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BBC Look East report on the renovation plans for Ipswich football ground Portman Road and interview with Bobby Robson, Manager.

BBC Look East report on the renovation plans for Portman Road to have a two-tier stand which will bring the seating capacity up to fourteen thousand. Shot of the Ipswich Town Football team doing press-ups and exercises on the field for their pre-season schedule. They are behind the West Stand which is going to be vastly changed by the expenditure of over a million pounds. Shot of the Portman Road stadium steps. Camera pans over the stadium and shows the sprinklers. Shot of an Ipswich Town Football Club meeting with a close up of John Cobbold, the deputy chairman, speaking to reporters. Close up of the stands in the stadium. Camera pans across the field and shows the sprinklers on the grass. BBC reporter John Myatt interviews Bobby Robson, Manager of Ipswich Town Football Club, who talks about the changes that will be made to Portman Road stadium. He states that they are trying to make these changes without disrupting the fans. The interviewer asks if he has any doubts about the plans for the stadium, to which Bobby Robson replies that it is all a gamble and that life and football are too. He states that you could buy a £1.3 million player that could break his leg in a week and so every decision he makes as manager is a big gamble. He says that they are building for the future and that it is a big decision that is wrapped up in a lot of money. He doesn’t like to make wrong decisions but nobody knows what the future holds and they feel this renovation is the right thing to do. He states that they have a good team at the moment which they hope can continue and that the public will respond. He urges people to go and support them as they can now give them all a seat. The interviewer claims that it is a bigger decision than buying a player for the same amount of money. Bobby Robson agrees as they have no guarantee that the team will be great over the next 20 years to fill the pioneer stand and they don’t know the reaction of the public as to whether they want to come and support the team. Despite this, he feels that extending the Portman Road stadium is the right thing to do. Shot of the team training and exercising on the field.

Featured Buildings

Portman Road football stadium.

Keywords

Bobby Robson; Fans; Football; Football Manager; Portman Road; Seating; Sport; Stadium;

Background Information

A new look two-tier stand will bring the seating capacity at Portman Road up to fourteen thousand.