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Felixstowe & Walton blown away by turnout for friendly against Championship club

Felixstowe & Walton have been left blown away by the turnout for the pre-season friendly against Championship club Ipswich Town.

The newly promoted Tractorboys began their schedule with a 6-0 victory with a penalty competition following it as 2,350 fans packed out the AGL Arena, also home to Ipswich Town Women.

Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna fielded separate teams in each of the two halves, with Freddie Ladapo scoring a brace as Sone Aluko, Kyle Edwards, Kayden Jackson and Panutche Camara netting goals in the 60-minute match.

Felixstowe & Walton United: Bradbrook, Bennett (Leggett 54’), Blackburn, Kerridge, Bullard (c), Ottley-Gooch, Brown (De La Paz 46’), Warren, Mayhew (Ford 46’), Matthews (Costa 61’), Howell (Hasanally 46’).

Town (first half): Walton, Donacien, Edmundson, Ball, Davis, Morsy, Humphreys, Harness, Aluko, Edwards, Ladapo.

Town (second half): Hladky, Clarke, Woolfenden, Baggott, Leigh, Evans, Luongo, Camara, Morgan, Chaplin, Jackson.

Prior to the game, eighth tier Felixstowe & Walton United were looking to “showcasing” its club as it takes on its neighbour.

Chris Daynes, director of operations, said the match at the 2,350-capacity ground was sold out and could have been “four times over”.

As per BBC Sport, he added that the game was “financially very good” for the club, and gave football fans the opportunity to attend a match there and “maybe come along to a Felixstowe game in the future”.

“Obviously you don’t want to get thrashed, but both clubs are only a week into pre-season; it’s more about the occasion and showcasing our club.”

First team manager Stuart Boardley said his players were looking forward to the game: “They are really excited; you can see the intensity in training was there; we’re leading up to our first pre-season game and it couldn’t start any better than with Ipswich,” he said.

“It will be great for our experienced players to have that opportunity and equally for our younger players, it will be their first taste of first-team football with Felixstowe and what a way to start it, against full-time professionals; it will be incredible for them.”

After the game, Felixstowe tweeted: “We can’t thank @IpswichTown enough for visiting today, supporting NL football & giving the opportunity for fans to get so close to their idols. The smiles (not just from our Financial Director) said it all as they took the time all day to interact with both sets of supporters 👊🏼.

Town boss Kieran McKenna felt his side’s 6-0 pre-season victory at Felixstowe & Walton ticked all the required boxes.

“I think the priority is always no injuries, show a good attitude and finish off what’s been a really demanding week on the players,” he said as per TWTD.

“We’ve managed to tick all those boxes, so we’re happy with what we’ve got out of it.”

Town started pre-season training last week and McKenna was asked if it was mainly getting running into his players’ legs or whether there was much ball work going on.

“A bit of both,” he said, when asked if it was mainly getting running into his players’ legs or whether there was much ball work going on. “We have six weeks to get ready, we’ve got a lot of work to do, physically as well as tactically, mentally as well.

“We’re straight into that work from day one, there’s no time to ease yourself in in modern football. The expectation is that you come back in good condition and then we look to get better as a team.

“We’re straight into that, the players have worked really hard in all aspects but we’ve got a long way to go to make sure we’re ready.”

He says he enjoyed their afternoon at a capacity AGL Arena: “Really good. Just a fantastic welcome first and foremost, a typical Suffolk welcome. We’ve been really well received by the people.

“It’s been a great turnout, we know how much it means to these clubs to show that we’re there and we’re supporting them in different ways.

“It’s nice to be here and with the women’s team playing here there’s a bit of an extra link, so it was a nice fixture for them for us to be here and it was a good fixture for us in terms of getting some minutes.

“Just like we did with Needham Market last year, we want to have those good links with the clubs around us.”

Twitter users reacted with Felixstowe & Walton blown away by the turnout for the friendly against Championship club Ipswich…

@Felstedboy: Great to see

@LesterEDrake: Terrific to be here today. What a great crowd! Hope Fx&W have made a few quid. Good effort from Town 👏👏👏

@MalcolmHogan10: Hopefully some of the @IpswichTown supporters go to @Felixseasiders when they have an away game, make it your 2nd team.

@PeckRogerpeck62: Great work all involved @Felixseasiders v @IpswichTown 👏👏 #wearesuffolk

@lewyitfc: Never fail to have a great time every time I come to the AGL whether it’s seeing F&W or Ipswich Women’s team… It’s a great start to your season with boosters funds… Best of luck for the new season

@EssexWomble: Would be superb if more league clubs did likewise.

@ealeyd: Was the first time I had been to the ground and liked it and can see why those who watch our women’s team like it. Will have to try and get there for another game

@GaryWoolton: I agree. It would be great if other teams supported their local NL. Big up to Ipswich and Felixstowe get next seasons game booked in for the East Suffolk line cup.

@tractorgirlamy8: Incredible turnout!

@NUTSY10: Imagine all local league clubs done similar and the financial rewards for the non league clubs. Well done @IpswichTown 👏👏👏

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