A group of Town fans fought valiantly before being knocked out by West Bromwich Albion in the quarter-finals of the Norwegian Supportercupen 2014 in Oslo on Saturday, writes Stuart Baillie.
Stephen Bailey, Stuart Baillie, Scott Gidman, Sam Stannard, Nathan Styles and Rhys Thompson made the trip to Fornebu, Oslo to take part in the annual seven-a-side tournament, primarily for Norwegian supporters of British football clubs.
Forty teams took part with 29 different clubs represented, from the giants of Manchester United to minnows such as Cheltenham Town and (cough, cough) Norwich City!
The tournament was eventually won by Tottenham 1 who beat Manchester United 2 on penalties, following a 1-1 draw after 20 minutes.
The Tractor Boys had two teams in action with one Norwegian side of avid Blues fans, Ipswich 1, and Ipswich 2 (pictured below) comprised of the six travellers and Gjermund ‘Ingo’ Ingolfsland who donned the gloves to keep goal for Town’s ‘second string’.
Despite falling short, reaching the quarter-finals was seen as a real success by all concerned. It was the first time an ITFC side has featured in the last eight of the competition, which has been running since 1991.
Even better, the results take Town above Norwich in the ‘Maratontabellen’ — the overall table for results at the tournament since its inception. With five wins and three defeats during the day for the two teams combined, ITFC now have the following record: P71 W17 D5 L49.
Following the tournament, the players and supporters went back to the Iron Pigs Motorcycle Club in Grorud for a barbecue, beers and an ITFC quiz.
A great time was had by all and all of the ITFC fans who made the trip over from Suffolk would like to thank their Norwegian hosts and the Ipswich Town FC Supporters Club of Norway for their incredible friendliness and generosity shown during the stay.
For full match reports and more photos, visit http://itfcsupportercupen.weebly.com/.
Ipswich 1: Ole Bernt Krogstad (GK), Marius Lien, Mats Sollie, Lars Wiese, Preben Johannessen, Kristian Toreskaas, William Wiik, Oskar Alsaker, Stig Erlend Persson, Frode da Costa-Lia, Arnt H. Nodeland, Erik Tisthammer.
Ipswich 2: Gjermund ‘Ingo’ Ingolfsland (GK), Sam Stannard, Scott Gidman, Rhys Thompson, Nathan Styles, Stuart Baillie, Stephen Bailey.
Photos: Stig E Persson