{"id":7865,"date":"2024-05-07T17:11:12","date_gmt":"2024-05-07T17:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=7865"},"modified":"2024-05-07T17:11:12","modified_gmt":"2024-05-07T17:11:12","slug":"ipswich-promotion-party-shows-football-is-a-force-for-good-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=7865","title":{"rendered":"Ipswich promotion party shows football is a force for good | Football"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Local\n<\/div>

Local boy Harry Clarke celebrates promotion with fans on the Portman Road pitch (Picture: PA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Never let anyone tell you football is just a game. You only had to step outside your door in Ipswich over the last few days to see that. <\/p>\n

The Tractor Boys are going up to the Premier League and the feelgood factor is through the roof, both across my adopted hometown and across the generations. It\u2019s been a long time coming and while it\u2019s not my team, it\u2019s fantastic to see it means so much to so many. <\/p>\n

Twenty-two years have passed since Town were in the top flight and the flood of positivity which has swept through most of Suffolk lately has been tangible.<\/p>\n

There was a growing and unavoidable buzz about the place in recent weeks as it became clear Kieran McKenna\u2019s team had a great chance of breaking the monopoly of freshly relegated clubs, aided by parachute payments, going straight back up.<\/p>\n

Leicester took the title but Leeds and Southampton finished behind as Ipswich made it two promotions on the bounce and McKenna joined the likes of Sir Alf Ramsey, \u2028Sir Bobby Robson and George Burley as a Portman Road managerial great. <\/p>\n

The anticipation before the season finale dominated every conversation and interaction with neighbours, the postie, at the supermarket checkout, the pub.<\/p>\n

Flags appeared in windows, club shirts of all vintages were worn (\u2018That\u2019s John Wark era\u2019, I tell my baffled daughter). <\/p>\n

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\"The\n<\/div>

The streets of Ipswich were filled with fans for the team\u2019s parade (Picture: PA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The day of the final game and everyone seems to be watching \u2013 in the flesh, in the pub or at home \u2013 or listening. <\/p>\n

Just a draw against doomed Huddersfield will be enough, even if Leeds beat Saints. So often for teams of all shapes and sizes, things can be tense in this sort of situation but this time there\u2019s no nailbiting, nerve-fraying finale as McKenna\u2019s men wrapped things up with aplomb. <\/p>\n

Wes Burns and Omari Hutchinson sealed a dominant 2-0 win, Leeds lost and Ipswich finished in the second automatic promotion slot with clear water to the teams below. <\/p>\n

That sparked a huge party as football fever swept the town and at least one pub was reported to have run out of beer on a bumper day for local boozers \u2013 where customers included plenty from the club itself. <\/p>\n