Firstly I must thank, Pat Godbold and Edwina Sesto, for their kind help in pointing me in the right direction for my research. Ipswich first formed as a bunch of amateurs in 1878, and eventually turned professional in 1936. They won the Southern League at the first attempt, and were elected to the Football League on May 30th 1938. During this time Ipswich were known as AFC, as the rugby club were known as Ipswich FC. There was also an East Suffolk Cricket Club, and all three lived happily together at Portman Road. It was 1905 when the Ipswich Cricket, Football and Athletics Ground Company were formed, with a share capital of £2,000, and Ipswich Town were granted a twenty-one-year lease. There was no fencing around the ground, and only a wooden stand on the Portman Road side, all built for £230. In 1911 the roof blew off the stand and to raise money the club tried whippet racing, and the groundsman rented the stand to keep his chickens, goats, and sheep in. After winning the Southern League a terrace was built at the Churchman’s End, while in the East Stand, Ipswich installed 650 seats purchased from Arsenal’s recently demolished stand.
Today Portman Road is a far cry from those old romantic days, and in 2002, they completely redeveloped both north and south stands, which can now hold 30,000. Bearing it’s agricultural history in mind its surprising that “The Tractor Boys” has only been used as a nickname by the supporters for the last 20 years or so, before that it was the less thought out Blues or the Town.
Ipswich have been blessed by having two of England’s best ex-managers managing them, Sir Alf Ramsey and Sir Bobby Robson. They won the old First Division Championship with Alf, and the FA Cup with Bobby. The club’s badge as with many others originates from a competition held by the club. The club eventually chose the design of Mr John Gammage. Pat and Edwina suggested I visit the club website, which I did and found the club had included a bit about the badge. It had been so well written by Mr Gammage that I have reproduced it word for word. Sadly Mr Gammage passed away in the 1993/94 season. Here he explains how he designed the badge: (PIC 1) “It is quite a problem to conceive a new and original badge or crest. From the royal coat of arms, the family crests of Earls and Dukes, to the badges of the smallest clubs, there are thousands of different designs. Basically these are constructed on a background of heraldic signs and symbols which narrows the margin of originality. Therefore one had to concentrate on a familiar object which is exclusive to our county. Buildings and animals dominate most heraldic designs so I immediately thought of the Suffolk Punch horse. To explore the suitability of using this animal which has frequently been described as a cart-horse, I discovered it to be a most noble and highly respected creature. In the flamboyant days of the Ancient Pageant, with Kings and Noble Lords in attendance, Knights in shining armour changed and fought in the sporting area on their fiery steeds, and the Suffolk Punch reigned supreme. It’s powerful shoulders and broad chest were ideally suited to carry the heavily armoured Knights to victory. King Richard I, formed special studs for breeding the Suffolk’s, and they continued to be the most popular sporting horses as late as the reign of Henry VIII, who favoured them to carry his 18 stones. I regarded the Suffolk Punch as a noble animal well suited to dominate our design and represent the club. To complete the badge, I thought of the town of Ipswich which contains many historical buildings, including the Wolsey Gate and it is close to the sea with a large dock area”. Horse loving Mr Gammage’s design had a slight facelift in 1995. (PIC 2) The turrets of the Wolsey Gate were moved to the top, which to be honest looks the right way up to me. The Suffolk Punch was made to look like a Suffolk Punch and not wanting to disparage Mr Gammage’s efforts his horse looks more like a Red Rum than a Suffolk Punch. The colour red was incorporated instead of yellow and the words Football Club replacing FC. There was no mention of the wavy lines but I think it’s safe to assume it alludes to the Rivers Orwell and Gipping which flow through Ipswich.
It is unclear how Ipswich got its name but most likely would have come from the Anglo-Saxon Gip’s wic, gip meant corner and wic meant port. This would suggest that Ipswich grew from a corner of the River Orwell that became a small port due to its location, and gave the name to the River Gipping. Ipswich Town’s biggest rivals are Norwich City. For more on “The Tractor Boys” fire up your John Deere 105hp 6715 and drive it to www.itfc.co.uk
