When driver and big Widzew Lodz fan Mariusz Zawiasa visited the Anchor Freight warehouse in Ipswich recently, he was pleasantly surprised to see artwork paying homage to the glory days of Town and revealed that the Blues are still remembered in the Polish city.

Town faced Mariusz’s team in the third round of the UEFA Cup in 1980/81 on their way to carrying off the trophy at Amsterdam via a 504 aggregate victory over Dutch side AZ 67 Alkmaar (pictured above).

A 5-0 win at Portman Road was followed up by a 1-0 defeat in freezing conditions in Poland to see the Blues through 5-1 on aggregate.

Mariusz’s father, Krzysztof, attended the game in Poland and still talks about it to this day, and as a result of the match there are fans of Town in the city to this day and several his friends have travelled over for games.

Anchor Freight have invited Krzysztof over to watch Town at Portman Road.

“It’s great that your football club’s achievements have been honoured and remembered, I had to take a photo and share with all my family and friends,” Mariusz said.

He added that Town’s visit to Lodz is still remembered by his team: “There is even an entire wall dedicated to Ipswich Town in the club’s museum.”

As part of their drive for greater sustainability within their supply chain, Anchor Freight recently renovated the site of a former boiler factory in the Whitehouse area of Ipswich into a warehousing and rework facility, with a particular focus on making the site carbon efficient.

Most of the staff at the Ipswich site are Town supporters with some of the more senior members remembering the glory days.

Therefore, in order to recognise the achievements of the club, the four main buildings were renamed after the two greatest managers of the club, Sir Alf, Sir Bobby, Ramsey and Robson, with the largest building also showing artwork of the three major trophies won under the duo, the First Division title in 1961/62, the FA Cup in 1978 and that UEFA Cup victory in 1981.

Photo: Action Images

WhoisJimmyJuan added 17:26 - Jan 28 I love these kind of warm connections we have with foreign clubs. And proud we have such an international fan base. I shall keep an eye out for Widzew progress from now on. Same as Fortuna D.
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Linkboy13 added 17:52 - Jan 28 I remember the away game Kevin Beattie played in a short sleeved shirt in freezing conditions what a character.
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andehpandeh added 18:18 - Jan 28 Great connection. Further proof that Town have room to grow in the unlikeliest of places.
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stormypetrel added 19:44 - Jan 28 Spot on article
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ITFC_Spell_Correct added 20:03 - Jan 28 That was great to read. If you go to the website of Widzew Lodz and search 'Ipswich' it takes you to pages where you can read of their exploits in the 1980/81 UEFA Cup and how Ipswich Town broke their hearts. https://widzew.com/
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waldenblue7 added 09:50 - Jan 29 Brilliant, love this. Great effort from the company.
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