The Portman Road pitch, which is set for a major overhaul this summer, has been highly commended by the EFL.

Burnley, Derby County and Newport County were named the 2022/23 Grounds Teams of the Season in the Championship, League One and League Two respectively, but Portsmouth and Town were highly commended in League One.

The judgement is reward for groundsman Ben Connell and his staff, who have been working in less than ideal conditions with the upcoming work on the pitch long overdue.

The Portman Road playing surface was one of the first aspects of Town CEO Mark Ashton identified as needing improvement after he took on his role after leaving Bristol City in June 2021.

Initially, the plan was to replace it last year but with the building work to open up the south-east corner required before the refurbishment could take place, the Blues have had to wait until this summer for the first deep down pitch regeneration since the close season ahead of Town's FA Cup-winning 1977/78 campaign.

“The pitch is on track,” Ashton said at the recent Fans’ Forum, with work set to start as soon as the season ends with the way the work is being carried out meaning it’s not feasible for the old turf to be sold off to fans.

“It’s the summer project, you’re into millions of pounds for this project, not £1 million, millions.

“And that’s because the substructure of the pitch, how far we’ve got to dig down, you’re still no 100 per cent sure what you’re going to find when you do dig down.

“Three stands have been built in relatively recent years, but we’ve taken so many boreholes now and we’ve got a relatively good understanding of what we’re going to find.

“Undersoil heating is going in, that’s no mean feat. The whole new track is going in, which means there is levelling work to be done all the way around the pitch.

“We’ve had really good pitch designers in, it’ll be a hybrid pitch, back in the day they would have called it Desso, but that patent has gone, the manufacturers have done some world class pitches.

“It’s a big piece of work, but I think it will then set us in good stead for how we move forward.”

The work means there probably won’t be time for a Portman Road friendly this July: “Time is tight, pre-season home games this summer will be unlikely, I struggle to see where one would fit in, although I’m not going to write it off yet. But I think the reality is that every day is going to count to get that done.”

Photo: Blair Ferguson

TractorfactorSteve added 12:55 - Apr 27 I wonder what they'll find under the current pitch? As a kid (too long ago!) I recall my dad telling me that the pitch, from the time he started going to watch Town in the mid thirties, was laid on a bed of old waste clinker (perhaps from the Cliff Quay power station?). Apparently this was the reason it was so well drained and alwaays regarded as the best pitch in the league for so many years?

8

Marcus added 13:32 - Apr 27 I can think of many things much worse to find!
1

JewellintheTown added 13:47 - Apr 27 Town fans hopes and dreams were buried there under the Marcus Evans era.
4

SheptonMalletBlue added 14:11 - Apr 27 Hope it doesn't turn into an archaeological dig, otherwise we'll be playing at Colchester for the season!!!
1

Carberry added 14:18 - Apr 27 The ground was built on Portman Marshes and that was another reason why the playing surface was so good apparently. People used to say it was the closest you could get to Wembley in the days when that was the best surface (before the Horse of the Year Show!).
2

TractorBeezer added 14:19 - Apr 27 Well done Ben and staff!
4

Runner added 14:37 - Apr 27 My understanding (heard in the 60/70's) was it was used as a assault course during the war for training, with bushes & rubbish used to make it like countryside, not sure if 1st or 2nd war, but that was why the drainage was so good. With rhe others above, there is 3 reasons to pick from.
1

CanadianBlue added 15:26 - Apr 27 Well done Ben for bringing Portman Road's pitch back to its glory. We were always highly credited for our pitch in the early 2000s before Ferguson (I think!) went to St George's. Glad we're back to receiving that recognition and it'll be interesting to see how the hybrid pitch looks.
1

rfretwell added 16:01 - Apr 27 So we will win the FA Cup again next season. Äœet your bets on now.
0

Cadiar added 18:16 - Apr 27 As long as they don't find Mccarthy, Cook or Paul Hirst buried down there.
0

jabberjackson added 18:29 - Apr 27 Ridiculous that Barnsley did not get commended Their pitch was immaculate Much better than ours this season
1

petermorris added 19:37 - Apr 27 TractorfactorSteve- My granddad watched Town in the thirties and also told me the pitch was laid on waste clinker from Cliff Quay power station.
1

Ipswichbusiness added 08:54 - Apr 28 The amount that they are spending on the new pitch suggests that a decision has been taken to remain at Portman Road and not move to a new ground. It would be interesting to know if they propose to increase capacity and if so how; I can't see how it would be possible to demolish an existing stand and build a new one in a couple of months in a close season.
0

Robert_Garrett added 09:00 - May 1 21000 season tickets sold so the capacity will probably increase to 30000 with the VIP lounges being completed. Replacing a stand will take a year not months, which , if you remember, we last achieved whilst in the PL.
0

Blogs 295 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls