Ipswich Town

Portman Road has been the home of Ipswich Town Football Club since 1884, just six years after the Suffolk based team was formed. It’s not the same stadium as stood back then, obviously, with the ground undergoing major renovations in 2002. It is the largest ground in East Anglia with a capacity of over 30,000. It’s certainly a lot bigger than the club’s original ground of Broomhill Park where they played for the first six years of their existence. Portman Road was used for football in the winter months and acted as a cricket pitch during the summer, playing host to the East Suffolk Cricket Club from 1885. The cricket pavilion was the first fixed building located at the site when it was erected and remained so for a further eleven years. One of Ipswich’s claims to fame is that they were one of the first teams to use goal nets, something that they did in 1890.