THOUSANDS of fans from East Anglia were successful in their bid to get seats for next month's England international against Croatia at Portman Road, writes Derek Davis.
THOUSANDS of fans from East Anglia were successful in their bid to get seats for next month's England international against Croatia at Portman Road, writes Derek Davis.
Tickets sold out within two and a half hours of the phone and internet lines opening, although the vast majority of supporters based in the region were able to book, many in their preferred stand.
There will have been supporters from all over the country who will be left disappointed at not getting through but a capacity 30,000 fans will pack Portman Road, with more than 30% estimated to come from the East Anglia area.
Specialist Ticketmaster handled the sale of tickets for the game on Wednesday, August 20, and opened phone lines at 10am yesterday, but were sold out by 12.30pm.
The FA allocated 3,000 tickets, to be made available for local schools, community leaders, Ipswich Town shareholders, club staff, players, coaches and Academy players, although all will have to be paid for and there will be no complementary tickets among the allocation.
A final demographic breakdown is not yet available but the FA are delighted at the swift sell-out and indications that a large number of Blues supporters were able to buy tickets.
FA spokesman Andrin Cooper last night said: "It is great testament to the appeal of the England team. It is also good news that so many people locally will be able to attend. England games are different to the usual events at Portman Road as they belong to the whole country.
"It is important that people from the area do come and 1,500 tickets were made available to schools in East Anglia to ensure they would be able to attend, that is one of the reasons we have taken internationals around the country.
"It should be an exciting occasion for Portman Road and for England."
Ipswich fans will be hoping former hero Kieron Dyer will be making a return to Portman Road in an England shirt, to follow in the rich tradition of the club's national links.
Sir Alf Ramsey and Sir Bobby Robson both left Ipswich to manage their country and Mick Mills was one of England's most distinguished captains.
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