| That Mick McNeil story has me reminiscing 19:56 - Oct 23 with 4129 views | Dubtractor | Though not about his playing days, but his sport shop in Ipswich. Bought so many pairs of football boots there back in the 80s and 90s, it was a bit of an institution to a lot of the local players I knew at the time. Alas, one of the pairs of boots were Quasar (briefly promoted by Gary Linekar) and they were terrible. [Post edited 23 Oct 2025 20:07]
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| That Mick McNeil story has me reminiscing on 03:29 - Oct 24 with 961 views | mutters | Does anybody remember the name of the shop on Upper Orwell Street near the old cinema that used to sell Warhammer type stuff in the 80s/90s? Uses the sell models for painting, dungeons and dragons type place? It was fairly small but am sure it was there for a few years |  |
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| That Mick McNeil story has me reminiscing on 06:10 - Oct 24 with 908 views | iamatractorboy |
| That Mick McNeil story has me reminiscing on 21:17 - Oct 23 by bazza | Pretty sure you’re right.but I wasn’t here 60’years ago .so I can only judge the last 30 .. |
Ha, fair point! |  | |  |
| That Mick McNeil story has me reminiscing on 07:19 - Oct 24 with 874 views | Dubtractor |
| That Mick McNeil story has me reminiscing on 19:58 - Oct 23 by FrimleyBlue | Omg I remember that shop. Has anyone taken it on over the years? |
Forgot to reply to this. I think that shop space has been a charity shop for years now. |  |
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| That Mick McNeil story has me reminiscing on 07:56 - Oct 24 with 859 views | Bluespeed225 |
| That Mick McNeil story has me reminiscing on 20:15 - Oct 23 by gainsboroughblue | The good old days. Mick McNeil Sports Clayton sports Peachey Sports Sports image (a little later on) Then places like JJB and Sports direct swarmed in and took over. |
Don't forget Rovians! Even Sneezums going right back.My first blue top came from Aldridges on the corner right next to where Peacheys set up. Knocked down now. Micks place. OMG, Subbuteo in a sports shop! Wonderful in tacket Street, left hand unit where that wine bar place is. I still go upstairs for clothes alterations, always think of Micks when I go in. Then it was Fred Perry central! I used to marvel at the shelves full of them, as I did at the Subbuteo World Cup edition. Some childhood memories don't fade. Cheers Mick. |  | |  |
| That Mick McNeil story has me reminiscing on 08:02 - Oct 24 with 855 views | DJR |
| That Mick McNeil story has me reminiscing on 00:27 - Oct 24 by MattinLondon | Probably not for provincial towns like Ipswich. Places like York, Cambridge etc still have thriving town centres but they are heavily dependent on tourists and would be deserted if not for them. Internet shopping has killed off the traditional nature of town centres and so councils need to bring in non-retail businesses to fill the void - offer people experiences that they can’t find online. |
Interestingly, the same doesn't appear to be true of Spain but shops there open much later, and so attract people after work. |  | |  |
| That Mick McNeil story has me reminiscing on 08:38 - Oct 24 with 818 views | Olcol | Bought everything subuteo there. Also boots, always addidas mundial.l |  | |  |
| That Mick McNeil story has me reminiscing on 08:53 - Oct 24 with 806 views | AUHBlue | Until yesterday, I never realised the connection between the shop and the player - my brothers and I bought all our sports gear in there. It had me going through the various stores that I used to frequent in the late 90s/early 2000s. I'm happy that Wahoo still exists (now based in Woodbridge). Still remember Martin & Newby closing in 2004. |  | |  |
| That Mick McNeil story has me reminiscing on 08:54 - Oct 24 with 805 views | BloomBlue | That always makes me smile. Had an old uncle at the time and many 'lads' would say 'I've bought another pair of football boots from McNeil's' my old uncle would say 'another pair, dont they make boots to last now?' Followed by 'the world is going downhill, throwing perfectly good boots away just because they want a more fashionable pair. Mark my works the world will soon have piles of perfectly good boots, clothes rooting away in land rubbish sites' Although my dear old Gran (his Mother) replying once with..... 'but isn't that the same as you wasting money on constantly betting on horses that never win a race' Question: Am I imaging people always referred to that shop as 'Mick Macs'? For some reason I can hear in my head people say I'm going to Mick Macs for [boots, shirt, or wharever] |  | |  | Login to get fewer ads
