TWTD Forum posters Slambo and Blue_Order want to improve the atmosphere at Portman Road and in order to try to do that have set up a new supporters group, Blue Action. They tell us why and what it’s all about.

As we’re sure everyone will agree, the atmosphere at Portman Road has been poor for far too long. It’s dull, brittle and in recent times, downright toxic. This is to the detriment of the team and club that we all love and support, and also sours the matchday experience for a lot of people.

As North Stand regulars, too often we are faced with the tragic sight of row upon row of glum faces, staring dead-eyed at the pitch in near total silence, with the occasional negative or sarcastic chant about how bad we are on and off the park.

We have the ability change this - our goal as a group is to ignite and unite the support, to make Portman Road as loud and as passionate as it was in the early 00s. Alex Ferguson once said that our 22,000 sounded more like 40,000. We believe that if enough people get involved, we can get Portman Road back to being the fortress it once was.

We want to create a section of fans that supports and encourages the team for the whole duration that we’re inside the ground every other Saturday, that doesn’t stop singing positively, regardless of what’s happening on the pitch or who’s in the dugout and the boardroom. We want a North Stand full of colour and vibrancy - flags, banners, scarves etc, but we need your help in making it work.

We have spoken to the Supporters Liaison Officer who assures us that the club will do all they can to facilitate such a group, but it has to come from us, the supporters. If you’re of a like-minded view, then get involved, and spread the word to your friends. The more people we have on board, the stronger force we can become.

If we can generate a decent core of fans that are interested in changing Portman Road for the better, we can establish a base, and in time grow bigger and better. As we’re all fans of Ipswich Town, and no supporter is greater than any other, we will make it as democratic as possible, so any feedback and suggestions are welcome.

We have a fresh management team, a new squad of players, and for the first half an hour against Blackburn on the opening day, a support that felt invigorated and more optimistic about the future of ITFC than they have done for a very long time. As such, we feel this is the perfect time to create this movement, and hope other fans do too. Together we are stronger.

Blue Action can be found on Facebook here and can be followed on Twitter via @BlueAction1.

Photo: Contributed

Currie10 added 10:44 - Aug 17 To all the fans that go on about atmosphere died when away fans were moved to the other end. Thought about moving yourself to the other end of the ground!? :)
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Blue_Meanie added 15:21 - Aug 17 Main problem is the canter levered SBR. Upper can't hear lower and vice versa. Two different songs at the same time = confusing noise. The answer would be move SBR season ticket holders to SAR. Good luck with that one.
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Elkcib1 added 05:53 - Aug 18 Atmosphere is brittle and toxic due to half the morons on here!! They relish in it and I actually believe some of our ‘supporters' enjoy it when we play poor #keyboardwarriors
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Slambo added 10:07 - Aug 18 Hi all - thanks for the comments. A few negative, a few cynical, a few simply weird, but mostly really positive. Thanks! Just thought i'd answer a few common things mentioned by you: 1/ I 100% agree that the away fans should be moved down the North, and this is something I bring up regularly with the club, but they won't budge on it. I guess we can only keep banging on about it - maybe start a petition? 2/ Again, 100% agree that bringing back standing areas would make all of this MUCH, MUCH easier. And it will happen if fans keep campaigning and petitioning the government. It's already been discussed in parliament and i'm confident that in the near future standing areas will be allowed at all levels of English football 3/ people have made mention about the quality of atmosphere is dependent on the quality if football. I get that to a degree - as someone who likes to jump around and make some noise at football, I certainly had the life sucked out of me many times over the last couple of years. But it's still a kop out, and that's still ultimately me making an excuse. We can't control what happens on the pitch, but we can control ourselves. Went to see Cologne last season, who got relegated in an abject season, and their ground was still jam packed and I could barely hear the blokes next to me their fans were making so much noise...

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