Town have agreed a new five-year, six-figure deal with Bury St Edmunds-based brewers Greene King, which will see them sponsor the Sir Alf Ramsey Stand, Greene King IPA become the club’s official beer and a number of Portman Road’s bars receive a revamp.
The stand - at one time the Greene King Stand - will now be known as the Sir Alf Ramsey Stand, Sponsored By Greene King IPA, while the the two bars at either end of the Sir Bobby Robson Stand will become the ’78 Bar and the ’81 Bar.
Joint-MD Ian Milne is delighted that Greene King are back at the club, having ended their long association with the Blues in 2009: "It brings back a local brewer, a national brand and a local brand as well.
"It’s also nice to have Greene King back because they were with us in a very successful period, 14 years with six as shirt sponsors, so they’re very familiar to fans.
"We’re naming the two bookend bars the ’78 and ’81 Bars and Greene King are also very involved in our large Legends bar at the other end of the stadium.
"There are a lot of other initiatives we’re working on with Greene King to get us out to our fanbase and also to a lot of clients and customers of Greene King. It is very much a partnership with Greene King."
He says the undisclosed six-figure sum will go into manager Mick McCarthy's budget for the season ahead: "The money is very, very helpful, of course it is. That goes straight to Mick and the team and we wish the partnership every success.
"The money will be invested into the squad. There’s a lot of money goes into the squad, that’s what we’re all here for.”
Chris Houlton, managing director Greene King added: "We’ve a long history of selling beer to Ipswich Town and we’re delighted to be back. It’s very good news.
"Part of the reason why we came back in is because we’ve invested in our own business as well, we’ve put in a new brew house in Bury and we’ll bring new different types of beer to Ipswich Town as well as the traditional ones. Greene King IPA and Old Speckled Hen but also a lot of craft beers we’re currently producing.
"We were shirt sponsors for many years and we had a very strong association, and we’ve missed that. We’re absolutely delighted to be back.”
Blues legends John Wark and George Burley, whose promotion-winning 1999/00 side wore shirts bearing the Greene King name, were at this afternoon’s announcement.
Wark said: "We were with them for 14 years, they’ve got another five with us, they’re local and it’s good for the club and it’s good that they’ve named the bars after ’78 and ’81, which means a lot to me and George. We were both privileged to play in both teams, they were successful and great teams.”
Burley added: "I think 1978 and 1981 are key years of Ipswich Town’s history, that period was fantastic.
"And people associate Greene King with promotion in 2000, another happy, happy time."