Town turns blue and white ahead of promotion match

A wooden horse statue wearing a blue and white Ipswich Town Football Club scarf. In the background is a shop window with cars parked outside. There are also items on a shelf. — Shops have put displays in their windows supporting Ipswich Town [Ben Parker/BBC]

Ipswich town centre has been decked out in blue and white, as the Tractor Boys hope to seal promotion to football’s top flight.

Venues have been putting up posters, balloons and bunting after Ipswich Central called for a show of support.

Town sit second in the Championship, and a win against QPR at Portman Road on Saturday will see the side promoted to the Premier League.

But if they fail to win, they will need Millwall to drop points at home to Oxford and Middlesbrough to fail to win at Wrexham.

An old building with artwork of Ipswich Town players posted in the windows. — Artwork from a Suffolk artist is being used to show support for the football club [Ben Parker/BBC]

Mark Ashton, Ipswich Town’s chairman and chief executive, said seeing the town adopt the team’s colours meant “a great deal” to the club and players.

“The connection between the club and the town is incredibly special, and campaigns like this show exactly what Ipswich Town means to the wider community,” he said.

James Cole with short hair and a dark top. In the background are shirts hanging in a window. — James Cole said the football club was helping to unite the town [Jamie Niblock/BBC]

James Cole, who runs a clothes store in the town centre, said the staff were “big fans” and “love the town”.

He said he wanted to put a display in his store window to “bring a great feel to the community”.

Tina Leamon with shoulder length hair and a blue top standing behind a bar. Bottles can be seen in the background. — Tina Leamon is expecting a big turnout at her bar on match day [Jamie Niblock/BBC]

Tina Leamon owns a bar and restaurant in the town. She said they had been preparing for three weeks for the match day, including buying in extra stock and bringing in more staff.

“Every game this season we’ve been getting busier and busier,” she said.

Ipswich fans have been loyal to the football club but also to local venues, she added.

She expected about 200 people to fill the bar on Saturday.

Elsewhere, Stowmarket artist Louise Cobbold’s player portraits, which have appeared on the front of match day programmes, have also been placed in many shop windows, with large banners on the front of Town Hall.