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. In 1901, a tobacco processing plant was built along the south edge of the ground by the
Churchman brothers, The first permanent stand, a wooden structure known affectionately as the "Chicken Run", was built on the Portman Road side of the ground in 1906. so work began on the first bank of
terracing at the north end of the pitch. The following year, on the back of winning the Southern League, a similar terrace was built at the southern Churchmans End and 650
tip-up seats, bought from
Arsenal, were installed. The Supporters' Association funded a number of improvements at Portman Road; in 1952, concrete terracing replaced the wooden terraces at the cost of £3,000 and another £3,000 was used to re-terrace the North Stand in 1954, bringing the capacity of the ground to approximately 29,000. In 1957, the association raised £30,500 towards the building of a new West Stand, increasing ground capacity to around 31,000.
Floodlights were installed two years later; the result of £15,000 raised by the association. Television cameras made their debut at Portman Road in 1962 as
Anglia Television arrived for
Match of the Week; it was another six years before the
BBC televised a match at the ground,
Match of the Day visiting Portman Road for the first time in 1968 to witness Ipswich's league fixture against
Birmingham City. Safety barriers were removed from the North Stand in 1989 following the
Hillsborough disaster and following the recommendations of the
Taylor Report, the terraces in both the North and South stands were also converted to all-seating. The Pioneer Stand was renamed the Britannia Stand following a new sponsorship deal with the
building society in 1999, Success for Ipswich Town in promotion to the
Premier League in 2000 led to further investment in the infrastructure, with the club spending around £22 million on redeveloping both the North and South stands. Following the death of former manager
Bobby Robson in 2009, the club announced that the North Stand would be renamed the Sir Bobby Robson Stand. The official unveiling took place at half-time during the league match hosting
Newcastle United, another of Robson's former clubs, on 26 September 2009. On 31 March 2012, the South Stand was renamed the Sir Alf Ramsey Stand in memory of Sir Alf Ramsey, who guided Ipswich Town to the First Division title in 1962. The
season was the 50th anniversary of Ipswich Town winning the old First Division title. On 10 July 2012, the Britannia Stand was renamed East of England Co-operative Stand following a sponsorship deal with the
East of England Co-operative Society. Following the club's change in ownership in April 2021, it was announced that improvements to Portman Road would begin that summer. These included the prospect of introducing safe standing sections and giant LED screens, improvements to concourse bars, removal of old Marcus Evans branding, as well as general cleanup and restoration work. In July 2021, it was also announced that East of England Co-Op would not be extending their sponsorship of the West Stand, thus the stand's name returned to simply the 'West Stand'. In August 2021, the Magnus Group was announced as the new sponsors of the West Stand, thus the stand became known as the 'Magnus Group West Stand' until the agreement ended in 2023. In March 2022, the club applied for planning permission to install a large LED screen at the south-east corner of the pitch as well as improvements to the dug outs and adding a new access on the south-east corner. Both of these additions were completed in time for the start of the 2022–23 season. Additionally, the club has purchased the land behind the Sir Alf Ramsey stand, the use of which is yet to be confirmed. A new hybrid pitch was also installed in the summer of 2023 in time for the start of the 2023–24 football season. Following the club's promotion to the Premier League in 2024, further improvements to the stadium were made to bring the stadium up to Premier League standards - these included new floodlight systems, changing rooms, media facilities, and executive boxes. ==Structure and facilities==