| Early ITFC history 10:07 - Sep 29 with 5710 views | itfcjoe |
Sure not news to most, but interesting enough and was sent round to me this morning in a newsletter
Here is a brief history for you on how Ipswich School was instrumental in the formation of ITFC.
At the end of the 19th century, Ipswich School were playing Association Football. In 1878, George Sherrington (Old Ipswichian) aged 17, loved football but realised he would no longer be able to play the game after he left school.
So, he and other Ipswichians including brothers William (OI) and Sir Charles Sherrington (OI), Nobel prize winner and President of the Royal Society, formed the Ipswich Association Football Club. Exactly 100 years later Ipswich Town won the FA Cup at Wembley.
At the time rugby was played at Portman Road, so the club played at land on Broom Hill owned by their Sherrington family, which is why the road from there to Norwich Road is called Sherrington Road.
The club’s changing rooms were the Inkerman Public House on Norwich Road, which later became Sir Alf Ramsey’s local when he lived in Valley Road. Sir Alf’s house was but a stone throw from where Sir Charles Sherrington lived in Valley Road.
In 1888, the football and rugby clubs merged to become Ipswich Town Football Club. |  |
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| Early ITFC history on 11:38 - Sep 29 with 2086 views | PhilTWTD |
| Early ITFC history on 11:34 - Sep 29 by hype313 |
Cheers Phil, decent read, I might have got that mixed up, or perhaps someone told me we may have played a couple of games at Foxhall around the War time? |
The club basically closed during wartime, if I remember rightly, although I have heard of wartime games being played involving professional players who were at local military bases. Not sure where they might have been played though. |  | | |
| Early ITFC history on 11:44 - Sep 29 with 2079 views | PJH |
| Early ITFC history on 11:37 - Sep 29 by PhilTWTD |
I have got the programme somewhere but not where I'd be able to lay my hands on it today. I believe Bobby Robson played and maybe some speedway riders as well. I can remember sitting watching it but nothing about the game itself. The programme I have has an unidentified autograph on it, if I remember rightly. |
I have just edited my original post because I have found reference to a match in 1959, which is possibly what I remember being at-I would have been 8 at the time. |  | | |
| Early ITFC history on 11:52 - Sep 29 with 2050 views | PhilTWTD |
| Early ITFC history on 11:38 - Sep 29 by PhilTWTD |
The club basically closed during wartime, if I remember rightly, although I have heard of wartime games being played involving professional players who were at local military bases. Not sure where they might have been played though. |
Further to this, Foxhall has only been there since the 1950s, by which time Town were well established at Portman Road.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxhall_Stadium | | | |
| Early ITFC history on 11:53 - Sep 29 with 2042 views | Metal_Hacker |
How cool is this !!!!!???
Love that !!!
Like a set from a movie or something |  |
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| Early ITFC history on 11:58 - Sep 29 with 2035 views | Mookamoo |
| Early ITFC history on 11:27 - Sep 29 by WeWereZombies |
The Inkerman is closer to Sir Alf's former home I would say, just the quiet walk down Westwood Avenue parallel to Valley Road and then across Norwich Road by the double roundabout. The Dales would either be an uphill slog along Valley Road and then hang a left at the top for a down and up along Dale Hall Lane to the pub and shops; or hop over the garden fence and meander across Broom Hill Park before snaking through Pine View Road, Park View Road and Cotswold Avenue onto Dale Hall Lane. |
Pretty sure Sir Bobby lived on Constitution Hill and walk his dogs around Broomhill. |  | | |
| Early ITFC history on 12:06 - Sep 29 with 2022 views | WeWereZombies |
| Early ITFC history on 11:38 - Sep 29 by hype313 |
It was 41 Valley Road |
That's where I thought it was, corner of Valley Road and Westwood Avenue (backing on to the bottom of the hill part of Broom Hill). |  |
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| Early ITFC history on 12:06 - Sep 29 with 2020 views | PhilTWTD |
| Early ITFC history on 11:44 - Sep 29 by PJH |
