It appears unlikely that East Anglian derbies will be played away from Sunday lunchtimes in the foreseeable future after the findings of the internal police inquiry into last April’s Portman Road game between the Blues and Norwich City were made public.

A Freedom of Information request made by the BBC revealed that the report largely blamed the staging of the match on a Thursday evening for the disorder which took place.

After the game, Norwich City complained that the policing had been "utterly incompetent" and "grossly negligent" with around 100 of their fans reportedly still outside the ground when the match kicked off.

Suffolk Police's professional standards department said in the report: "The critical issue above all else in respect of the cause of the disorder was to move the fixture from its traditional time of midday on a Sunday to an evening kick-off.

"The evening kick-off afforded rival fans the opportunity to consume large quantities of alcohol, an obvious aggravating factor in this case."

A Town spokesman says the report contained inaccuracies, particularly with regard to the reasons for playing the game on the Thursday, which was the day before the Easter weekend, and they will seek to address them at a future meeting: "We have only recently gained sight of the full report but it contains some significant inaccuracies that we are already in the process of raising through the appropriate channels.

“These discrepancies include the decision-making process to play the game on the Thursday, as well as the claim that the club sold tickets for home areas to away fans as a result of a voucher scheme, which simply isn’t the case.

“A meeting with all parties is already planned for February when we will be seeking to iron out these inaccuracies. Until that time, the club will be making no further comment on this issue.”

Despite the report, Supt John Everett of Suffolk Police felt the operation — which led to 19 arrests and 13 ejections - had been a success: "We didn't have any significant disorder. We had a very, very small number of minor injuries and no significant damage to pubs, which we've seen in the past with these derby games. Of course, we're more than happy to learn and to react positively to constructive criticism."

Photo: Action Images

Scuzzer added 17:59 - Dec 13 Hmmm....as long as its not penciled in for an Easter Day.
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tractorboy1961 added 18:02 - Dec 13 Pure genius from the Constabulary! I wonder how much this cost to state the bleeding obvious. They really must have nothing better to do? What really was expected from playing on that day at that time...and even then they cocked it up. Play at 3pm on a Saturady, use sensible policing and it will be fine. Anyway now the report is filed go and do some real police work!!!!!

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AlanMahon2011 added 18:05 - Dec 13 they aren't coming down and we aint going up.
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Skip73 added 18:48 - Dec 13 TRADITIONAL kick off time of midday sunday!!!!, what a joke, it was always on Boxing Day and Easter Monday or on the traditional English kick off time of 3pm Saturday.
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Skip73 added 18:51 - Dec 13 TRADITIONAL kick off time of midday sunday!!!!, what a joke, it was always on Boxing Day and Easter Monday or on the traditional English kick off time of 3pm Saturday.
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broomfield123 added 18:55 - Dec 13 It did invite trouble with the date and time put together
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runaround added 21:25 - Dec 13 The fact it had been Sunday lunchtime for so many years almost lead to it being more troublesome as it made people look forward to the last one even more as they could drink beforehand for first time in ages. As has been mentioned above, many other derby matches(especially those in the premier league)are played not on Sunday lunchtimes without the world coming to an end, just police incompetance pure and simple. I often wonder what they'd do if the 2 clubs were drawn against each other in the Carling Cup?

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h32 added 21:54 - Dec 13 As if we need to talk about this right now - this Club has some ground to make up before we will have a visit, or need to travel down the A140 in the foreseeable future. Cup draw being the only feasible possibility I suppose.
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scooterblue added 21:56 - Dec 13 what happens if we get them in the league cup next season?. do we postpone the following weekend's league fixture and play it then?. the clip look east showed last night showed a norwich fan attacking ipswich fan's so why are norwich moaning?.
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beerhelps added 23:22 - Dec 13 Sad comment on the state of policing in East Anglia. FFS, its only a panto whipped up by Archant to sell a few papers! It annoys me that I have to sneek through a cordon of riot police just to enjoy a couple of pints of CHB and some 'binner' banter with the regulars at the Coach and Horses, I mean, when did either of us become Millwall, Cardiff, Leeds..... Its shocking that Suffolk and Norfolk plod haven't been able to deal with this without wrecking an East Anglian institution. They should be ashamed. Sunday Lunchtime- traditional? -My arse. Let us tax and rate payers, both Blue and Yellow, have our derby back where we want it - Boxing day, Easter, Saturday afternoons, midweek evenings- if there is a problem deal with it and the individuals causing it, stop hiding behind mass ranks of unsmiling, riot suited wooden tops. Rant over - just want our game back.....and our club.

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yorksblue added 09:49 - Dec 14 Last comment says it all . In total agreement.
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