Wind and rain

Wednesday 21 October 2026, Ipswich Town Under 17s 1 Fulham Under 17s 3 - Premier League Under 17 Cup, Group Game, Bent Lane Training ground

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Strong winds heavy rain and not a great game.

Even start to the game then Fulham got on top and took the lead after 25 minutes and added a second after 37 minutes. We also had a mass punch up- with just 2 yellow cards shown, start of the season we saw 22 player punch ups in the Under 16 and Under 18 games v Fulham - Coincidence?

​Ipswich had plenty of the ball but final pass was often poor and the Fulham keeper had little to do, whilst when Fulham attached it nearly always ended up with a shot on target.

Fulham added a third on 56 minutes, both teams made a number of subs and the Ipswich subs managed to start putting pressure on Fulham and pulled a goal back on 68 minutes. Ipswich had most of the play in last 20 minutes but could not add to their solitary goal.

Return to Europe (sort of)

Tuesday 20 October 2026, Ipswich Town Under 21s 0 Anderlecht Under 21s 1 - Premier League International Cup, Portman Road

Poor game that Anderlecht probably just deserved on their first half display, taking their goal well on 22 minutes. Ipswich were better in the second half but the visiting keeper did not have to do much, game came to life in the last 5 minutes when one of the Belgian team got a straight red card then the Belgian keep decided to pretend he had been shot and laid on the ground for a good 2 minutes, then suddenly recovered to take the free kick!

Never get wet here

Saturday 17 October 2026, Egham Town 4 AFC Portchester 2 - Isthmian League, South Central Division, Runnymede Stadium

Well, you would never get wet here watching a game, a decent seated stand however also 5 covered terrace stands!

Game was only a few minutes old and the first strong tackle went in, not a dirty foul but set the tone for the game with plenty of tough challenges/fouls from both sides.

Home side went in front after 3 minutes but Portchester were back on terms 3 minutes later. then the first of 2 Egham penalties, this one on 10 minutes as Egham took the lead again.

Portchester got back level on 48 minutes as the tackles/fouls were still keeping the Ref busy and on 65 minutes Egham went ahead again from the penalty spot, the Portchester player also got his second yellow card and an early bath.

Easy win

Thursday 15 October 2026, Woodbridge Under 18s 0 AFC Sudbury Under 18s 7 - FA Youth Cup, 3rd Qualifying Round, Notcutts

Woodbridge had done well to get to this round of the cup, but this was the end of the run as they came up against Sudbury, the West Suffolk club have dominated local under 18 football for at least the last decade.

Sudbury scored after 4 minutes but then the game got scrappy before they got a second with a great individual goal after 26 minutes.

Second half was all Sudbury as they added a further 5 goals, 2 from the penalty sport- and the Woodbridge keeper was probably still Man of the Match!

An Ipswich win

Tuesday 13 October 2026, Felixstowe and Walton United 2 Ipswich Wanderers 3 - Suffolk Premier Cup, Round 2, Dellwood Avenue

Lower division team going through and a deserved win, going ahead with the right back scoring a great individual goal after 17 minutes only for Felixstowe to get level in the last minute of the half. Wanderers then went ahead again after 54 minutes, Felixstowe then woke up and 10 minutes later were back on terms, but it was the Ipswich side who went though after scoring with a header on 85 minutes.

Left it late- but great finish

Saturday 10 October 2026, Ipswich Town Fulham, Premier League, Portman Road

Fulham have not got a win this season and was not surprised by that as very little attacking intent shown, however they did take the lead, but Ipswich left it late but kept going and won it in injury time!

Exciting, but no win

Friday 9 October 2026, Ipswich Town Under 21s 2 WBA Under 21s 2 - Premier League Cup, Group Match, At Colchester United

WBA took the lead from the penalty spot on 5 minutes but then Ipswich took control with an equaliser 2 minutes later, a great goal direct from a free kick and then Ipswich took the lead 6 minutes later. Ipswich were then denied an obvious penalty, but Ipswich were still on top however it was WBA who got the next goal in injury time so it was 2-2 at the break.

Ipswich started the second half on top and hit the bar and missed a number of other good chances, WBA then had a period on top and they also hit the bar but surprisingly there were no further goals in the second half.

Savage needs a haircut

Tuesday 6 October 2026, Colchester United Under 21s 1 Swansea City Under 21s 2- Professional Development League, Florence Park

Then: Peterborough United 4 Ipswich Town Under 21s 1 - Football League Trophy, Group Game, London Road

My first visit to Florence Park this season and good to see they have moved both U21 and U18 games to the top pitch by the main gate (not the main pitch) but far better than the pitch used last year, where you had to wade through mud to get there! Pitch railed on one side.

Colchester played a number of the 1st team squad (you could tell by the increased moaning at the Ref!) and started on the front foot and went ahead after 8 minutes but they wasted a number of further chances and Swansea started to get back into the game and were level on 43 minutes. Second half saw Swansea get on top and they got a deserved winner on 64 minutes.

A quick drive across Essex to join the M11 and then A1 north to Peterborough

After Ipswich got battered at Luton, not sure what would happen here plus with Robbie savage in the dugout expected to see Posh go for it.

But for 24 minutes it was quite even, then Ipswich gave away a soft penalty on 25 minutes and the floodgates opened, with further goals on 27, 30 and 35 minutes. However the second half saw Ipswich get the only goal on 50 minutes so Savage will know he has plenty to still do, to get Peterborough back up the table.

Goals and plenty to enjoy

Sunday 4 October 2026, Needham Market Phoenix 3 Ipswich Sports Reserves 2 - Ipswich Sunday Football League, Division 3, Thornhill Rd, Claydon

One of my rare visits to see a game in the local Sunday league, took advantage of the late summer weather, to cycle to Claydon a village just north of Ipswich. The Recreation Ground is on the high ground above the village, the changing rooms and the car park are at the entrance to the Recreation Ground. The pitch is on a lower level, feels enclosed as trees/hedges on 3 sides. Pitch was flat but very hard due to lack of rain.

Impressed to see at Division 3 that both teams had plenty of subs, and it actually turned out a more entertaining game that I thought it would be, a few stupid tackles and verbal's but the Ref kept a lid on it and so just a few yellow cards needed and no red cards.

Needham took the lead on 12 minutes as they beat the offside trap, however a bad back pass meant Ipswich Sports were back on terms 3 minutes later. On 26 minutes, one of the best moves of the day saw the visitors take the lead but a soft penalty conceded by Ipswich Sports on 32 minutes, meant it was all square at the break.

Second half saw chances at both ends but it was Needham who got the only goal of the half and the winner on 56 minutes.

Goals galore

Saturday 3 October 2026, Sudbury Sports 6 Gosfield United 3 - Essex & Suffolk Border League, Premier Division, AFC Sudbury Community Arena

Took me a while but have now ticked the new G4 at Sudbury, a cage but better than most as you can watch the game from the whole of one side, not the 3/4 of a side as at most cages, plus a number of wooden benches in place to sit on.. AFC Sudbury Reserves were home on the main pitch so those of us watching this could use the catering facilities at the main ground. Hope Sudbury look after the G4 better than the G3 pitch in the main stadium, poor condition and now fundraising to replace it.

Football wise, a cracking game, plenty of skill from both sides, plenty of goals and even a red card!

Sudbury Sports took the lead on 14 minutes only to concede on 17 minutes, back in front on 31 minutes before the Sudbury keeper punched into his own goal on 36 minutes, still time in the first half for Sudbury Sports to add two further goals on 37 and 41 minutes.

Second half saw Sudbury add a fifth goal  53 minutes, after 70 minutes they were down to 10 men as the ref sent a Sudbury Sports player off for a deliberate elbow, looked a harsh decision, as none of the Gosfield players made a fuss, and in a game where there had hardly been a foul in the whole game, think a yellow card would have sufficed.

Being a player down did not stop Sudbury attacking as they added a further goal on 74 minutes before Gosfield got a consolation goal a minute later. Great entertainment. 

No penalty kicks needed this time

Thursday 1 October 2026, Woodbridge Town Under 18s 2 Great Yarmouth Town Under 18s 0 - FA Youth Cup, 2nd Qualifying Round, Notcutts

After watching Woodbridge scrape through on penalty kicks in the last round, thought I would see how they got on in the next round. Woodbridge started well but Yarmouth probably had more of the ball in the first half and looked the better team, Woodbridge did find the back of the net after 38 minutes but it was offside.

Second half saw Woodbridge get on top and they had another goal ruled out for offside on 68 minutes but 5 minutes later they were in front and the linos flag could not save the team from Norfolk this time.

The goal did get Yarmouth to get on the front foot and Woodbridge started falling back deeper and on 86 minutes the Woodbridge left back got a straight red card,  thought a yellow would have sufficed, but with 10 men it was Woodbridge who then pushed forward and they got their second goal on 89 minutes to secure the tie.

Very impressed with the Referee, who handle the time wasting by Woodbridge very well.