WHAT A HONOUR FOR ITISC

On Saturday 17th May 2008 at the Radio Suffolk studio's, there was a special presentation made to ex Town legend Kevin Beattie from ITISC on behalf of Sir Bobby Robson that took the 'The Beat' by surprise.

Kevin who is always on Mark's Saturday show was proudly talking about his UEFA Cup medal which he received 27 years too late at the Manchester Stadium at half time of the Zenit v Glasgow Rangers Final.

Malcolm Thompson, Chairman of the Haverhill Independent Supporters Club, went onto the Mark Murphy morning show to do the honour and he was a very proud Ipswich Town fan when handing over the special gift to the Beat.

Malcolm started by saying how he wanted someone big on board his supporters club when he formed it in 2006 and he was so proud when Kevin agreed to become the club's President. He went on to say that he was asked to present the gift on behalf of Sir Bobby and as far as he was aware Kevin is the only player under his management to have received this gift/tribute which made this even more special and handed the personally framed signed letter over to The Beat!

Kevin started to read the letter and said that he would have to read it later as he wouldn't be able to control his emotions. Mark Murphy then took the letter from Kevin and read it to all the listeners and at the end said, its time for a record as it is quite emotional here in the studios.

After the record was finished, Mark asked Kevin for his thoughts on the letter and he said he was speechless which is unusual for him and he was very taken back by it all. He said, i will put that on the wall and it will have pride of place and thanked the ITISC for organising this.

MORE GREAT NEWS FOR ITISC

At the recent 30th Anniversary Gala Meal to celebrate Town's fine win over Arsenal in the '78 Cup Final, ITISC received some more great news on the night. Both Paul Mariner and David Geddis accepted the club's invitation to become honorary members. Paul's son Joe Mariner agreed also to become a club member so this was great news for ITISC which is now seeing the club grow in size and becoming popular both Nationwide and Aboard.. We at ITISC are proud to welcome both Paul and David on board.

A GREAT AND SUCCESSFUL NIGHT HAD BY ALL

On Saturday 12th April, ITISC held a very special night at the Rose Tavern Public House with Town legend Kevin Beattie in attendance. The evening which featured an auction, raffle followed by karaoke, raised a lot of monies for both the Supporters Club and the The MS Society.
The driving force and inspiration behind the event is ITISC president Kevin Beattie’s desire to raise money for the MS Society as a thank-you for the help he receives as his wife sadly suffers from the illness.
A wonderful evening was had by all and Beattie was overwhelmed at the support and welcome he received on the night. Malcolm, Organiser of the evening said "A lot was raised for both ITISC & MS and even more will hopefully be raised soon as some of the auction prizes such as a 5k bedroom suite did not go on the night and are soon to be auctioned off by Radio Suffolk. - If anyone is interested in bidding for this, you can do so by emailing info@itisc.org.uk"
"I personally would like to thank all those who came along and supported this worthy cause and to thank both Sandra's for allowing us the use of their pub for the night" "All the hard work that has gone into this is worth it when you see the amount of monies raised - it was unbelievable - thanks to all who played their part"
After the auction Kevin was presented with an engraved tankard from the club members which was a nice touch as it was to both Kevin and his wife, Maggie.
The evening ended on an emotional note as ITISC auctioned off two toys in memory of Luton-based season ticket holder Mark Avery, who died suddenly at the age of 46 on March 28th 2008. Mark, regularly travelled to Portman Road with his six-year-old son Matthew, with the West Anglia Branch.
His friends at WABITS agreed to raffle a signed shirt, which had originally been donated by the club to help towards branch funds, to raise money instead for a gift for young Matthew, who was recently diagnosed as having Asperger’s Syndrome. Malcolm said, “Obviously, our thoughts are with his wife and Matthew at this time. We wanted to raise money for a gift for young Matthew - the exact details of which we will discuss at a more suitable time with Mark's widow". "A signed Beattie T-shirt, (photo attached) and £50 which was raised is now on its way to Matthew".

