The Beat Goes On, the campaign riasing funds for a statue of Town legend Kevin Beattie, has received a £500 boost courtesy of the Fortuna Blues.
The supporters group behind the annual pilgrimage of Fortuna Düsseldorf fans to Portman Road organised a coach from their home city to Meppen for last weekend’s Interwetten Cup in which Town were defeated 4-1 by Fortuna in a 45-minute game. More than 70 Blues joined their Fortuna compatriots for the journey having spent their weekend in Düsseldorf.
"On the way, trip organiser Ulli Munsterberg made an important announcement,” said Tim Edwards of the Ipswich Town Heritage Society, who was on the trip.
"He had overestimated the cost of the coach - even after all the expenses and a bootful of various German beers had been accounted for, there was around €5 per person left over.
"He proposed that this be donated to The Beat Goes On statue campaign. Explaining that this was not just because of their relationship with Town fans, but because The Beat was so welcoming to them, every time they came over. They feel his loss just as we do.
"Everyone agreed to make the donation, and the Fortuna Blues topped it up with a further donation from their own funds, making another £500 for the campaign. And this is on top of their £600 collection during their January visit.”
Fellow Fortuna Blue Friedrich Schacht, like Munsterberg a regular visitor to Portman Road, added: "It is great that we also have a chance to make a contribution to the statue - so, when we come to Ipswich, we can all look at it and know that we played our part.”
Town and Fortuna fans stood alongside one another and made themselves heard throughout the Interwetten Cup games. The Blues finished fourth in the competition, while the Bundesliga side were beaten 1-0 by Dutch side FC Utrecht in the final.
Led by the EADT and Ipswich Star in conjunction with BBC Radio Suffolk and TWTD, The Beat Goes On was launched on December 18th last year on what would have been Beattie’s 65th birthday. The campaign is now less than £25,000 off meeting its target.
You can make a donation online via the Go Fund Me page or send a cheque made payable to ‘The Beat Goes On’ to Kevin Beattie Statue Appeal, EADT, Portman House, 120 Princes Street, Ipswich, IP1 1RS.
There are also collection buckets at reception at the EADT’s offices and at BBC Radio Suffolk.
You can find The Beat Goes On campaign website here.