Fantastic news for all.

Great to see - the more that can be done to make sports more inclusive, the better. Well done Her Game Too and ITFC for adding support to their initiative.

Mum had a season ticket in the 1950 s use to too go to away games with my sister in the 70's 80' never came up against any sexism at all.

I have always been pleased to see so many women and girls at Portman Road so we have a head start on some clubs. I think we all know that abuse of all sorts exists within the football fraternity and life in general. Bobby Robson left a huge legacy for our club. When asked what is a club he said amongst other things "it's a sense of belonging". Everybody should be able to have that sense and feel included so we all have a responsibility to make that happen.

Cant say (as a guy) I've thankfully ever witnessed sexism (to any gender) in football, but for those that do, sounds like sadly its a much needed initiative.
I'm sure and hope that being and ITFC supporter has something to do with never experiencing it, but sadly I presume it must go on in our club too. Very sad.
My wife and daughters have been to PR but mostly not really interested in football, then again, neither anymore is my son who's been to many matches with me. Would hate them to think they weren't welcome for fear of sexism or any other discrimination they might face.
They've got my support anyway.

another Brilliant move in the right direction

we are fast becoming a progressive football club off the pitch lets hope the results on it match up very soon :) getting a lot of pride back in the old itfc.

Great stuff.

Phil - is that email address

liz-slo@itfc.co.uk

or

slo@itfc.co.uk

WOKE

I've posted on Twitter and Facebook about the ‘Die, Die Delia' song, and received a hail of abuse. I hate it, I think it's sexist, and felt embarrassed by it when my wife came to a Town game earlier in the season. People seem to think that describing a woman as ‘a white' is ok. It's not, no matter who she is and which club she is associated with. I've been called all of the predictable things - ‘woke', ‘wet wipe' and ‘a Karen' ( the author of the last one failing to see the irony of what they'd said) - plus a couple of ‘unoffended' women fans claiming to speak for the whole of their gender. Football grounds seem the last bastion of 1970s - style sexism and this this has to stop. You can support your team and even hate your rivals without resorting to this puerile idiocy.

The fact that ‘wh*re' has been autochanged to ‘white' says it all.

Oh Notts Tractor, pop a nurofen and toughen up. Women's football has come on leaps and has a large, mainly respectful following these days, and decent coverage on Sky Sports. Football is a working man's game and has been for over a 100 years. I took my 13 year old son to his 1st away game at MK Dons on Saturday and we ended up sitting next to a guy who dropped the C Bomb every 3rd word. Should I start a campaign for more respectful language at football matches? It is what it is and it always will be, whether ‘Wokes' ‘Wet Wipes' or ‘Karen's like you want to change it or not. If you don't like the beans… don't eat the Burrito.

Lathers There's definitely a fine balance to be found. I personally lament the change of football from a working man's game to something that has been cleansed for the prawn sandwich brigade. At the same time, I do appreciate some of the improvements. The away games are often a bit more special and it's where you find the really hardcore fans and I can join in. I like making a bit of noise, but at home in recent years it's more likely that you hear the away fans singing "no noise from the tractor boys" than the crowd are drowning out the away fans. I took my 11 year old daughter to the MK Dons home match for her first-ever match, she absolutely loved it, but I think she was more interested in the crowd and experience in general than the football!

Notts_tractor That song is about wishing someone dead and you pick up on the misogyny?

Interesting points being made - to maintain that football is a working man's sport I'd suggest is indicative of outdated views. The origins of sports are seldom reflective of where they are today, particularly when there has been a move to commercialise and/or make sports professional, which requires accessibility but then creates standards. Why does someone going to football excuse them shouting the c-word whereas if they were do that in any other environment it would be unacceptable? Why is it acceptable to sing about someone dying? Honestly, I think anyone defending these elements needs a reality check.

All of these opinions are coming from people who aren't the victims of misogyny, hate or abuse. Shouting the c-word at someone (likely opposition or ref) isn't OK! Why do people think that?! Also, the notion of Ipswich Town supporting groups such as HerGameToo won't be taken lightly, ITFC will review and seek to understand the nature of these groups to ensure high standards and values align. It's about inclusion and accessibility to the sport and team we love, why do people need to question these positive actions? Because it means you can't c-bomb or sing about a woman being a whore at the match?! Why are you doing it anyway!? Just because it used to happen, doesn't mean it should.

