were actually four of us from Carlisle when I was a player - myself, David Geddis, Robin Turner and Steve McCall.”
He says the League One side will provide stiff opposition: "It’ll be a difficult game for Town because they played very well last season and possibly should have got promoted but didn’t quite make it. It won’t be easy.
"The manager, Greg Abbott, has bought in some very good players. They’re a small club but they get fantastic support.”
Most Suffolk-based fans were less than impressed with the draw, the League Cup having previously thrown up treks to Exeter, Shrewsbury and Crewe in recent seasons, and Beattie admits that the 620-mile round trip is somewhat lengthy: "You might as well leave on Sunday to get there on the Tuesday!”
The 58-year-old former England defender, who had a spell coaching the Cumbrians during Roddy Collins’s time as manager a decade ago, remembers the last time the sides met, back in the 1978/79 season in an FA Cup third round tie at Portman Road: "I played in that and scored. I remember it very well. They made it very difficult for us.
"To score was a big bonus for me because the previous time we’d played against them was up there in their season in the First Division [1974/75].
"The boss made me captain but the buggers beat us 2-1 and I missed a sitter of a header to make it 2-2. All my mates thought I’d done it on purpose and I didn’t have to buy a drink all weekend!”
The match is likely to be played on Tuesday 28th August, although that's yet to be confirmed.