Town and the Ipswich 'Tru7.com' Witches have announced a new partnership ahead of the start of the new football season.

Panels on the air fence at Foxhall Stadium will bear the name 'ITFC - The Venue', under which the club promotes its conferencing and events facilities, while the Witches, who currently ride in the SGB Championship, UK speedway's second tier, will sponsor a Town player during 2017/18 with his identity yet to be confirmed.

Witches promoter Chris Louis said: “I think it is a good time for the two clubs to be supporting each other. We have both had so much success over the years and if you look through history it has often come at the same time!

“I don’t know why he haven’t done more before now but we are really proud and pleased to be supporting the town and football club.

“They are two clubs with a great history and heritage locally and it is important for us to be supporting each other and we are pleased to be doing it. We are two brands for Suffolk and Ipswich to be proud of.”

Town’s director of sales, Rosie Richardson, concurred: “The people of Ipswich show a great deal of loyalty in their support for the town’s two professional sports teams and there is a large crossover in terms of the two fanbases.

“It therefore seemed natural for us to strengthen ties with the Witches and we are looking forward to working with them.

“The partnership started to take shape during 2016, when the social media teams at Ipswich Witches and ITFC began to promote each other’s meetings and matches via Twitter and Facebook.

“Now seemed the right time — with the Witches’ season in full swing and ITFC about to embark on the 2017/18 campaign - to strengthen relations between the two clubs via a number of promotional channels.

“Our intention is that this partnership will grow and develop over the coming months and years. As part of that, the Witches will once again have a presence at the annual ITFC Open Day which is taking place on Thursday 27th July.

“We are looking forward to working together and to a successful season both at Foxhall and at Portman Road.”

Witches digital media manager, Henry Chard, has been looking to forge closer links between the clubs: “When I started working with the Witches, it was something I was really keen to do and I’m really pleased that there is something in place now.

“As a lifelong fan of both clubs, to me it seemed logical for the two to unite in some way and help support each other’s events.

“A lot of football fans come to speedway and vice versa and hopefully with both us of supporting each other going forward, we can encourage sports fans from both clubs to do the same.

“Growing the club’s presence is something we are constantly working hard on behind the scenes and this partnership is really great news going forward.”

Photo: Action Images

pegasus added 14:59 - Jul 6 Great news! Best to The Witches as their season progresses.
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wrightsrightglove added 15:05 - Jul 6 Very, very slowly starting to feel like our club again. Although only a small show of support it shows that the club are beginning to get their finger on the pulse again when it comes to the local community and Ipswich as a fan base. Well done to all involved.
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midastouch added 15:50 - Jul 6 Watching Ipswich in the Championship for the last however many years has felt a bit like Speedway at times, i.e. going round and round in circles!
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thechangingman added 11:27 - Jul 7 Yes, that IS good news - I'll always support any initiative that grounds the club in the community at large. Onwards and upwards and all that... COYB!!!
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