COMMENT

IPSWICH Town have revealed the dozen players who will grace the pillars running through the Sir Alf Ramsey Stand concourse.

Almost 2,000 season-ticket holders responded to the club’s request for votes on “icons, heroes and legends" from across the years.

John Wark topped the poll and he will be joined by Mick Mills, Terry Butcher, Kevin Beattie, Paul Mariner, George Burley, Frans Thijssen and Arnold Muhren from the FA and UEFA Cup-winning Sir Bobby Robson era, while Sir Alf Ramsey’s First and Second Division championship-winning team will be represented by Ray Crawford.

Matty Holland was second in the voting and Marcus Stewart and Jim Magilton, team-mates in the side that gained promotion in 1999/00 and then finished fifth in the Premier League, are also in the 12.

The list made fascinating reading and was a welcome distraction in what's been another gloomy week for the Blues, after last week's defeat against Oxford United (if a tad depressing, given the comparative mediocrity of the class of 2020).

A poll of this nature will always stoke the embers of debate.

Everyone will have their favourites and that's part of the fun.

In many cases, a player's greatness is unquestionable.

Many of those on the list were nailed on to be included, as undeniable icons.

Others perhaps less so and, clearly, strong arguments can be put forward for the likes of Messrs Gates, Cooper, Phillips, Hunter and Brazil (and I'm sure there are many more).

On a personal note, I'm delighted to see three players from 'my era' - Holland, Stewart and Magilton - in the 12.

They provided some of my best memories of watching Town, both in a supporting and then reporting capacity.

To interview all three on a regular basis was a real privilege (especially Matt, who always made time for the press - win, lose or draw).

The other name I'd throw into the mix is that of my childhood favourite, Jason Dozzell.

Dozy was a real hero of mine; a playmaker whose languid style belied his natural, creative talent and goalscoring ability.

With nearly 350 Town appearances to his name and more than 50 goals, he remains the youngest scorer in the top flight for his strike against Coventry City in February 1984 (16 years and 57 days).

Sixteen goals in the amazing 1991-92 season helped John Lyall's side win the league title and secure promotion to the newly-formed Premier League.

He then featured regularly the following season, scoring nine goals in 52 games and helping the club stave off relegation in their first season back in the top tier of English football.

It's entirely personal and subjective, of course.

The debate will run and run but that's why, for me, Dozzell deserves to be immortalised in the top 12.