I have just edited my original post because I have found reference to a match in 1959, which is possibly what I remember being at-I would have been 8 at the time. |
I definitely wasn't at that one! | | | |
| Early ITFC history on 12:13 - Sep 29 with 2010 views | GeoffSentence |
| Early ITFC history on 11:35 - Sep 29 by BarcaBlue |
Bizarrely Nortgate arranged cricket matches almost exclusively against public schools, I remember going to Wymondham College, Culford, Holbrook and playing against one of the Offiah brothers at Woolverstone (I think it was). We always batted second so matches would last more than half an hour. Don't recall getting more than orange squash and cucumber sandwiches - guess the good stuff was reserved for the non-plebs. |
Wymondham College isnt a public school. I went to Wymondham College and it was a bit of a basket case of a school really, LEA controlled, part boarding, part day school with most of the classrooms, at the time, being a big version of those tin huts that they keep pigs in. |  |
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| Early ITFC history on 12:15 - Sep 29 with 2002 views | PJH |
| Early ITFC history on 12:06 - Sep 29 by PhilTWTD |
I definitely wasn't at that one! |
No but I do think that the 1959 one is the one that I remember going to. | | | |
| Early ITFC history on 12:30 - Sep 29 with 1976 views | ITFC_Forever |
| Early ITFC history on 12:06 - Sep 29 by WeWereZombies |
That's where I thought it was, corner of Valley Road and Westwood Avenue (backing on to the bottom of the hill part of Broom Hill). |
Ah, further down than I thought.... I think I'd still rather take the longer trip to the Dales than the Inkerman! |  |
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| Early ITFC history on 12:40 - Sep 29 with 1951 views | clive_baker |
| Early ITFC history on 12:13 - Sep 29 by GeoffSentence |
Wymondham College isnt a public school. I went to Wymondham College and it was a bit of a basket case of a school really, LEA controlled, part boarding, part day school with most of the classrooms, at the time, being a big version of those tin huts that they keep pigs in. |
Explains a lot Geoff....
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| Early ITFC history on 12:41 - Sep 29 with 1948 views | PhilTWTD |
Cheers, very interesting, particularly to see Bill Shankly in one of the XIs. | | | |
| Early ITFC history on 12:51 - Sep 29 with 1935 views | Reuser_is_God |
| Early ITFC history on 11:23 - Sep 29 by clive_baker |
Oh really? Gutted we never got to go to those! Most of the places we went to you were lucky to get out without a black eye.
Norwich School was nice, I remember going there once for a tournament once. I thought Ipswich School was old, that place was established in 11th Century. Bonkers. |
Orwell Park always laid on a good spread from memory. |  |
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| Early ITFC history on 13:07 - Sep 29 with 1917 views | hype313 |
Hmm, someone was obviously pulling my leg or got their information hugely wrong! |  |
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| Early ITFC history on 13:11 - Sep 29 with 1912 views | PhilTWTD |
| Early ITFC history on 13:07 - Sep 29 by hype313 |
Hmm, someone was obviously pulling my leg or got their information hugely wrong! |
Thinking about, and PJH or one of the other more senior posters may be able to confirm, I'm sure I've heard that Town played A team matches at Foxhall at some point, presumably in the 1950s or 1960s. | | | |
| Early ITFC history on 13:22 - Sep 29 with 1894 views | hype313 |
| Early ITFC history on 13:11 - Sep 29 by PhilTWTD |
Thinking about, and PJH or one of the other more senior posters may be able to confirm, I'm sure I've heard that Town played A team matches at Foxhall at some point, presumably in the 1950s or 1960s. |
I was going to search in Richard Mill's book, but that only goes up to 1945. | |
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| Early ITFC history on 13:22 - Sep 29 with 1893 views | PJH |
| Early ITFC history on 13:11 - Sep 29 by PhilTWTD |
Thinking about, and PJH or one of the other more senior posters may be able to confirm, I'm sure I've heard that Town played A team matches at Foxhall at some point, presumably in the 1950s or 1960s. |
I don't know.
Just been looking through some old Supporters Club handbooks and although they give reference to the 'A' team I cannot find anything that says where they played their home games.