Some people do not want any sort of progressive change they like being stuck in the old ways, or they resist any form of education to make the world a better place for everyone,classic "im alright jack" mentality very much aligned with our current government and their followers.people banding the word "woke" about have never been in a minority or had a fight of any sort for social issues/justices probably,imagine being that person, nah me neither :)

Jugsy Working person's game. Does that make you happy? It isn't either or, we can say no C-bombs and no calling for people to die, but we don't need to totally sterilize the game. Are you seriously saying that we shouldn't question changes? Terrible things can happen even from the best of intentions. We should scrutinize everything. For example, it makes me uncomfortable to set up a snitching atmosphere where even a minor offense can get someone potentially banned.

happybeingblue When I hear progressive alarm bells ring because it is almost always about changing things without thinking of the wider consequences. It is valid to say that things are pretty decent the way they are for most people, there are slight changes that need to be made, but let's not go from making the minority uncomfortable to making the majority uncomfortable. I've lived in countries where I have been the minority. I suppose I suffered racism, but I wasn't taught to feel like a victim, so I didn't feel worthless (it definitely helped that I was an adult at the time, so I had a strong sense of worth before I experienced it). The current government is pretty woke, way too progressive for my liking. The word "woke" just signifies a way of thinking that we should judge people based on their immutable characteristics, and that is pretty racist/homophobic/misogynistic/misandrist. People are more than their race/sexuality/gender. I don't know any gay/non-white people/women who want to go to football matches as a representative of a demographic. We should all remember what we have in common: our love of Ipswich Town.

Europablue - 'snitching'? What are you wittering about? There are standards in society where people should be able to feel safe among others. Football, in so many facets, somehow seems to be exempt. If people feel intimated or marginalised, there should be an avenue for them to get help, it's not snitching. And when you say we should question change, I assume you've looked into the HerGameToo group and their campaign to then develop your questions? It's the first thing I did! Or do you question it without any due consideration?

You clearly have a negative perception of progression. Why does improving access to football for women make you uncomfortable (re your post to happybeingblue - minority vs majority comment)? I'd suggest it's impossible to foresee all the impact of change before you actually implement it. I'd also suggest if you start the process with the best of intentions and be ready to adapt/develop with the requirements, the process for the change will likely go a lot more smoothly and deliver desired outcomes.

You dive off to chunder on about 'woke' government and not knowing anyone who wants to go to football as a representative of a demographic. But from your posts it sounds like you're not in any of those under represented groups. Your comments are based on your experiences and your opinion. If you don't represent those groups so why not have a listen to what they have to say and learn a bit about what it's like to be in someone else's shoes that clearly aren't as privileged as yours?

Jugsy It sounds like you are desperately white-knighting. Are you a "representative" of an "under-represented" group (you do realise that those people are individual human beings who are responsible for their own words and actions, in my view, it's quite racist/sexist/otherwise discriminatory to consider people representatives of their race/gender/other demographic). From your posts I'd imagine you are also just another straight white male like me. The only privilege that we have is that we aren't considered representatives of our race (at least in our own country).

No, it is not the responsibility of anyone to make adults feel safe. There is the responsibility to actually make you safe from physical violence etc., but it is almost always a choice to be offended. Reporting violence, is one thing, but where is the boundary going to be? If you overhear a private conversation between two other people and you are offended does that need to be reported?

It does feel like you are looking for a fight because you didn't even take notice that I said that I don't think people should be signing "die die die Delia". On the C-word, I think there are certain standards you should expect in the family areas of the ground, but take your kids into the north stand knowing that they might hear some colourful language. I certainly will question HerGameToo when they are talking about stopping online conversations that they don't agree with because who is going to be the judge of that. If someone says something you don't like, you don't need the authorities to step in, you just respond with your own free speech. Even things that I disagree with people saying aren't my responsibility to correct. I can respond if it offends me enough, but I don't have to.

As I said I have a negative view of "progress" for progress's sake. Just because something is new, it doesn't make it better, in fact, often it is the opposite as things that stand the test of time are usually good things. Some things need to change, but it pays to consider the real-world consequences and act accordingly referring to a clear set of ethics. For this conversation to have any real meaning we need to talk about exactly what you want to do. I would agree with reporting any abuse in general, but that wholly depends on the definition of abuse.

I responded to happybeingblue who mentioned the current government and brought up the word "woke". What you have to understand about women and minorities is that they are all people who are perfectly capable of expressing opinions and of hearing other people's opinions. If you really believe that we are all equal you will believe that we can all learn from each other's views, so no-one needs to just sit down and listen, we can all have a respectful conversation and learn from each other.