Town are in the running for the EFL's Kin + Carta Family Club of the Year award for the first time having been nominated alongside MK Dons and Sheffield United.

The award goes to the club adjudged to have provided the highest standards for families and young fans.

The winner will be announced at the EFL Awards at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London on Sunday 24th April.

“We're absolutely delighted that the club has been nominated for this year's award,” Town's PR manager Dan Palfrey told the official website.

“We've made a lot of effort to engage with families and young fans in order to inspire the next generation of supporters. The supporters have responded in brilliant fashion with record attendances in the FanZone as well as more fans engaging with initiatives such as First Time Fans.

“There are many more ideas in the pipeline but this nomination is positive recognition of the work that the club is carrying out.

“A lot of people at the club have contributed to this progress including Seb [Norton, family activities coordinator] and Lauren [Fellingham, family activities manager] who, alongside a committed team of volunteers, have strived to make Portman Road welcoming for all.”

This season the FanZone, which was introduced in 2016, has grown in popularity with a record 4,331 supporters frequenting it prior to the Cambridge United match.

Nearly 700 youngsters have taken part in the First Time Fans scheme, while under-12 season ticket holders having increased by 65 per cent on last season.

The club recently partnered with and hosted a designated matchday for the #HerGameToo campaign, while forward Conor Chaplin is an ambassador for Rainbow Tractors, the club's LGBTQ+ supporters group.

The nomination follows Town winning the Best Family Zone award in the 2018/19 EFL Fan Engagement Awards.

Matchday Images

Orraman added 11:19 - Apr 14 In my opinion the development of the fan zone has gone a long way to making ITFC a proper family club. Originally introduced as a pre match gathering to meet friends and enjoy a pint the progress this season has been remarkable. Not only are there good food and drink outlets but so many activities for younger fans will have long term effects. Looking at fan zone crowds recently there are so many youngsters accompanied by an increasing number of Mums, who seem to thoroughly enjoy the facilities and who no doubt look forward to every home game to take part in the pre match fun. If the team progresses at the rate we hope it will, these youngsters will come to view ITFC matches as part of their family leisure routines and will become locked in for a generation and in turn introduce their offspring to the wonderful world of Ipswich Town

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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 16:19 - Apr 14 Building a community-based club for the future and a sense of belonging - just what most real fans want. I look forward to the continuing development of these great initiatives.
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runningout added 18:23 - Apr 14 good to be nominated. If we keep looking to improve we can't go wrong. Well done ITFC just the same
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CavendishBlue added 13:09 - Apr 15 ME poor record in this area was even more remarkably bad when you think about how much he made out of the hospitality industry. In the end he used the ground so little for concerts and other such events. He was clearly only really interested in the fast buck that major event ticket re-sales gained him. Alledgedly.
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