Ipswich Town FC in Europe

This afternoon I visited the 'Ipswich Town in Europe' Exhibition at the Town Hall Galleries. I enjoyed it, as I was fortunate to have seen that great 1981 team ( the exhibition also marks the 30th anniversary of the 1981 UEFA Cup win) it is always nice to be reminded how great that 1981 team was.

The exhibition maybe centered on the 81 season but it also looks at all our travels in Europe from Malta in 1962, Barcelona in 77, Milan in 2001 and then our final trip to the Czech Republic.

The highlight of the trip today was the opportunity to have your picture taken with the 'genuine' UEFA Cup. The trophy was in town for the 30th anniversary dinner tonight.




Not the 'real' UEFA Cup

Most of the items on display are owned by the club, many are mementos given by opposing teams who we have played in Europe, pewter cups, crystal glass, plates - some are more 'regional' based, with a Delft plate from Twente Enschede. wonder what we gave the likes of Real Madrid and FC Koln? A pint of Cobbolds?

Did like the way Lazio Roma gave each player a male grooming kit!

A trick was missed by the Colchester and Ipswich Museum service, far more exhibits could have been found if they had asked supporters to contribute. A few years ago, a previous exhibition was put on that looked at sport and pastimes in Ipswich, this had far more public contributions.



The Cruyff shirt

My favourite piece? - just beating the Lazio Roma grooming kits, the Barcelona shirt of Johan Cruyff, given to Roger Osborne after he had marked the great Dutchman out of the game in a fantastic 3-0 win for Ipswich over the Catalan giants.

A sporting city - Leicester

Saturday 7th May 2011 - Leicester City 4 Ipswich Town 2 - Championship, Walkers Stadium

Some cities and towns are famous for sport, Barcelona, Manchester, London, Glasgow, Milan, New York, Sydney whilst other large cities do not have a great sporting tradition - Berlin and Oslo to name two.

Leicester can certainly be named as a City where sport plays a prominent role, Football (less said about the result or the display by Town the better!) was followed straight after and only a few hundred metres away by a top of the table Rugby Union match and in the evening Speedway was also on offer, with the recently formed Lions riding and if that was not enough you could watch 40 over Cricket match on the Sunday at Grace Road.




The area around the Walkers is a real sporting hotbed, with the neighbouring rugby Ground at Welford Rd and on the site of the old Filbert Street ground we even have a road named after a Leicester born favourite- Lineker Road, and even as we left the football we even passed a club cricket ground between the Walkers Stadium and the Rugby.




In the city centre, they even have a statue to mark a period in the 90's when Football, Rugby and Cricket all managed to win a cup or a title - a true sporting city.

p.s I did bump into Marcus Evans, seemed a decent bloke (for a Lib Dem supporter) so not sure he needs to keep up this idea of not having a public presence at the club- but maybe he should get rid of Clegg!