Home reserve games in the Football Combination got attendances of 3500 or thereabouts most games though.
The 'A' team got replaced by an actual Youth team when Jackie Milburn got one started during his otherwise mostly unsuccesful tenure. | | | |
| Early ITFC history on 13:25 - Sep 29 with 1884 views | PhilTWTD |
| Early ITFC history on 13:22 - Sep 29 by PJH |
I don't know.
Just been looking through some old Supporters Club handbooks and although they give reference to the 'A' team I cannot find anything that says where they played their home games.
Home reserve games in the Football Combination got attendances of 3500 or thereabouts most games though.
The 'A' team got replaced by an actual Youth team when Jackie Milburn got one started during his otherwise mostly unsuccesful tenure. |
Got any team line-ups? Jack Lankester's granddad played for the A team as a goalkeeper. | | | |
| Early ITFC history on 13:31 - Sep 29 with 1874 views | bournemouthblue |
| Early ITFC history on 11:12 - Sep 29 by itfcjoe |
I went to Ipswich, and compared to most of the other schools we went to on the Private School circuit we were the poor relations for the banqueting hall and spread put on.....some were unbelievable, mostly those that were nearly fully boarding schools. I especially liked having chocolate milkshake on tap at Framlingham College |
Agreed on that, shabby in comparison
The RHS one as an example was far more grand [Post edited 29 Sep 2020 13:31]
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| Early ITFC history on 13:34 - Sep 29 with 1870 views | PJH |
| Early ITFC history on 13:25 - Sep 29 by PhilTWTD |
Got any team line-ups? Jack Lankester's granddad played for the A team as a goalkeeper. |
I can't find any.
Some handbooks list Reserve team appearances for the previous season but that is all.
Did find one 'poor' season for the 'A' team being explained by them losing several players to National Service. | | | |
| Early ITFC history on 13:36 - Sep 29 with 1866 views | soupytwist |
| Early ITFC history on 11:10 - Sep 29 by clive_baker |
I liked Ipswich School because whenever we used to play them at sports they would lay on a lovely spread in the Harry Potter-esque banqueting hall. They came to our gaff in the reverse fixture and were lucky if they got a cheese roll. |
I played hockey while at a grammar school in Essex. Since not many of the local comps played hockey we mostly played at private schools. The one I remember as having the best after game spread was Forest School in Walthamstow with honourable mentions for Framlingham and Haberdasher Askes near Elstree, which was a bit of a long journey.
We'd play Felsted most years and get thrashed. Can't remember much about the catering. |  | | |
| Early ITFC history on 13:39 - Sep 29 with 1863 views | PhilTWTD |
| Early ITFC history on 13:34 - Sep 29 by PJH |
I can't find any.
Some handbooks list Reserve team appearances for the previous season but that is all.
Did find one 'poor' season for the 'A' team being explained by them losing several players to National Service. |
Pah, same old excuses! | | | |
| Early ITFC history on 13:40 - Sep 29 with 1861 views | Danny_G |
| Early ITFC history on 11:44 - Sep 29 by PJH |
I have just edited my original post because I have found reference to a match in 1959, which is possibly what I remember being at-I would have been 8 at the time. |
I’ve just found the following in ‘The Men Who Made the Town’ about the 1959 match:
‘A game between a Showbiz XI, including Sean Connery and Des O’Connor, and a Manager’s All Star XI, including former Ipswich players Tommy Parker (captain), Jackie Little and Tom Garneys, was played at Foxhall Stadium. Some 18,000 spectators (the second biggest crowd ever for a Showbiz XI match) paying around £900, which went to various charities. Referee was Ted Phillips, and Ken Malcolm and Brian Siddall were the linesmen.’ |  | | |
| Early ITFC history on 13:42 - Sep 29 with 1857 views | PJH |
| Early ITFC history on 13:39 - Sep 29 by PhilTWTD |
Pah, same old excuses! |
Billy Baxter was doing National Service in 1960/61 and (I think) in 1961/62 and I believe had to get permission from his Commanding Officer to play football for ITFC-don't know if he had to do it match to match or if the permission covered all games. | | | |
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