Ipswich Town: James Wall reflects on Boxing Day draw against Leicester

I just returned to Washington DC from my trip back to the UK motherland for Christmas, and what a great trip it was! I saw friends and family, ate and drank far too much, experienced the ordeal known as the UK rail system the day after Boxing Day (and the wonderful British sense of humour amongst the chaos) and, most importantly, sat in the press box for the Leicester City game.

At one point I wondered if I’d be able to make it to the match, given logistical challenges. My mate Rory was due to pick me up from Bury after driving up from London, but he got Covid right before Christmas so had to bow out. I needed to find an alternative driver and quick.

Luckily, I was seeing my ex-girlfriend from my Ipswich teen years and her husband Stuart (yes, we’re all still friends), the latter of whom is a huge ITFC fan. Stuart grew up in town and has the most complete set of match programmes I have witnessed, as well as replica shirts going back to the 1960’s. 

The last time I visited his house, he gave me a programme from the division one-winning season in 1962! 

Oddly, Stuart hadn’t been to a game since 1991 when he moved away from the town of his birth, so agreed to the five-hour round-trip drive from London to pick me up, drive from Bury to Ipswich and back, then head back down again to North London. 

To say we were both excited when he picked me up in Bury was an understatement!

James and his friends in the FanZone before the Leicester match (Image: James Wall)

When we got to the ground, I was ushered through the media entrance and immediately met old mate Richard Cook, an army veteran who served with 1 Royal Anglian, and his son, George in the FanZone. Stuart met us and we all enjoyed a beer and chatted about the upcoming match.

The last time I was in the FanZone was sometime around 2010, when it was a pretty sad affair.  This time, it was packed, with fans watching the Aston Villa v Arsenal game on the big screen and ordering repeat jars of ale and lager in the tent. Both the FanZone and I were buzzing. 

But I wasn’t prepared for the noise once I entered the stadium. 

I’m not sure the last time I was in Portman Road with close to 30,000 raucous fans in it.  I’d guess it was when I was a kid, when the club were rocking it in the old First Division under Sir Bobby Robson. 

I’ve been to some raucous sports grounds in my time, the loudest of which was the old Mile High stadium in Denver that was demolished in the late 1990’s (Google it and you’ll see why it was the loudest in the NFL). 

I’ve also witnessed a few Colorado Avalanche Stanley Cup Finals (ice hockey) games at Pepsi Center (now Ball Arena) in Denver when the volume was ridiculous.

Sam Morsy forced a late own-goal to help Town earn a point on Boxing Day (Image: Ross Halls)

The Boxing Day noise at Portman Road rivaled those American stadia, especially when Sam Morsy raised the roof with his late, late equalizing goal. 

Luckily, during the game I sat next to Phil Ham of TWTD, who had a video player with replay capabilities, so I got to see a lot of the action both live and as though I were watching on Sky. 

Phil was gracious enough to answer my questions during the match, although I did get a sense that he was wondering why the ignoramus next to him was in the press box!

While I enjoyed being with the media, meeting and chatting with two of the Kings of Anglia (Stu and AJ) and bumping into Darren Ambrose and Sone Aluko, I started to reminisce about times gone by at Portman Road. 

For many years, my brother Nick and I used to stand right behind the dugouts (which really were dugouts then) to be able to hear the shouts of both managers and really experience the action on the pitch.

As I got older and into my later teens, I was of course, pulled into the North Stand.  Remember, younger readers, that the old North Stand didn’t have the posh seating of today – far from it! 

Back in the late 80’s, metal bars and barbed wire separated the home fans from the standing away fans who were housed on the west side of the North Stand, and from the pitch itself.  We were essentially in prison for the whole game – and for good reason.

James believes that watching on TV doesn't show how good Kieran McKenna's side are (Image: Ross Halls)

Think about what occurs now in the concession areas behind the North Stand (beer-fueled chanting and dancing) and imagine that being brought into a packed stand and carrying on the whole game – and with the away supporters just to your right! 

It was chaos, especially in local derbies and other important games. As a 17–21-year-old, I loved the intensity and the energy.

Back to Leicester game and the very studious press box...

In the 90th minute, the only thought that was going through my mind was: 'I haven’t seen a live Ipswich goal now for 180 minutes.' The last match I attended at Portman Road was a 0-0 draw against QPR back in 2017 (a result oddly repeated a few days after the Leicester match). 

Luckily, skipper Morsy stepped up and hit a pinball-esque shot that managed to find the net in the 93rd minute. Cue relief all round, and deafening noise!

On the ride back to Bury, Stuart and I waxed lyrical about Kieran McKenna’s style of play. Watching it on TV doesn’t do it justice. Our team really is playing football in a way that’s very easy on the eye.

Let’s hope this, as well as winning, continues well into 2024!