The trip to Portman Road on Tuesday night will be a new ground for many of us, so we’ve published a guide for your visit to Ipswich Town.
Thanks to information from Ipswich, the guide below includes ticket, travel, and parking information, plus where to get your pre-match pint before the game!
Tickets
This match is not all-ticket, and you can pay on the night. However, advance tickets are still available from our online ticket shop until 11.00 am on Tuesday morning. Tickets ordered in advance can be collected from the away ticket office (located next to the away turnstiles at Portman Road). If you ordered your ticket online before last Thursday and you haven’t received them, please e-mail info@afcwimbledon.co.uk . Tickets ordered after Thursday can be collected at Ipswich Town.
Ticket prices are as follows:
- Adults £27
- Concessions (over-65s) £20
- Under-23s £14
- Under-19s £7
Tickets will be available on the day at turnstiles 10 and 11. These are cash turnstiles with no debit or credit card facilities for away fans. There is no price increase on the day. The Ticket Enquiry Centre in Portman Road (next to the away turnstiles) is open on a matchday to deal with any queries.
Dons fans will be accommodated in the all-seated Cobbold Stand. There are 10 wheelchair bays, each with a seat behind for a carer, located in the East of England Cooperative Stand, which is a mixed area for home and away fans. For information about tickets for wheelchair and ambulant disabled fans, please contact the club on 020 8547 3528.
For disabled fans, Ipswich has 10 radio headsets available to supporters with visual impairments ran through Soccer Sight, who provide dedicated descriptive commentary allowing the supporter to sit anywhere in the stadium. If you would like to reserve headsets or you have any special requirements please contact Ipswich’s Disability Liaison Officer Lee Smith on disability@itfc.co.uk or 01473 400556.
Supporters’ Coach
Places are still available on the supporters' coach. It will leave from opposite South Wimbledon tube station at 2.30 pm and from the Cherry Red Records Stadium at 3.00 pm. The price is £25, and places on the coach can be reserved by contacting the club office on 020 8547 3528.
Location
Ipswich Town Football Club, Portman Road, Ipswich, IP12DA
Club Telephone Number: 01473 400 500
Supporter Liaison Officer: Elizabeth Edwards, slo@itfc.co.uk, 07968 876504, @ITFC_SLO (Twitter)
The stadium is just a short, 5-10 minute, walk to the town centre with shops, cafes, and restaurants. The waterfront area is around a 15-minute walk from the ground, with a yachting marina and a range of cafes and restaurants. Note that the only pub that officially welcomes away fans is the Station Hotel (details below). Many pubs and bars in the town centre are strictly home fans only, whilst others are more relaxed – this does vary from match to match though. Just beyond the town centre, 15 minutes’ walk from the ground, is the beautiful Christchurch Park, with a renowned art gallery within the Tudor mansion building.
Ipswich is currently playing host to Elmer’s Big Parade, a display of 55 individually designed elephants, based on the children’s character, Elmer the Patchwork Elephant. Visitors can also meet the ‘Learning Herd’ of 84 young Elmers’ who are displayed in special locations all across town representing schools, youth groups and organisations. The display is in support of St Elizabeth Hospice. If you are interested in doing the trail you can pick up a copy of the Parade Map and Learning Herd or download the app or you could just pick the elephants out as you stroll round town. More information can be found here: https://elmersbigparadesuffolk.co.uk/art-trail/
How to get to the stadium
- BY CAR – Note that the A12 will be closed from 9pm to 5am on the evening of the match due to work between junctions 29, the Ardleigh interchange, and junction 30, at Stratford St Mary. The work will include resurfacing and the renewal of road markings and studs. Highways England has announced that whilst the work happens a 20-mile diversion route will be in place - adding 30 minutes to journey times. The diversion is likely to begin at the junction of the A12 and A14 a couple of miles from the town centre, and will take you along the A14 to the A137, where you will head towards Manningtree and on towards Colchester, where you will join the A12 to continue your journey home.
Make your way to the A12 (Junction 28 of the M25) and keep on the A12 to Ipswich.
Unless you live very close to Suffolk, it’s generally recommended to allow at least an hour beyond the AA / Google / Sat Nav suggested journey time from your starting point. Sat Navs vary in their recommended route into town, but whichever way you go, it shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes from the A12 to the ground.
For those without Sat Nav, once you reach the junction of the A12 and A14, just south of Ipswich, take the A1214 (London Road) for a couple of miles into town. As you approach the town centre area, there’s a Sainsbury’s supermarket on the left – at this point, go straight on past Sainsbury’s and then almost immediately right onto West End road. Take the first left (after about half a mile) onto Sir Alf Ramsey Way and you’ve arrived.
Note that the roads immediately behind the Cobbold and Sir Bobby Robson stands are closed about 90 minutes before the game, so to access the NCP car park on Portman Road you will need to continue on London Road, straight on to Handford Road and then turn right at a set of traffic lights onto Portman Road (if you miss the turning, just do a U-turn at the roundabout with Civic Drive, turning back onto Handford Road, then taking the first left into Portman Road).
As noted above, if you are travelling back towards London after the game you will be affected by the diversion on the A12.
- BY COACH
Away coaches usually park in the West End Road car park, 5 minutes’ walk from the ground. The Station Hotel (away fans pub – see below) is just a couple of minutes away – go towards the bridge over the river, at the east end of the car park, turn right and you’ll find the pub the other side of the river, right opposite the railway station.
- BY TRAIN
For those travelling by train, Ipswich station is only 5 to 10 minutes’ walk from the ground.
The mainline runs out of London Liverpool Street with 2-3 trains per hour, taking roughly 1 hour 15 mins. We’d recommend allowing at least an extra hour for the journey as the mainline is often subject to delays.
If you have a Network Railcard, please note it is only valid as far as Manningtree, so you’ll need to split your ticket and also make sure that you are on a train that actually stops at Manningtree.
There are ticket checks on all mainline trains and ticket barriers at Ipswich.
Whatever your travel plans, it’s worth checking www.greateranglia.co.uk for updated times and any late changes.
After the game, trains leave Ipswich for London Liverpool Street at 21:43 (you will need to leave the game slightly early to make this one), 22:23 and 22:43. Note that the 22:23 and 22:43 arrive in Liverpool Street at 23:48 and 00:03 respectively, which just about connects onto late tube services. If you are travelling beyond central London, do check your connection times for your onward journey.
Parking
There is no official stadium car park, but there is parking all around the ground. The closest is a large NCP on Portman Road (right by the away end), which usually has spaces up to around 45 minutes before kick-off. There’s also a large car park on West End Road (5 minutes’ walk away) and at the railway station (less than 10 minutes). The town centre is less than 10 minutes’ walk, and has numerous car parks, as you’d expect. Being a town centre ground, most streets are controlled (residents only) parking, so free on-road parking tends to be at least a 20-minute walk away. As usual, the car parks nearest the ground are a bit slow to clear after the game – for a quicker exit, use the railway station car park (it’s controlled by cameras, and the pay stations are by the entrance to the station – it costs £5 after 4pm and all day at weekends), and exit left onto Burrell Road / Ranelagh Road (B1075), then (after about a mile) left onto the A1214.
Five car parking spaces are available for visiting disabled supporters. Spaces can be booked by contacting Ipswich Town's Disability Liaison Officer, Lee Smith, on 01473 400556. There is no charge for this parking but note that the spaces are on the opposite side of the stadium to the away turnstiles.
Official Away Pub
The Station Hotel (formerly the Riverside Hotel) is opposite the station, and is the official away pub. It is roomy, has a garden and TV screens, and three beers on handpump from the Greene King stable.
Most pubs immediately around the ground are for home fans only, and few pubs around the town, if any, will welcome groups of away fans, especially wearing away team colours. As always, couples, families and older people will find it a bit easier to slip into a town centre pub for a quiet beer or two. Note that, on a match-by-match basis, police may designate other pubs in the town centre as home fans only. This is more likely nowadays as there have been a number of pub closures in the immediate area around the stadium. In practice, the smaller and the friendlier the away following, the easier it is to enjoy our many great pubs on a matchday.
There is a FanZone marquee and entertainment zone at the stadium, but this is strictly open to home fans only. There are ticket checks at the door.
Cash points
The nearest cash machines to the stadium are a 5-10 minute walk away, (a) at the railway station, (b) at the Cardinal Park leisure zone, and (c) in the town centre itself.
Match day programme
These can be purchased outside the stadium from the blue, tardis-like kiosks. Programmes are 68 pages and cost £3.50. Programmes are not for sale inside the ground.
Security
As at most away grounds, you can expect to be searched prior to entering the ground. Ipswich Town also uses a trained search dog and some stewards now wear body cameras.
Bags
Large bags will not be permitted to be taken into the stadium. By way of guidance, nothing larger than a standard carrier bag will be allowed. There are no facilities to leave bags.
Seating
Portman Road is a traditional ground, with 4 separate stands. The away end is blocks V1 and V2 of the Cobbold Stand. This gives you a good side-stand upper-tier view of the action. The Cobbold stand is an older stand, dating from the 1970s.
Ambulant disabled fans will be seated within block S of the lower tier of the Cobbold Stand. As we do not have wheelchair spaces in the Cobbold Stand, wheelchair users will be located with home fans.
Flags/banners - Subject to space, flags and banners are allowed in the away end. These will need to be fire certificated. For questions relating to this, contact Mick Warden on mick.warden@itfc.co.uk.
Musical instruments and selfie sticks
Musical instruments and selfie sticks are not allowed in the away end.
Pushchairs
Pushchairs are not allowed into the stadium. No storage is available so they will need to be left in your car.
Stamp It Out
Ipswich Town Football Club takes a zero-tolerance stance on any form of racial, homophobic or prejudiced behaviour. Supporters can report any incident instantly that they feel needs attention by texting the anonymous ‘Stamp it Out’ number on 07834 439429 (standard text rate applies). All reports will be handled in the strictest confidence. You can also report any discrimination or anti-social behaviour to Kick it Out using the Kick It Out app which is available to download from the App Store or Google Play, or via: Facebook /kickitoutofficial; Twitter @kickitout; e-mail info@kickitout.org; phone 0800 169 9414.