The first home game of the season against Leicester was the first occasion many Ipswich fans had to properly pay their respects to Sir Bobby Robson. He was the man who made it possible that wherever you go in the footballing world, if you say you're an Ipswich fan the person you're talking to will smile in recognition of a team that punched well above its weight for many years.
His death from cancer was hardly a surprise but the outpouring of emotion from fans of Ipswich and other clubs still took me by surprise.
Thomas & I went to the Leicester game, partly because he'd got a new kit for his birthday and partly because I thought that as Town supporters we just had to. I dug out an old scarf I had that roughly dated from the Robson years and we put it among the hundreds of scarves, shirts, banners, photos and other items that were arranged round his statue and attached to the railings all along Portman Road.
Everyone inside the ground enthusiastically joined in the minute's applause before the kick off and Bobby Robson's name was repeatedly sung throughout the game.
Sadly the team on the pitch couldn't rise to the occasion, Thomas' second 0-0 out of three visits to Portman Road was a bit of a let down. We'll be going as a family to the Newcastle game in September. Hopefully both teams will produce something a bit more fitting to his memory then.
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