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The cause of my first of two trips to Portman Road was the 2nd leg of a Coca-Cola Cup 2nd round tie. The first leg at EP had ended all-square, 1-1, Martyn Chalk on the scoresheet. The game had also seen a substitute appearance from Gavin Allen, the only and only time we saw him. So, there was much to play for, and at the same time, for me, the chance of a ‘new’ ground. The coach was directed to park up a short walk from the ground, somewhere near the station. Policing at football comes in for criticism, and there’s been many times when I have despaired at how it is conducted. But I’ll give the Suffolk constabulary their due that evening. No herding of us straight into the ground, but rather a direction to a pub near to the ground, where we mingled quite happily with the locals. Their brethren up and down the land could well learn from the way it was done.

After refreshment we entered the ground. For those whose knowledge of Portman Road is limited to TV, we were stationed on the opposite side of the ground from the cameras, on the top tier of the Portman Stand. The accommodation could well have been described as ‘snug’, with little legroom, but to be fair a capacity of 1,700 for visitors was hardly tested that evening.

I liked the ground. Opposite us, the Pioneer Stand provided three tiers, and the conversion of the stands at both ends, ( titled ‘North’ and ‘Churchmans’), from terracing to seating three years earlier provided an all-seated arena. (Since then bigger constructions have replaced these). The presence of cover on all 4 sides delivered a feeling of enclosure, leading to a concentration on the action on the pitch. Pretty atmospheric, I thought, even though the game had hardly drawn the locals out in great numbers, with only just over 9,000 bothering. A few weeks earlier I had been to Meadow Lane for the first time – it was a similar feeling there as well.

On the pitch, goals from Armstrong and Gannon, (16 minutes into the extra time period after it had ended 1-1 at 90 minutes), gave us a welcome, and perhaps an unexpected, 2-1 victory against a side who had been playing in the Premier League, (as it had been retitled in 1992), a year earlier. The victory gave us the chance to see County in the 3rd Round of the League Cup for the first time in 15 years since a home defeat at the hands of Arsenal in 1980. We were to visit Villa Park three weeks later. It was a sign of things to come for 1996 – visits to the home of the great and good of the English game. There was a feeling that Dave Jones was creating something special and so it proved over the next 19 months.

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Memories of trips to Portman Road

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THE GAMES

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Where the date is in bold click for highlights of the game

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	Date	Venue	Ground	Competition		F	A	Att:
Tue	19/09/95	h	Edgeley Park	Coca-Cola Cup (Round 2 (1st Leg))	D	1	1	4,865
Tues	03/10/95	a	Portman Road	Coca-Cola Cup (Round 2 – 2nd Leg)	W	2	1	9,262
Tues	04/11/97	a	Portman Road	Nationwide Football League – Division 1 (Tier 2)	W	2	0	8,938
Sat	14/03/98	h	Edgeley Park	Nationwide Football League – Division 1 (Tier 2)	L	0	1	8,939
Sat	24/10/98	h	Edgeley Park	Nationwide Football League – Division 1 (Tier 2)	L	0	1	7,432
Sat	15/04/00	h	Edgeley Park	Nationwide Football League – Division 1 (Tier 2)	L	0	1	8,501

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