Ipswich Town women to play home games at Colchester

Ipswich Town Women will play home games at Colchester United's JobServe Community Stadium for the next two seasons.

Ipswich Town women will play home games at Colchester's JobServe Community Stadium for the next two seasons.

The agreement will also see the club's men's under-21s play a number of games at the venue, which is 16 miles from Ipswich across the Essex border, in 2025-26 and 2026-27.

Town women will play second-tier football for the first time in 2025-26 after winning promotion to the newly renamed WSL2 (Women's Super League 2) last season, having played home games at Felixstowe & Walton United for more than a decade.

The deal will see upgrades to the pitch at the JobServe Community Stadium ahead of the new season.

Rachel Harris, Town's head of women's football, told the club website: "With the additional requirements and challenges following promotion to the second tier for the first time, it sadly wasn't possible to maintain the Martello as our home. We're excited to be playing our WSL2 games at Colchester, and we can't wait to welcome our fans to the stadium as we make the step up next season."

Town chairman Mark Ashton said: "We're excited for the possibilities available to us at Colchester and look forward to seeing as many of our fans there as possible supporting Joe Sheehan and his team."

Following record crowds in each of the past two campaigns, the club intends to host the women's team at Portman Road during the next campaign while work is continuing towards finding a permanent home in the Ipswich area.