Home Ipswich Town games best avoided

FOUR more away games in the Coca-Cola Championship – where has the season gone?

The journey to Reading is one that will hold no problems for yours truly in his capacity as head navigator of Her Majesty’s Press corps (Ipswich branch).

With two daughters at the town’s university the A12 (occasionally A120/M11), M25 and M4 route has been accomplished many, many times.

It has to be said that this has been achieved with varying degrees of success depending on the state of play with the M25.

Sometimes it takes two hours, sometimes it takes four hours.

For the trip to the Madejski Stadium it should be much nearer the former being a Saturday and the lack of commercial vehicles on the road.

Molineux presented no problems apart from a short delay on the M6 around the Spaghetti junction area, and the burger and chips and oxtail soup before the kick-off at Wolverhampton were splendid.

Reading’s press box is unique being situated along the top of the main stand with journalists sitting in one long line stretching from the half-way line to the corner flag at the visiting supporters’ end.

There is (or there was anyway before their stay in the Premier League) no extensive media centre as such – just a small room with an urn of hot water for tea and coffee.

You are presented with a voucher to take to a nearby kiosk if you want a pie of pastie!

Car parking is excellent with a massive area behind where the adjacent hotel stands although even if you leave at 6pm there is still a longish queue to exit via the one road linking you back to the nearby M4.

So, after returning to Suffolk at around 8pm it means just three more trips – with two overnight stays.

Sheffield United can comfortably be accomplished on the day – an easy run compared to the nightmare journeys into and around London.

And that leaves Bristol City with a Sunday afternoon trek down the M4 for the Easter Monday afternoon match and Cardiff for what will be the final regular league match at Ninian Park.

This should be some occasion with the likelihood that there will still be something hanging on the game for the home side before their move to their brand new stadium situated just yards from the current one.

Then it will be a lengthy summer break until the first week in August with no world cup, no European Championships and no Olympic or Commonwealth Games.

It will be the Ashes that will occupy us most during the close season, and for yours truly hopefully a jaunt to see eldest son who is now running a PE department in the midst of Auckland, New Zealand.

By the way, Ipswich Town have five home games as well, but if they are anything like the last one they will be best avoided!