This is a reply that ITISC had received from the West Anglia Branch.

Hi Malcolm,

That's brilliant! We really do appreciate your support - it means a lot to us. No-one will ever convince me that ITFC isn't a 'family club' - the level of support and comradeship we've witnessed over the last three weeks has proved it beyond all doubt.

Thanks again.

Chris Robinson

Chairman - WABITS

Again ITISC are proving to become a very popular club both nationwide and aboard and if you would like to join, please download an application form now!

PICTURES OF THE EVENT CAN BE FOUND IN THE GALLERY.


On Saturday 12th January,
ITISC received a letter from Marcus Evans thanking the club for his honorary membership.. He also went on to say that he hoped we will all be watching Premiership football in the autumn. We at ITISC would like to add our sincere thanks to Marcus for coming back to us and for accepting the honorary membership as well. Our supporters club has got some big names associated with us, Kevin Beattie, Sir Bobby Robson and Marcus Evans.. Long may this continue...

ITISC WELCOME SIR BOBBY ON BOARD:

Great news for ITISC - Sir Bobby Robson has announced he will be honoured to accept an honorary membership for our supporters club. We at ITISC are so proud to have him on board... with both Kevin Beattie and Sir Bobby we feel very honoured and proud to be associated with these ITFC legends and thank them both for being associated with us.

We have also sent our congratulations to Sir Bobby on his recent Lifetime achievement award at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony and feel that this is fully deserved to a great guy who helped put ITFC on the map.

Well done Sir Bobby !!

THE IPSWICH TOWN ANTHEM NOW ON SALE:

It's been sung in the recording studios and now hopefully will be sung from the terraces.

Ipswich band The Ballistics, are joining forces with Ipswich Town fans by calling for the song Edward Ebenezer Jeremiah Brown to make a comeback at Portman Road.

The punk/ska group have recorded the anthem onto CD, and it's on sale now in aid of the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society.

The chairman would like to take this opportunity to give heartfelt thanks to all the people who put their time, talent, money and, above all, their unquestioning trust in this CD project. To all Town fans, please buy this CD and help make someone's life a little more comfortable.

Cost of the CD is only £2.99 which includes P&P. It also has two extra tracks from The Ballistics.... well worth buying!.

Send your cheques, made payable to I T I S C, PO Box 150, HAVERHILL. CB9 7QB.
or click on http://www.oxfordmusic.net/product.php?link=new&id=1733 to buy on-line. All profits will go to the MS Society.

CHARITY RUN:

ITISC's Chairman Malcolm Thompson completed the 40 miles to watch Ipswich Town's final game of the season. The North Stand season ticket holder made the two-day pilgrimage from his home in Haverhill to Sir Bobby Robson's statue outside Portman Road to raise money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society. But his exploits took its toll when the 46-year-old suffered an injury after completing the 33-mile first leg in six hours in warm weather. He then stayed overnight at Hintlesham Hall before attempting to complete the final seven miles on match day on May 4. Mr Thompson said: “The run on the first day ended with me picking up a calf injury which resulted in me taking a long soak and praying that all would be okay for the next day. “The run was now a very slow jog as I was worried that my calf would tighten up again but luckily this never happened. “At midday, I arrived at the statue to be met by Kevin Beattie's friends and some bemused Hull City and Town fans. “I spent seven-and-a-half hours running and I want to thank everyone who cheered and hooted me along my route - this certainly helped raise my hopes that I would complete the task.”

Mr Thompson is friends with Blues legend Kevin Beattie and decided to support the multiple sclerosis (MS) charity because of the help it has given to Mr Beattie's wife, Maggie. He has raised more than £850 so far. Mr Thompson said: “Kevin Beattie told me at Ipswich Town's 30th anniversary celebratory dinner that he was proud of what I had done for him. “It is so nice to hear and makes all the pain worthwhile!”

If you would like to sponsor Mr Thompson, you can visit www.justgiving.com/northstander