All 28 entries tagged Ipswich

Will There Be Another My John

Writing about web page http://www.twtd.co.uk/news.php?storyid=15656

When any team fails to comprehensively demolish a away-win-shy Sheffield Wednesday on a blustery and wet Saturday teatime in November, it is not that hard to avoid the club history books and looking back into the great moments of years gone by. However, in the case of Town, it is frustrating that the ‘good times’ either happened before I was born or when I was caring more about Pigeon Street than Portman Road, and I can never change that state of affairs.

: 11 Dec 2009 11:53 |  Tags: Bobby Club Cobbold Football Ipswich John Robson Town |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Remembering Sir Bobby in Broad Street

Writing about web page http://www.twtd.co.uk/news.php?storyid=15328&title=[blog]_remembering_sir_bobby_in_broad_street#

I know that Birmingham has its critics. In some areas, it has the appearance of a budget version of Dallas, but I am growing to like Britain’s second city. The football is plentiful in the region and of a decent quality too at a very decent price. I have enjoyed a number of trips to Villa Park, Molineux and St Andrews since I have been living in the area, but my hometown team in Suffolk remains close to my heart.

: 02 Oct 2009 14:57 |  Tags: Bobby Football Ipswich Robson Sir |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Roy Keane: The Leader

Writing about web page http://www.thefirst90minutes.com/20090907284/football-culture/roy-keane-the-leader.html

Four weeks have passed since the start of the Championship season, and my beloved Ipswich Town Football Club has yet to win a league match. At the moment whilst watching daily documentaries of the police fighting the causes of crime in Grimsby or Portsmouth, I am fighting a fierce battle in my mind.

Should I make snap judgements about the season that is still in its infancy, or has the Roy Keane bubble burst? I wonder whether I should be running to the metaphorical window to jump out of this season before GMT has begun, or try and be a bit more rational.

: 09 Sep 2009 15:25 |  Tags: Ipswich Keane Roy Town |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

One Big Nostalgic Kick

Writing about web page http://twtd.co.uk/news.php?storyid=15171&title=one_big_nostalgic_kick_

I may be a bit too young to admit this, but I love wallowing in nostalgia. Memories of those great moments from the past can help you deal with those dog days when everything seems to go wrong as soon as you decide to untangle yourself from the bed sheets and stare bleary-eyed at the mirror. You wonder whether that was you on the other side of the glass.

: 29 Aug 2009 15:04 |  Tags: Book Fabian Ipswich Review Wilnis |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Me and My Mate Shak Part II Sent to Coventry

Writing about web page http://www.twtd.co.uk/profile.php?m=dspblog&id=367&blog=9

It was another season, and I wanted to reintroduce my friend Shak to all things associated with Ipswich Town Football Club. We were catching the action in the comfort of Coventry’s Ricoh Arena. This was the third Town match that I had watched at this stadium, but the weather was sunny, and not dark, windy, cold and rainy like the other occasions. These previous matches had been largely forgettable affairs, made slightly better by the best Portman Road music in the league and a very catchy Play Up Sky Blues theme tune that could not get out of your mind.

: 12 Aug 2009 16:46 |  Tags: City Club Coventry Football Ipswich Town |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

A Perfect Tribute to Sir Bob

Writing about web page http://www.twtd.co.uk/profile.php?m=dspblog&id=367&blog=1

Most of my trips to Portman Road involve a mad and manic dash from the car to my seat in the ground, in the mistaken belief that my seat will be taken and I will be stranded outside the ground having to listen to the shouts, screams and gripes through the stadium gates.

: 02 Aug 2009 10:32 |  Tags: Bobby Club Football Ipswich Robson Town Tribute |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Farewell Sir Bobby

Farewell Sir Bobby!

In a weird way, it was not that unexpected. The papers had a picture of Sir Bobby at a charity match last weekend, and the great man looked very frail. Despite being confined to a wheelchair, his eyes still had the determination and the resolve that characterised so much of his football career.

It was an emotional sight but there was a strong sense of respect. Being an Ipswich Town fan, I know all about the legacy that Sir Bobby left to this club. It is just a shame that I was born in 1980 and can not remember those glory days of the seventies and early eighties. It was a startling achievement to take this club to FA Cup and UEFA Cup glory in 1978 and 1981, as well as preside over Ipswich’s domination of the leagues nearly thirty years ago.

There is a large statue on

Portman Road that sits opposite the Cobbold Stand. Sir Bobby has been sculptured in a questioning finger-pointing pose, and the face is etched in excitement as if he is enjoying the action on the pitch. It is a fantastic piece of artwork and became a focal point for people’s remembrance in Suffolk, as the sad news was released.

Before the recent pre--season game against Real Valladolid, I stood at the statue whilst the local TV stations did their broadcasts, young Town fans carefully draping their shirts around the statue base, and older fans quietly remembered those games that defined this proud family club, when Robson strode the touch line and coaxed the best out of legends including John Wark, Kevin Beattie, Paul Mariner and Arnold Muhren.

There was a sense of careful order amongst the grief. The one minute silence was impeccably observed. The only sound was a seagull flying across the pitch and wondering what was going on beside the wide patch of grass. The rigging of the half-mast flags was gently tingling above the Cobbold Stand. There was a sense of emotion but an appreciation and a respect for a football gentleman that defined four decades of the national game.

Sir Bobby seemed to straddle football clubs in the UK and across the world, and I do not believe that it was merely due to his position as England football manager from 1982 to 1990. The semi final against West Germany during the 1990 World Cup was the first national game that deeply entered my consciousness.

It is not hard to watch videotape footage of that dramatic game, and to watch the missed England penalties flying into the sky. It is also not hard to respect the measured attitude of Sir Bobby, who seemed to display an impressively calm demeanour and an offer of a comforting arm around his players, even if he was a raging volcano of emotion. He also seemed to adopt a shockingly measured approach in the 1986 World Cup, despite Maradona having scored a questionable goal in that searing heat of Mexico.

When you caught a sight of Sir Bobby, you knew that you could hear the words of a genuine football man who had a passion about the game. Instead of the rent-a-quote panellists that have grown like algae through the studios and the message boards, Sir Bobby always had something worthwhile to say coupled with a few memorable quotes that would liven up the dullest of matches.

The word ‘legend’ is overused in football. A player can become a ‘legend’ on the execution of one pass or a particular save. A manager can become a ‘legend’ after guiding his team to one fluky victory against the arch rivals. We can have a ‘legendary’ burger outside the ground when we build up to our match day experience.

We struggle to understand who is a legend and who is not, and we only begin to realise our heroes when they have to leave the pitch for the final time. Rest assured, we lost a legend in English and European football as the 2009-2010 season is about to spring into action, but we will never forget him.

: 01 Aug 2009 11:53 |  Tags: Bobby England Ipswich Robson Sir Town |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

When Time Stood Still

Writing about web page http://www.clubfanzine.com/ipswich_town/v2.showNews.php?id=25375&pageno=1#comments

Back in the eighties and nineties, there was a sensational show on BBC television called The Rock and Roll Years. Each programme was an exciting mix of news footage and popular culture from a particular year. There were no irritating celebrities waffling on about their love for space hoppers nor pointless opportunities for the general public to tell the world what they were doing in 1986.  

: 02 Jul 2009 16:59 |  Tags: Club Football History Ipswich Town |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Keen on Keane

Writing about web page http://www.clubfanzine.com/ipswich_town/v2.showNews.php?id=25189

Like many of us, I take a bus journey to work every day. The atmosphere on the bus is tense and angry. No one speaks or even looks at each other. Strangers sit next to each other and cower because they believe that the slightest human touch will contract a deadly infectious disease. The atmosphere is very British and not unlike an average tube journey from Liverpool Street.

: 17 Jun 2009 10:40 |  Tags: Book Ipswich Keene Review Roy Town |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

The Kopite With Great Timing

Writing about web page http://www.thisisanfield.com/columnists/2009/06/john-wark-the-kopite-with-great-timing/

It might be a slightly random thought but I wish that I was in Liverpool during the 1980s. I appreciate that Merseyside witnessed dramatic socio-economic upheaval during that decade, but there seemed to be something exciting that was developing in the area. Whether it was in my mind or in reality, I wish that I had been part of the spirit of Liverpool, instead of being rushing home from junior school for Dangermouse or The Real Ghostbusters on Children’s ITV.

: 17 Jun 2009 10:16 |  Tags: Book Ipswich John Liverpool On Review Wark |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem