SUPPORTER INFORMATION: IPSWICH TOWN v BURNLEY

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Important information for travelling supporters

2023-01-27T09:00:00.000Z

SUPPORTER INFORMATION: IPSWICH TOWN v BURNLEY

Important information for travelling supporters

2023-01-27T09:00:00.000Z

Important information for travelling supporters

Burnley are in FA Cup action on Saturday as they take on Ipswich Town in the Fourth Round, at the Portman Road Stadium.

By Car

There are two main road routes to Ipswich. If you are travelling from the Midlands or North, then you will use the A14. From London, the South-East, South-West or South Wales, then you will probably use the A12.

From the Midlands and North

From Burnley, take the A646 and A58 to the M62. Join the A1 / A1 (M) south to the A14. You then take the A14 to the outskirts of Ipswich and follow the ‘Last few miles’ below. An alternative route is via the M66 / M60 / M6 (you may want to use the M6 toll to avoid any potential hold-ups around Birmingham) to the A14.

From London, the South-East, South-West and South Wales

Make your way to the M25, and then join the A12 near Brentwood (Junction 28 of the M25). Then takes about 75 minutes to the ground, subject of course to traffic delays, especially at peak times. If you are starting in the South-West or South Wales, you do have the option of driving via the Birmingham area (M42 to M6), though this is usually around half an hour slower than the London / M25 route.

The last few miles

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.

Please Note

That the road immediately behind the Cobbold Stand is blocked at either end and the road behind the Sir Bobby Robson Stand is 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).

By Coach

Away coaches usually park in the West End Road car park, 5 - 10 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.

It is possible to arrange a drop-off nearer to the stadium for fans with mobility issues – please contact Ipswich Town's Disability Liaison Officer, Lee Smith, on 01473 400556 in advance of the game to arrange this.

By Train

For those travelling by train, Ipswich station is only 5 to 10 minutes’ walk from the ground. It is possible to travel via London or cross-country with trains from London to Ipswich leaving from Liverpool Street station. We are aware of major problems with the reliability of trains on the line to and from London Euston, so suggest you allow additional time for your journey. Via London the journey time to Ipswich is around 5 hours. www.greateranglia.co.uk indicates a number of options.

For example, there are trains leaving Burnley Manchester Road at 07:03 and 08:03. Change at Preston for London Euston where you get the underground to London Liverpool Street to connect to the 11:02 and 12:00 from London Liverpool Street respectively. Arrival into Ipswich is 12:06 and 13:05 respectively.

There is also a train from Burnley at 09:03 but this doesn’t get you to Ipswich until 14:05, so doesn’t allow for any delays. To get from Euston to Liverpool Street, walk to Euston Square and take the Circle Line or Hammersmith & City Line or Metropolitan Line to Liverpool Street. Alternatively, you can take the Northern Line (City Branch) from Euston to Bank and then take the Central Line to Liverpool Street.

There is a cross-country option available via Leeds and Peterborough, with a journey time of just over 5 hours. Leaving at 06:22 from Burnley Manchester Road you will get to Ipswich for 11:27. Note, the transfer time at Leeds is only 11 minutes with a 51 minute wait at Peterborough. There is another option, leaving Burnley at 07:21, which will get you to Ipswich at 13:27 - this goes via York (1 hour 5 minute transfer time) and Peterborough but be warned that this takes over 6 hours.

After the game

www.greateranglia.co.uk suggests that it is not possible to travel back to Burnley via London Euston. However, the train leaving Ipswich at 17:11 connects to a train from Kings Cross to Leeds where you pick up a train to Burnley Manchester Road. This arrives at Burnley at 22:56 (see below for cross-country option which connects to the same train from Leeds).

There is also a later and quicker option from Ipswich which will also get you to Burnley at 22:56. This leaves Ipswich towards London at 17:44 - change at Stratford and take the Elizabeth Line to Farringdon where you pick up a train to Stevenage. At Stevenage change to a train to Leeds where you pick up the connection to Burnley. A third option via Liverpool Street, Kings Cross and York leaves Ipswich at 17:52 arriving at Burnley at 23:59.

