TWTD Forum posters Slambo and Blue_Order want to improve the atmosphere at Portman Road and in order to try to do that have set up a new supporters group, Blue Action. They tell us why and what it’s all about.

As we’re sure everyone will agree, the atmosphere at Portman Road has been poor for far too long. It’s dull, brittle and in recent times, downright toxic. This is to the detriment of the team and club that we all love and support, and also sours the matchday experience for a lot of people.

As North Stand regulars, too often we are faced with the tragic sight of row upon row of glum faces, staring dead-eyed at the pitch in near total silence, with the occasional negative or sarcastic chant about how bad we are on and off the park.

We have the ability change this - our goal as a group is to ignite and unite the support, to make Portman Road as loud and as passionate as it was in the early 00s. Alex Ferguson once said that our 22,000 sounded more like 40,000. We believe that if enough people get involved, we can get Portman Road back to being the fortress it once was.

We want to create a section of fans that supports and encourages the team for the whole duration that we’re inside the ground every other Saturday, that doesn’t stop singing positively, regardless of what’s happening on the pitch or who’s in the dugout and the boardroom. We want a North Stand full of colour and vibrancy - flags, banners, scarves etc, but we need your help in making it work.

We have spoken to the Supporters Liaison Officer who assures us that the club will do all they can to facilitate such a group, but it has to come from us, the supporters. If you’re of a like-minded view, then get involved, and spread the word to your friends. The more people we have on board, the stronger force we can become.

If we can generate a decent core of fans that are interested in changing Portman Road for the better, we can establish a base, and in time grow bigger and better. As we’re all fans of Ipswich Town, and no supporter is greater than any other, we will make it as democratic as possible, so any feedback and suggestions are welcome.

We have a fresh management team, a new squad of players, and for the first half an hour against Blackburn on the opening day, a support that felt invigorated and more optimistic about the future of ITFC than they have done for a very long time. As such, we feel this is the perfect time to create this movement, and hope other fans do too. Together we are stronger.

Blue Action can be found on Facebook here and can be followed on Twitter via @BlueAction1.

Photo: Contributed

davidcamp added 20:56 - Aug 16 Great idea, but we are not all on Twitter or Fascebook! Will there be a website?
4

TrueBlueRich added 21:06 - Aug 16 Good luck with your campaign, much needed. I have felt for some time the club could do more. For instance turn up the volume with music leading to ko and ht. The announcer to be more vocal I.e applauding goal scorers . Many of the grounds we visit do it much better than us, Sheff Utd is an example.
6

CraigEdwards added 21:19 - Aug 16 Totally agree the ground as a whole has been very subdued with a lack of atmosphere. TBH we haven't had a buzz around the ground since the George burley era. Our last three managers have played a negative style of football which hasn't been enjoyable and creative since the old days and the Ipswich way. Also with the building of both the extension to above what I have always called the north stand and the churchmans changed the noise of the crowd. Seating has also not helped as when we used to stand in a crush it gave more of a togetherness. Somehow we need to integrated the whole stadium and hopefully in time with the new management team it will give us all a lift. Everyone needs to get behind this as I've always said the crowd was towns 12 man.

3

BlueMachines added 21:26 - Aug 16 I'm in the North Stand and would love to sing more!!
3

Swn98 added 21:32 - Aug 16 Good luck.
2

Reuser_is_God added 21:43 - Aug 16 Go on lads. Likes & shared pages etc.
2

shortmarine1969 added 21:49 - Aug 16 How to you intend to realize this initiative ?? I think it a fair and valid point , and above all a great desire to hold..!! but.. very much driven buy whats on the pitch which unfortunately has in the main been poor for years, toxic for the last two , and the current process may bring some discontent before it bears fruit to any degree ..any thoughts / plan of action as of yet ??

3

Plums added 22:12 - Aug 16 Good idea. I suggest bringing some of the Fortuna boys over and get some tips from them on how they keep this up for 90+ minutes. Also, talk to some of the old guard about those songs that Alan Ferguson was referring to - not everything needs to be 250 bpm.
5

ArnieM added 22:21 - Aug 16 Two things striker me at home games. 1) Section 6 fans need to be nearer the centre of the SBR. I stand behind the goal and am more or less “ central” in the SBR and am often in the middle of two “ groups” of the stand , often singing totally different songs! The end result , is both songs tend to peater out. 2) The away fans need to be moved to the SBR end of the Cobbold Stand. It's ridiculous that the Police can control where the Club places fans inside the ground. Having the away fans nearer the home fans WILL create more noise . Eg....The away fans are situated next to the Barclay stand at scumville. .....where's the problem doing the same thing at ITFC? Allowing flags, banners etc would also increase a positive atmosphere IMO! But again H&S has gone mad, and so much is deemed “ unsafe”....doesn't seem to be a problem at a lot of other English grounds or in Europe. The Club COULD do much, much more to help generate a better match day experience. Hurst will be doing his level best to give us attacking football. That's normally the catalyst to noisey stands!

7

bournemouthblue added 22:22 - Aug 16 I personally think this is a great idea but the club itself should be prepared to help more and facilitate this You can certainly help facilitate an atmosphere imho and they used to do it in the days of better atmospheres
2

Bert added 22:49 - Aug 16 I applaud the effort to recreate the atmosphere we all contributed to in our better days. Let's hope that what we see on the pitch encourages it. One request though is to drop the Norwich budgie chant. It sounds pathetic and peters out. Time to modernise the repertoire!!
3

Blue_Balls added 22:49 - Aug 16 Embarrassing. Must be school holidays still.
-7

coolcat added 23:56 - Aug 16 -Great idea! I'm in the North Stand. Good luck with setting it up. Would like to be part of that. :)
2

mathiemagic added 00:01 - Aug 17 Bring back standing and you might just get what you want. Crystal Palace have an "Ultra's" type thing going on at the moment. Please dont forget the other 3 stands at PR, if the football is entertaining then the singing will happen without a fan group that is for sure.
2

StavangerBlue added 00:40 - Aug 17 I would like to suggest getting in touch with the Liverpool FC supporters club. All the flags, singing, atmosphere etc at Anfield is created by fans. The club and Police work with them. They'd be a good source for ideas. LFCSC also do crowdfunding for banners etc.
4

Essen_blue added 06:48 - Aug 17 Need a pub like Brannigans used to do pre match, good value beers, play football music, show the lunch time game and get everyone in a match day mood pre kick off. Everyone turns up in a relaxed mood and this continues into the game.
1

Swn98 added 07:34 - Aug 17 You don't wish them luck then cat what a strange person
0

thechangingman added 07:38 - Aug 17 Whilst in principle this is a good idea, in terms of making Portman Road lively, I am not convinced a 'positive atmosphere' can be engendered at will. In other words, a group-think 'We-will-cheer-in-unison' approach is, by definition, utterly contrived. In my opinion, a football crowd will express what they're actually feeling when they feel it whilst this seems a bit like an East German/North Korean/Maoist China attempt to express the Party-Line. I guess the powers that be will think it is double-plus-good but George Orwell will be turning in his grave. First clubs play 'official songs' to celebrate a goal, then people tell us how to act and feel. Will there be an 'official uniform' too? 2018 = 1984!

1

tractorboybig added 07:44 - Aug 17 But why is the support so brittle and toxic? surely there lies the remedy?
1

Northstandveteran added 07:53 - Aug 17 While all seated stadium have increased safety, it will be nigh on impossible to create the atmosphere generated by standing. Apologies for living in the past but you could be part of the north stand crowd of 12,000 v Oxford in the simod cup on a Tuesday night and the atmosphere was better than the Norwich game last year. Next to the away fans separated by a sheet of chicken wire. Exciting times as a young teenager. In many respects what happened on the pitch didn't matter as much when you were surrounded by like minded people bouncing up and down on a couple of pints. Not that I could manage it now, happy to sit down in the churchmans and have a half time pint in legends 😁 Might I also add, give the fans something to shout about? 1 shot on target per game over the last two seasons doesn't get bums off seats. Good luck with the campaign though 👏

5

delias_cheesy_flaps added 08:04 - Aug 17 Knocking down the SBR and rebuilding the old North Stand will do the trick :) The other reason we were 40k loud as Sir Alex put it was the shape and size of the old North Stand which also enhanced all that sung there. The SBR design really doesn't help the acoustics of the supporters and also as it's much cleaner than it's predecessor it's not just full of rowdy blokes any more. Good luck with your efforts though.

2

BlueySwede added 08:25 - Aug 17 The Portman Road crowd can still be noisy at times, the reaction towards the end of the Aston Villa game last season was impressive (at 0-3 and 0-4!!) and will live in my memory for a long time. To be honest the last couple of years have been depressing, of course it will shine through to the crowd. Hoping for better times and lots of noice from The Tractor Boys!
1

ITFCsince73 added 09:50 - Aug 17 Northstandveteran, spot on. Atmosphere left when away support moved out the north stand. Away support needs to be at that end of the ground. Match day stewards on the whole need to chill out a bit also. Some very petty.
2

ElephantintheRoom added 10:02 - Aug 17 All very worthy but the crowd is simply reflecting the disintegration of the club - and the terrible value for money on the pitch. I suppose a new generation of supporters who know nothing but the Evans era might be bemused by the sense of embarrassment associated with supporting ITFC - but this is because they remember (and actually support a very different animal) To be associated with Evans and what he represents is frankly awful and until all the ITFC pre-Evans supporters drift away that will continue. A few wins will make some difference - but its the way the club is being ground into the ground and what it represents that is slowly killing it.

2

Along added 10:29 - Aug 17 Can't I just sit where I want and watch the game without some.annoying people getting me to cheer and sing? Why don't you put your energies into something more worthwhile?
1

Blogs 295 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls