Ipswich & Newcastle Pay Respects To Sir Bobby Robson With Commemorative Kits

There will be an added sense of poignancy at Portman Road this weekend when Ipswich Town take on Newcastle United. After the recent death of Sir Bobby Robson and the wonderful memorial service held in Durham earlier this week, two clubs that were very close to Sir Bobby’s heart convene less to participate in a football match and more to pay collective tribute to the great man.

On Saturday both clubs have been granted special dispensation by the FA to wear commemorative kits to mark the special occasion. Ipswich have also planned a series of events around the game with which to honour Sir Bobby. The North Stand at Portman Road will be renamed the Sir Bobby Robson Stand, around 40 former Town players that played under Robson will attend the match to pay their respects and help rechristen the stand and 709 balloons will be released – one for every game Robson oversaw as Ipswich boss.

As planned, at 4.15 pm representatives from both clubs and the mayors of Ipswich and Newcastle will place wreaths on the statue of Robson in Portman Road. Meanwhile the scarves and shirts which were left by fans in the weeks after his death will be returned to the monument.

The former players and staff are then scheduled to be introduced to the crowd at 5.15pm. Abide With Me will be sung by Laura Wright from the All Angels operatic group. Prior to the 5.30pm kick-off, there will then be a minute’s applause. The tribute kits will later be auctioned off in aid of the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, which helps fund cancer research.

Both Ipswich and Newcastle are closely linked to the life of Sir Bobby Robson. Robson was born in County Durham, just a short distance from Newcastle and was a keen supporter of the Magpies stemming from his early childhood when his father used to take him to watch Newcastle United at St. James’ Park. Robson also went on to manage the club for five years, achieving a level of success most Newcastle fans would kill for right now. Nights of Champions League excitement are still recalled fondly on Tyneside.

And it was in Suffolk, at Ipswich Town, where Robson really made his mark as a top-level manager during a prosperous 13-year stint at Portman Road. Robson transformed Ipswich into a force to be reckoned with not just domestically but also in Europe, delivering the UEFA Cup and FA Cup to the Tractor Boys as well as establishing the club’s position in the upper echelons of English football. Under Robson Ipswich twice finished runners-up in the old First Division.

It is a wonderful and fitting tribute planned by Ipswich to honour one of football’s most respected figures. The game will also be live on BBC 2, so if you can’t make it to Portman Road for the game you’ll be able to tune in on TV.

To see Ipswich playing Newcastle the same weekend after Sir Bobby’s memorial appears eerily symmetrical, unless of course planned by those who organised the service in Durham. Either way a clash between two clubs Sir Bobby loved dearly is in itself a nice tribute to the man, and Just-Football.com congratulates Ipswich Town for correctly planning to acknowledge and applaud Sir Bobby Robson.

England, English Championship, Ipswich Town, Newcastle United, Sir Bobby Robson