Portman Road is an association football stadium in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. It has been the home ground of Ipswich Town F.C. since 1884. The stadium has also hosted a number of England youth international matches, and one senior England friendly international match, against Croatia in 2003. It has staged several other sporting events, including athletics meetings and international hockey matches.

The stadium underwent significant redevelopments in the early 2000s, which increased the capacity from 22,600 to a current figure of 30,311, making it the largest capacity football ground in East Anglia. Each of its four stands have since been converted to all-seater, following the recommendations of the Taylor Report. Also located at the ground are conference and banqueting facilities, the Sir Bobby Robson Suite, Legends Bar and a club store selling Ipswich Town merchandise.

Ipswich played their early matches at Broomhill Park, but in 1884, the club moved to Portman Road and have played there ever since. The ground was also used as a cricket pitch during the summer by the East Suffolk Cricket Club who had played there since 1855. The cricket club had erected a pavilion, the first fixed building at the ground. More substantial elements of ground development did not begin for a further 11 years, though Ipswich became one of the first clubs to implement the use of goal nets in 1890. At this time, Ipswich were an amateur side (the team became professional in 1936) and the first visit of a professional club came in 1892, when Preston North End played a Suffolk County Football Association team. This was followed six years later by a visit from Aston Villa, a game which was so popular that a temporary stand was erected in order to accommodate a crowd of around 5,000. In 1901, a tobacco processing plant was built along the south edge of the ground by the Churchman brothers, a name which would later become synonymous with the south stand located there.

Sir Robert William "Bobby" Robson, CBE (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009) was an English footballer and manager, who managed seven European clubs and the England national team during his career.

His professional playing career as an inside-forward spanned nearly 20 years, during which he played for three clubs: Fulham, West Bromwich Albion, and, briefly, Vancouver Royals. He also made 20 appearances for England, scoring four goals.

After his playing career he found success as both a club and international manager, winning league championships in both the Netherlands and Portugal, earning trophies in England and Spain, and taking England to the semi-final of the 1990 World Cup. His last management role was as a mentor to the manager of the Irish national football team.

Robson was created a Knight Bachelor in 2002, was inducted as a member of the English Football Hall of Fame in 2003, and was the honorary president of Ipswich Town. From 1991 onwards he suffered recurrent medical problems with cancer, and in March 2008, put his name and efforts into the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, a cancer research charity. In August 2008, his lung cancer was confirmed to be terminal; he said: "My condition is described as static and has not altered since my last bout of chemotherapy...I am going to die sooner rather than later. But then everyone has to go sometime and I have enjoyed every minute". He died just under a year later.

James Richard "Jimmy" Bullard (born 23 October 1978) is a footballer who currently plays for Ipswich Town. He played youth football at West Ham before moving to Gravesend & Northfleet in 1998. Two seasons at Peterborough United was followed by a spell at Wigan Athletic where he scored ten goals in 145 appearances in the league.

A transfer to Fulham in 2006 resulted in six goals in 39 league appearances before he moved to Hull City in 2009. A loan move to Ipswich commenced in 2011 where Bullard scored on his debut.

Bullard was born in East Ham, east London. He played schools' representative football for Bexley Primary Schools FA and Kent Schools FA whilst at primary school, and then represented North Kent Schools FA whilst a pupil at Erith School. He was a painter decorator but turned his career to professional football aged 20. He started his career in non-League football with amateur club Corinthian before moving to Gravesend & Northfleet before being signed by the club he supported as a boy, West Ham United, for a fee of £30,000 in 1999. He did not manage to break into the team, however, and was given a free transfer at the end of the 2000–01 season. After a three-week trial, he then signed for Peterborough United, where he first made a name for himself, scoring 11 goals in 62 league starts for Barry Fry's team. This earned him a move to Wigan Athletic for £275,000 in January 2003.

Ian Paul Marshall (born March 20, 1966) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker and defender from 1984 until 2002.

He notably played in the Premier League with Ipswich Town, Leicester City and Bolton Wanderers, as well as playing in the Football League for Everton, Oldham Athletic and Blackpool.

Marshall made his name playing as a defender and striker for Oldham Athletic but started his career as an apprentice with hometown club Everton. After four years he signed for Oldham for £200,000 and scored nearly 50 goals in almost 200 appearances before joining Ipswich Town in 1993 for £750,000.

At Portman Road he scored 38 times in just over 90 appearances, including five times in his first five games, a feat that has not been repeated since in the Premier League, before being sold to Leicester City for £800,000 in 1996. He played for the Foxes for four seasons, notching up 26 goals in 61 games. He left on a free transfer to Bolton. While at Leicester, Marshall was part of the 2000 League Cup winning team, coming on as a substitute in the final.