Dear Ipswich, I trust you are well.
It was my love of Ipswich Town Football Club that brought me to Ipswich and it’s the reason that I stayed.
My Dad was born in Suffolk, just outside Woodbridge and moved away when he was 18 to join the Metropolitan Police Force. It was in London that he met my Mum and where they settled and started their family. I was born first and then my brother.
Even though he no longer lived in Suffolk, he was still a strong supporter of ITFC and so we were brought up as fans too. Even on the occasion that my brother came home after school declaring that he wanted to support Liverpool, my Dad said that wasn’t a problem – he just needed to find another house to live in!
We moved around a little however our family’s passion for ITFC and the area hadn’t diminished. We always came back to Suffolk for holidays/weekends as my grandparents still live in the area and I remember watching the FA Cup final in 1978 with my brother looking for my Dad in the crowd.
It was only in later life my connection with Ipswich deepened. When I left University, I started to work with a department store retailer as their Assistant Personnel Manager. Due to maternity leave, there was a temporary vacancy for a personnel manager at the brand-new store in Ipswich. I was delighted to be invited to take on the role and so I found myself actually living in the area. The strange thing is that in all of the time that in the year that I lived here, I didn’t manage to make one ITFC game due to the challenge of working in retail.
On the occasion that my brother came home after school declaring that he wanted to support Liverpool, my Dad said that wasn’t a problem – he just needed to find another house to live in!
When the assignment ended, I moved to Kent and to a new role that meant that Saturdays were my own. I had a friend at the time who was a big Chelsea fan and so he and I used to go to away matches but it wasn’t quite the same. He was the one who said go get your season ticket for your team and so I did. I became a proud season ticket holder in 1999.
I drove up from Kent for every home game whether it be at the weekend, or an evening fixture and I loved it! Regrettably, I was always having to apologise for being late as trying to get around the M25 from Kent was often a nightmare. Thankfully this broke the ice and I started to get to know the people that I sat nearby. One of those people was Ben. He went to the football with his two daughters and a family friend. Over the course of a season we got to know each other and then one day, we went out on a date.
Since that time, Ben and I have made a life together. I moved to Ipswich in 2004 and in 2009 we got married. We lived in a village just outside the town and we continue to support the Town ever since.
I have much to be thankful for in life and while many ITFC fans can focus on the bad times that the Club has endured I can only be grateful for what it and Ipswich have given me.
Carole Burman
Managing Director, MAD-HR