| That Mick McNeil story has me reminiscing on 09:19 - Oct 24 with 791 views | NBVJohn | There was a branch in Bury st Eds too. Adidas Kick trainers and dreams of owning a pair of Adidas World Cup 78 football boots. |  | |  |
| That Mick McNeil story has me reminiscing on 09:41 - Oct 24 with 771 views | MattinLondon |
| That Mick McNeil story has me reminiscing on 01:55 - Oct 24 by Illinoisblue | People always say that but what exactly is it that would bring people to a town center that’s not shopping? Bars and restaurants up to a point but they are struggling, too. And if you’re a family of four likely much easier (parking) and nicer (no piss-stained streets) to go to an out of town pub for lunch. |
Possibly entertainment venues such as indoor mini golf - thinking outside of the box the old Debenhams building could be turned into a go-kart venue etc. not sure what that building is now. Obviously it takes money, plenty of money to bring these things into a town centre but if they get built and supported then a couple more restaurants and bars might well spring up. |  | |  |
| That Mick McNeil story has me reminiscing on 11:05 - Oct 24 with 725 views | longtimefan |
| That Mick McNeil story has me reminiscing on 08:53 - Oct 24 by AUHBlue | Until yesterday, I never realised the connection between the shop and the player - my brothers and I bought all our sports gear in there. It had me going through the various stores that I used to frequent in the late 90s/early 2000s. I'm happy that Wahoo still exists (now based in Woodbridge). Still remember Martin & Newby closing in 2004. |
If you couldn't find it in Martin & Newby or Ajax it didn't exist |  | |  |
| That Mick McNeil story has me reminiscing on 11:33 - Oct 24 with 712 views | Hciwspi | Trying to remember the name of the toy shop on Majors Corner. Remember getting my Star Wars X-wing fighter from there! |  | |  |
| That Mick McNeil story has me reminiscing on 11:43 - Oct 24 with 706 views | DJR | Anyone remember Barnaby Rudge in Carr Street? I remember getting a lot of my clothes there in the 70s..
https://www.facebook.com/photo [Post edited 24 Oct 2025 11:50]
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| That Mick McNeil story has me reminiscing on 11:50 - Oct 24 with 702 views | Meadowlark | In Lowestoft our equivalents were Coleby's north of the bridge and Reg Regis in the south. Reg Regis was a town fan I think so he stocked Ipswich badges, rosettes and scarves etc. This was way before you could actually buy replica kits! When we were at school we used to wear "hundreds" of team badges on our blazers. Edit. I forgot Sam Hooks in Bevan Street, but that seemed to be mostly fishing stuff. [Post edited 24 Oct 2025 11:53]
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| That Mick McNeil story has me reminiscing on 14:40 - Oct 24 with 634 views | Sharkey |
| That Mick McNeil story has me reminiscing on 21:01 - Oct 23 by bazza | This post just reminds me of how bad Ipswich has been run by the council, and this country has been run by its governments , it was actually a cracking place to grow up 30 + years ago , and I bet most people Say the same about there town or city. |
I think Colchester may be the exception here. It was much more violent in the 80s. Troops returning from Ulster, probably traumatised, were a big part of that. |  | |  |
| That Mick McNeil story has me reminiscing on 20:43 - Oct 24 with 580 views | norfsufblue |
| That Mick McNeil story has me reminiscing on 20:15 - Oct 23 by gainsboroughblue | The good old days. Mick McNeil Sports Clayton sports Peachey Sports Sports image (a little later on) Then places like JJB and Sports direct swarmed in and took over. |
We had 3 great sports shops in Lowestoft before Sports Direct came and undercut them all.... giving England shirts away practically and now of course they are all gone . Getting fitted for Adidas World Cup kangaroo leather boots in Sam Hooks remains a landmark moment from my late teens to play in the local Saturday and Sunday Leagues...... they are all gone too now! [Post edited 24 Oct 2025 21:53]
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| That Mick McNeil story has me reminiscing on 21:51 - Oct 24 with 567 views | Melford | Got my first ever set of Cricket whites and Bat from the one in Ipswich. |  |
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