After the game, there is a cross-country option leaving Ipswich at 17:48. Changes are required at Peterborough, Grantham and Leeds with a scheduled arrival time into Burnley Manchester Road at 22:56. There is also an option via Peterborough and York, also leaving on the 17:48 from Ipswich – this takes over an hour longer to get to Burnley.

For those fans travelling back towards London after the game, there are trains from Ipswich at 17:09, 17:44, 17:52 and 18:11. There are regular trains after this with the last train to Liverpool Street leaving Ipswich at 22:41.

Travellers are also warned that trains on the York to Peterborough route are likely to be busy due to reduced services on the day because of engineering works. Note that the trains that head east out of Peterborough are very small – even with new rolling stock, they only have four carriages. They are also used by many Town fans from Stowmarket and Bury St Edmunds.

There are ticket checks on all mainline trains and ticket barriers at Ipswich.

Parking

There is no official stadium car park, but there is parking all around the ground. The closest option is a large car park on Portman Road (right by the away end, post code IP1 2BP), which is likely to have space for this game up to maybe 90 minutes before kick-off.

There are also large car parks on West End Road (5 minutes’ walk away, post code IP1 2DZ) and at the railway station (less than 10 minutes, postcode IP2 8AL). The town centre is less than 10 minutes’ walk and has numerous car parks. 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.

Three 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.

Cashless Stadium

Portman Road is now a cashless stadium. This includes the programme kiosks positioned close to the away fans entrance and on the corner of Sir Alf Ramsey Way / Portman Road (close to Planet Blue). Other programme kiosks do currently accept cash.

Matchday Programme

The matchday programme will be a cut-down version, priced at £2.00, can be purchased outside the stadium from the blue, tardis-like kiosks, but note that the nearest kiosk to the away end does not accept cash. 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, V2 and E of the Cobbold Stand. This gives you a good side-stand upper-tier view of the action.

Ambulant disabled fans, who require limited stepped access, will be seated within block S of the lower tier of the Cobbold Stand – this is an away fans block. Ambulant disabled supporters wishing to sit in the upper tier can do so but please note that there is no lift access or accessible toilet facility in this area.

As we do not have wheelchair spaces in the Cobbold Stand, wheelchair users are located with home fans in the Magnus Group West Stand. Four spaces are available.

Accessible Toilet and Baby Changing Facility

Accessible toilets are on the concourse of the lower tier of the Cobbold Stand. A baby changing facility can be found in the ladies toilets in the lower tier of E block.

Hungry Or Thirsty?

Note that all kiosks are cashless. Card and contactless will be accepted. Food and drink facilities are what you’d expect (pies, burgers, confectionery etc). Alcohol will be served in the away end bars before the game and at half time provided there are no issues.

Smoking Policy

Portman Road is a no smoking stadium. This includes e-cigarettes. Anyone found smoking will be ejected from the ground. For anyone considering leaving the stadium, note that no re-admission to the ground is permitted.

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 Neil McCluskey on neil.mccluskey@itfc.co.uk.

Musical Instruments and Selfie Sticks

Musical instruments and selfie sticks are not allowed in the away end.

Pyrotechnics

As with all grounds and to comply with legislation, the use of pyrotechnics or even trying to get them into the stadium is a criminal offence and will not be tolerated.

Pushchairs

Pushchairs are not allowed into the stadium. No storage is available so they will need to be left in your car.

Disabled Fans

The Club has 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 lee.smith@itfc.co.uk or 01473 400556.

Official Away Pub

The Station Hotel is opposite the station, and is the official away pub. It has a garden and TV screens, and up to four beers on handpump, mostly 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.

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 machine

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 facility (which has a number of chain restaurants, plus a KFC and a McDonalds), and (c) throughout the town centre.

Matchday Safeguarding Policy: Please see section 8 (page 6), Away Fan Procedures: children-young-people-and-adults-at-risk-matchday-safeguarding-protection-policy-website-copy.pdf (itfc.co.uk )

Stamp It Out

Racism or discrimination of any form is not OK, ‘Not Today or Any Day’ and supporters are reminded that instances of discriminatory or prejudiced behaviour will not be tolerated at any EFL game.

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; email info@kickitout.org; phone 0800 169 9414. Alternatively, our customer services can be contacted on customer.service@itfc.co.uk.

Address: Ipswich Town Football Club, Portman Road, Ipswich, IP12DA