Former team-mates of Kevin Beattie will be at Portman Road this evening to pay tribute to the Blues legend who died on Sunday, while his family will be guests of the club.
Allan Hunter, Terry Butcher, George Burley, Clive Woods, John Wark, Roger Osborne, Brian Talbot and Bryan Hamilton will be at the match against Brentford, while two members of the Beattie family will lead out the teams ahead of a minute’s applause. The players will wear black armbands.
The match programme features Beattie on the cover with six pages devoted to the player many believe to be the best in the club’s history.
Speaking yesterday, manager Paul Hurst said he hopes his team can mark the night with their first victory of the season.
"It would be a fitting evening because I’m sure with his relationship with the football club, he’d be looking down and desperately hoping that we can get that win,” he said.
"He wouldn’t be thinking it would be for him but it would be nice to be able to get that victory and then dedicate it to someone that’s so special to this football club.”
There have been calls from fans for the club to instigate some kind of permanent memorial to Beattie at Portman Road, such as a statue, and Hurst believes it would be fully deserved.
"I haven’t been here long but I’ve seen how some of its special people in its history have been commemorated here and I think that would be a fitting gesture,” he continued.
"I’m sure that’s something that will be looked into if it hasn’t already because there’s no doubt, straight away, listening to and seeing views from fans what a special talent Kevin was and how he was thought of, so I’m sure that’s something that the club will look at.”