Tributes paid to loyal Town fan
TRIBUTES have been paid to a loyal Ipswich Town supporter who has lost a two month fight against cancer.
TRIBUTES have been paid to a loyal Ipswich Town supporter who has lost a two month fight against cancer.
Ashley Cushion, 45, was due to travel to Portman Road for the Nottingham Forest game last Wednesday when he died suddenly.
The vice chairman of Town's London Supporters' Branch, he was also a shareholder and season ticket holder in the Britannia Stand and travelled to every home and away game from Croydon as well as personally sponsoring a number of academy players, including Ian Westlake.
Martin Swallow, who became best friends with Mr Cushion after meeting him on a train to a Town game six years ago, said: “He was the most generous, kindest human being you could ever wish to meet.
“His passion for Ipswich Town Football Club knew no bounds and his thirst for knowledge of the Club was amazing.
“But there was something more important than all that. He had a special magic to bring people together and he never left anybody out, he included everybody.”
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Born in Colchester, Mr Cushion also had strong links with the Clacton Supporter's Club after growing up in St Osyth.
He was a general manager at the McColls newsagents in Croydon and used to answer the phone in the shop: “Ipswich Town London Branch Supporters Club, how can I help you?”
On Friday a Town scarf was laid down outside the store in tribute to Mr Cushion, who became hooked on the Blues after a friend took him to Portman Road when he was just 10-years-old.
Liz Edwards, chair of the Ipswich Town Supporters Club, was a close friend and along with many other fans has been left in a state of shock.
“Much of his life, as a home and away season ticket holder, revolved around ITFC, but what truly marked him out was his commitment to put as much back into the Club as he possibly could,” she said.
Former Town player Simon Milton, now academy sponsorship manager, said everyone at the Club sent their sympathies to Mr Cushion's family.
Mr Cushion, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma just before Christmas, had been expected to make a full recovery. He attended Ipswich's home draw with Blackpool but died on Wednesday morning after the cancer spread and he contracted bronchial pneumonia. He leaves behind his wife Mary-Anne, to whom he had been married 25 years.
