Ipswich Town: Mark Ashton on Portman Road improvements

In a special 40-minute walkthrough on Town TV, the Blues' chief revealed that there are 104 projects under way at the famous old stadium, with more than 200 people working on site.

Here's what he said about some of the work and issues arising, plus a taste of just some of the upgrades which are being created...

Mark Ashton, left, and TownTV's Andy Warren chat through the work at Portman Road (Image: ITFC)
Ashton on... the work and impact on stadium

 “There’s a hell of a lot going on. We’ve had quite a break now, since the last game of last season, and I thought it was an opportune time to talk to the fans and just explain what’s been going on.

“Multiple contractors on site, over 200 people working in and around the stadium seven days a week.

“We’re undertaking probably the biggest infrastructure project the stadium has seen since the Cobbold (Stand) was built in the early 70’s.”

He added: “We’re talking about a major change in the way we’ve got to operate the stadium on match days.

“Both staff and supporters are going to have to get used to the flow of the stadium being slightly different.

“Again, when we make these decisions, we don’t make them lightly. There’s a lot of planning and preparation that goes into them.

“I hope this walkthrough will give fans an indication of the amount of work we’re doing, some of the challenges we faced and also give them a sense of pride that we are investing in infrastructure, we’re investing in our stadium, we’re investing in the fans’ future, one because we have to do it, but two, because it’s the right thing to do.”

The projects

A few of the projects and stats around them which Ashton mentioned...

- A new 75-seat media suite and five other new media rooms/areas

- A total refurbishment of the dressing rooms and tunnel area, with 36 tonnes of steel involved. The away dressing rooms 'haven't been touched since the mid-70's'.

- A new TV studio above the tunnel

- Miles of new cabling being laid for broadcasters. They've moved from a 5/6 camera feed to a 46/47 camera feed, including VAR installation

- All steps repainted

- A 'major' re-seating programme - 800 seats moved

- Digital advertising boards installed mid-tier at both ends of the ground

- Safe standing section created in the Upper Cobbold Stand

- New bars and beer on draught in the Cobbold and West Stands

- A major floodlights upgrade - the lights will be 'much brighter' to meet Premier League/broadcast requirements

- Completing two levels of the West Stand which were left unfinished, including the creation of new suites

- New players' lounge for family and friends

- A Directors' Box upgrade

- A new-look reception area

- New tiered press conference room and associated catering facilities for global media

How the new TV studio at Portman Road above the tunnel will look. Including an early prediction for Town's clash with Leicester City (Image: ITFC)
Ashton on... new TV studio

“Above the tunnel area, we’ve got our own security and matchday operations.

“Above that is a new level, and that will be a media and TV studio, predominantly for Sky Sports on matchdays, they will do their game preparation and game interviews from there.

“That will be in place for post-Liverpool, that’s part of the discussions with the broadcasters, it’s planned into the timeline.

“So when fans come in for the Liverpool game, they won’t see any difference.

“When they come back post-Liverpool, there will be a whole new level that’s been dropped on there, which is the new media suite.”

There are 104 projects under way at Portman Road, with more than 200 people working on site (Image: ITFC)
Ashton on... what the ground will look like for tomorrow's Fortuna friendly

“Part of it will be operational. Kieran and the players will be well aware of that.

“We’ve talked about it before, we will be working at a reduced capacity (19,000) for that game because it’s going to take us till we get to just before the Liverpool game to get all this pulled together.

“This is incredible, because if you look at this now and think we’ve got to be ready for the 17th, that is a challenge.

“But it’s like most things, everything comes together quite quickly at the end.

“But these are major infrastructure projects.”

The new-look tunnel area and TV studio is a major project (Image: ITFC)
Ashton on... moving some seats

“When you undertake seat moves, there’s always noise – and it always comes with some pain because people have sat in seats for a long time and they want to sit there forever.

“But unfortunately we have to move with the times and we have to deliver change.

“What I would say is that these seat moves are thought through with a wide group of people, including the safety advisory group.

“So all of the seat moves have been thought through. And I know that causes upset and pain, particularly if you’ve got to move and you’ve sat in that seat.

“I’m really grateful for the amount of fans who have written to me and communicated and said ‘look, you are going to get noise, we see it on social media, but just keep going.’

“I have some people say to me, ‘well you could have communicated differently’ – and the reality of that is, we can always be more effective.

“If we’ve got things wrong, we haven’t done it on purpose. Look at the amount of work that is going on here, we are working at breakneck speed in all departments to rebuild this football club and be ready for the Premier League.

“Again, the last thing I want to do is cause anybody any upset and I’m really appreciative of the way the majority of people have accepted the changes, and we’re going to continue to work with them.

“But we have to change. We couldn’t communicate earlier and make decisions earlier because we have to work through with the relative bodies.

“Until you are promoted, you can’t formally make that decision. But look, it’s coming together, the stadium will look sharper and we’ll work with fans to make sure they’re in the best places possible.”

The new safe-standing area at Portman Road (Image: ITFC)
Ashton on... safe-standing area

“We’ve agreed a partial safe-standing plan, which includes the 3,000 away fans, and we’ll see how that goes.

“I think in reality, once it’s proven that works, the safety advisory group may well come to use and say we want it all safe standing in the upper (Cobbold).

“And if it does, we’ll work through with them. I’m looking at it now, and it looks pretty smart.”

There will be a major upgrade to the press facilities at Portman Road (Image: ITFC)
Ashton on... new media box and facilities in West Stand

“New media facilities, a huge increase in quantity. Again, we’ve had to relocate supporters who would naturally be upset because this is one of the best views in the house.

“But this is where the broadcasters have said ‘you have no alternative Mark, that’s where we want it.’

“So we’ve had to extend and hang over what is the Directors’ Box and increase a substantial space for the broadcasters.

“And this is international broadcasters, gone are the days, when we first came here, that there were three or four media on a matchday or for Kieran’s press (conference).

“Now we’ll have the world here for Liverpool on the 17th. We have to get used to working in that way, and the team are working tirelessly to create the facilities that we are obligated to provide.”

How the new press conference room will look at Portman Road (Image: ITFC)
Ashton on... if there will be an Open Day this year

“I can’t give you an answer on that right now. We desperately want to do the normal open day, we want the supporters to come in and see the team etc.

“But as you can see, the fanzone is currently a construction site. What we’re doing is we’re talking through with the constructors on whether we can clear them off the site on certain days.

“We might have to do it in a different way this year and we’re working on that, so I’d say to the fans just bear with us, we want to have an open day – but you can see some of the challenges we’ve got and we’ve got to make sure that we can actually deliver it.”

Even the reception area at Portman Road is being upgraded (Image: ITFC)

Other notes

- The seating programme has allowed a ‘flex of capacity’. Ashton said: “I’m always trying to get more people in.”

- Town have already sold more than 20,000 of the club's new home and away shirts. Ashton described that as 'great numbers'. Last year's record was over 60,000.