| This is more than football… 08:42 - May 3 with 1570 views | mattrolow |
This run of the past four years happens to have perfectly coincided with my now eight year old son’s love of football and Ipswich Town.
We live in the midlands (I’m originally from Ipswich) and it’s not been the easiest to fly the flag of Ipswich for the past 20 or so years.
But, now I’ve got my son going to football training or going into school in full Ipswich kit amongst a team of Man Utd, City, Chelsea, Liverpool, PSG, Barca etc kits and pulling out a Jaden celebration when he scores. He’s tried the Jack Clarke but it’s all fingers and thumbs.
He had a football coach who told him it was nice he supported Ipswich, but he would learn as he got older and would choose another team. He doesn’t go there any more.
This means so much more than my delight of our recent achievements. Although guess we could call him a glory hunter at this point.
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| This is more than football… on 09:04 - May 3 with 1438 views | BloomBlue |
I was chatting to a lovely family (strangers to me) as we left the ground yesterday, who had 2 young boys, aged 11 and 14.
I was saying to them how wonderful for them to experience 3 promotions in 4 years. They will never forget this times as Ive never forgotten my special young times with Sir Alf & Sir Bobby. Their dad made the point he basically had only failures in his young times supporting Town.
I appreciate it all coincides to when you're born and while I haven't lived in Suffolk fast approaching 50 years its wonderful when you do walk around Town to see 100s in Town shirts, a buzz about the Town. Whereas 10+ years ago you hardly saw a Town shirt.
Pinching something from Ed, the Town and County is so entwined with the club its fantastic to see the positivity.
Full credit to manager, players and staff, but also to owners and Ashton. Ignoring what has happened off field this season the fact is the success is ultimately down to the owners and the people they have appointed.
This is our club, but a football club in 2026 is more about the owners than ever, look at Sheffield Wednesday, so total credit to them. |  | | |
| This is more than football… on 09:08 - May 3 with 1404 views | surreyblue |
I'm a few years behind you - my daughter was born in the middle of the L1 promotion campaign and my son was born the day after the wrexham defeat.
My little girl is just starting to show a little interest, and will sometimes sit down for 20 minutes or so to watch a game with me. She knows we support the blue team, which confuses her no ends when we watch away games. We moved to prime Spurs supporter territory last year (including her Nonno) so I'm doing everything I can to ensure they both avoid that albatross around their necks! | | | |
| This is more than football… on 09:35 - May 3 with 1219 views | BlueBoots |
That's how my uncle got me...I'm a Londoner, but he was originally from Suffolk and lived in London, so used to take me to games. I was the same age as your son in 1980, so you might understand how easy it was for my uncle to attract me to being a Town fan (My dad being from the West Indies was my cricket mentor, so I was a bit spoiled for sporting success in those formative years!)
My uncle died just before the season we got relegated to League One, so there was a small part of me that was glad he was not around to see how low the club had sunk, but since then I've been hoping that he's been able to look down from somewhere and enjoy our change in fortunes. |  |
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| This is more than football… on 10:33 - May 3 with 1089 views | VanSaParody |
From another Midland based (Cov) Town fan, I hope your little Tractor Boy finds himself another club to join & enjoy training in his Town kit regardless of what any random idiot says!
Come on you Tractor Boys! |  | | |
| This is more than football… on 12:23 - May 3 with 937 views | Sharkey |
Glad you were able to bin that football coach. What a bizarre attitude. |  | | |
| This is more than football… on 12:34 - May 3 with 886 views | Ryorry |
| This is more than football… on 09:35 - May 3 by BlueBoots |
That's how my uncle got me...I'm a Londoner, but he was originally from Suffolk and lived in London, so used to take me to games. I was the same age as your son in 1980, so you might understand how easy it was for my uncle to attract me to being a Town fan (My dad being from the West Indies was my cricket mentor, so I was a bit spoiled for sporting success in those formative years!)
My uncle died just before the season we got relegated to League One, so there was a small part of me that was glad he was not around to see how low the club had sunk, but since then I've been hoping that he's been able to look down from somewhere and enjoy our change in fortunes. |
Slightly similar - grew up in Surrey and had never been into football before, till I spent 2 years at college in Ipswich in the early 70s - so glory hunter me too, haha! |  |
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| This is more than football… on 12:41 - May 3 with 848 views | Meadowlark |
My 15 year old grandson supports Spurs. (No, me neither..) I've taken him to Ipswich matches and Town are kinda his second team, but I texted him after the match yesterday and told him it was about time he supported a PL team.😂 |  | | |
| This is more than football… on 12:48 - May 3 with 813 views | Radlett_blue |
Kind of odd to go 23 years without seeing Town promoted & then, hey presto, it's 3 promotions in 4 years. Obviously down to McKenna (backed by the Gamechanger investment - but many well backed clubs have flopped) & obviously the turgidity of some of the Championship years, followed by the Hurst debacle, the Lambert ineptitude & the Cook interregnum make it all the sweeter.
Let's hope that, with good summer recruitment, we can make a real go of establishing ourselves as a PL club.
