On the 11th November 2023 Ipswich Town hosted Swansea City in a league match for the Sky Bet Championship - coinciding with the National Day of Remembrance for those who have lost their lives in service, most notably during World War I.

In respect of this, the match was designated to remembering the fallen, with a number of adjustments made to pay homage to them. Among other things, a one minute silence to the sound of The Last Post was observed before the clash began and the players on both teams had poppies printed on their matchday shirts (which are now up for auction to raise money for the Royal British Legion).

I was fortunate enough to interview a few fans around the grounds about their thoughts on the involvement of remembrance in football, and if they thought that the club’s efforts were worthwhile. Generally, I found that people were appreciative of the cause and thought it was important to recognise it, especially due to the large platform that football can provide.

Stacey Dean, 38, said ‘it’s all about heritage’, and that the cause has ‘such a huge history with the country’ and that football can be really useful to pass on that history to younger generations. Dean’s family has connections to the war, and she said that ‘hearing the impact’ of the one minute silence before the match can be ‘really powerful’, though she did concede that she wasn’t sure it has much of an effect on those in attendance.

The difference in impact across the generations was something I found really interesting. For father-daughter duo Mike and Becca Brown (aged 50 and 15 respectively), remembrance meant very different things. Mike’s family has a history of service through both his mother and father, along with his friends: to him it is ‘always something we’ve been a part of’, especially when growing up. For Becca the event holds less significance, but Mike says that the club’s recognition is a is ‘a great opportunity’ to raise awareness for the attendance and people like Becca who 'have not really had that same experience growing up’.

There was also several collectors for the Royal British Legion (RBL) stationed around the grounds. I was able to have a discussion with Major James Preston, 68, and his wife Jaqueline, 66, while they were collecting donations for poppies. Major Preston works for the Ipswich branch of the RBL, and to him remembrance means ‘everything’ and is all about family and unity: ‘it makes you stop and appreciate all the people that went before us’. This is a sentiment reflected by Jaqueline, who wore her father’s medals that he received for his service in World War II.

Major Preston says that by associating remembrance and football it is very positive for the cause: ‘it’s family, it brings them together’. He adds that the more involved that children get with football and remembrance, the more that ‘it moves on through the tiers’ since ‘they’re our future’.