Oh, and it wouldn't surprise me if McKenna left for a better funded PL club such as Crystal Palace. He may feel he has taken Town as far as he can, but he's still worthy of some sort of statue. |  |
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| This is more than football… on 12:56 - May 3 with 777 views | muncer |
Cute. It’s been a catalyst for my four and two year to get involved as well. They enjoyed the first ten minutes yesterday, which coincidentally is when their attention wavered!
My four year old wears her pink Ipswich kit with pride. It does help that pink is her favourite colour.
Have an up vote. | | | |
| This is more than football… on 12:58 - May 3 with 768 views | Ryorry |
| This is more than football… on 12:48 - May 3 by Radlett_blue |
Kind of odd to go 23 years without seeing Town promoted & then, hey presto, it's 3 promotions in 4 years. Obviously down to McKenna (backed by the Gamechanger investment - but many well backed clubs have flopped) & obviously the turgidity of some of the Championship years, followed by the Hurst debacle, the Lambert ineptitude & the Cook interregnum make it all the sweeter.
Let's hope that, with good summer recruitment, we can make a real go of establishing ourselves as a PL club.
Oh, and it wouldn't surprise me if McKenna left for a better funded PL club such as Crystal Palace. He may feel he has taken Town as far as he can, but he's still worthy of some sort of statue. |
ITFC Promotion Celebration Buses - nothing for 21 years, then three come along all at once!  | |
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| This is more than football… on 14:35 - May 3 with 604 views | LeoMuff |
| This is more than football… on 12:23 - May 3 by Sharkey |
Glad you were able to bin that football coach. What a bizarre attitude. |
Weird, most who are properly into football understand that you support a team with which you have personal connections in some way.
My ten year olds rather pity the Liverpool, Man City hordes who literally change by the season and have never seen their team live or even visited the north of England ! |  |
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| This is more than football… on 20:41 - May 3 with 485 views | Sharkey |
| This is more than football… on 14:35 - May 3 by LeoMuff |
Weird, most who are properly into football understand that you support a team with which you have personal connections in some way.
My ten year olds rather pity the Liverpool, Man City hordes who literally change by the season and have never seen their team live or even visited the north of England ! |
And if you are working with kids, you should applaud them for being different, and encorage it. And in sport, you should emphasise loyalty, and that the better team on paper doesn't always win.
At school in the 1970s, nowhere near E Anglia, we weren't allowed to have the plastic 'satchels' that were around at the time. They had things like 'Man Utd' or 'A.Villa' written on them, stencilled on. The teacher who enforced all tbe dress-code rules made an exception for my Colchester U. bag, because his father was from Bures. | | | |
| This is more than football… on 20:44 - May 3 with 470 views | heavyweight |
I left suffolk in 1981 and returned in 2021 , coincidence? I think not. | | | |
| This is more than football… on 11:48 - May 4 with 242 views | _CliveBaker_ |
| This is more than football… on 09:04 - May 3 by BloomBlue |
I was chatting to a lovely family (strangers to me) as we left the ground yesterday, who had 2 young boys, aged 11 and 14.
I was saying to them how wonderful for them to experience 3 promotions in 4 years. They will never forget this times as Ive never forgotten my special young times with Sir Alf & Sir Bobby. Their dad made the point he basically had only failures in his young times supporting Town.
I appreciate it all coincides to when you're born and while I haven't lived in Suffolk fast approaching 50 years its wonderful when you do walk around Town to see 100s in Town shirts, a buzz about the Town. Whereas 10+ years ago you hardly saw a Town shirt.
Pinching something from Ed, the Town and County is so entwined with the club its fantastic to see the positivity.
Full credit to manager, players and staff, but also to owners and Ashton. Ignoring what has happened off field this season the fact is the success is ultimately down to the owners and the people they have appointed.
This is our club, but a football club in 2026 is more about the owners than ever, look at Sheffield Wednesday, so total credit to them. |
I took my son along to junior park run yesterday, a ridiculous amount of town shirts on show. Admittedly it’s west Suffolk and always been ITFC territory, but it’s not always felt like this. Young & old, male / female, it felt like everyone was in a town shirt. I’m sure the Sheeran effect is real too, he’s made it fashionable to support Ipswich and that’s felt right across the county.
While Ipswich itself is a reasonable size town, the catchment is huge really. 760,000 people in Suffolk and that’s before you consider north Essex, East Cambridgeshire and pockets of South Norfolk. It’s a big catchment with next to no competition for miles, there’s absolutely no reason why the area couldn’t or shouldn’t have a successful premier league club. |  | | |
| This is more than football… on 12:03 - May 4 with 192 views | MVBlue |
Yes the tale of folk who live outside of East Anglia and the eras of before and after McKenna. My son was not a natural football supporter, but when he became aware of supporting teams we were playing Forest Green and Exeter and not on TV much at all. He became a Man City fan and my policy was as ling as its not Nodge or Man Ure I was happy for him to follow a team.
Hes 10 now, and I took him to Ipswich V Blackburn 4-3 and he saw a great game, but already has two Man Citeh kits. So its a second team for him and he has an Ipswich Man Citeh half and half scarf from our trip to Etihad too.
My daughter however has leas concerns and simply went all in on Ipswich, takes the juniors bag to school, has the Premiership strip with Woolfy on the back. Shes 8.
Just a difference of a couple of years catching them into the McKenna era. |  |
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