Ipswich Town to host Fortuna Düsseldorf in pre-season friendly with Kieran McKenna’s squad also set to return to Austria

Ipswich Town’s pre-season schedule has its first confirmed opposition with German side Fortuna Düsseldorf set to visit Portman Road while the Blues are set to return to Austria for a training camp.

Kieran McKenna’s side will take on Fortuna Düsseldorf on Saturday, July 27 (3pm) in preparation for the club’s long-awaited return to the Premier League.

The 2. Bundesliga third-placed side, who are still in the running for promotion via the play-offs, have become something of a sister side for Town since 2006 when former Fortuna stadium announcer Ulli Münsterberg took in a game at Portman Road with some friends.

Fortuna fans have since been coming over to Suffolk once a season to back the Blues with around 80 watching the 2-1 come-from-behind win in January.

Meanwhile, this weekend will see a group of Town fans lending their support in Germany for their home 2. Bundesliga clash with FC Magdeburg on Sunday.

The clubs themselves played each other in a friendly in Düsseldorf back in 2015, Ipswich losing 4-3, before meeting again in Germany, in Meppen, in 2019, Town losing out 4-1 in a 45-minute match.

Ticket details for this summer’s match are yet to be confirmed.

Meanwhile, CEO Mark Ashton – who has been good to his promise of getting a club tattoo following promotion – has confirmed he Blues will head back to Austria for a pre-season training camp.

“We debated pre-season, we debated whether we went to the US, whether we went further afield, but Austria worked really well for us again, so we’re going to be announcing the details on a pre-season trip to Austria,” he said in the second part of his club interview on TownTV.

“We are also going to announce a friendly against Fortuna Dusseldorf and I know that’s something the fans have talked about since we joined the football club, that is now agreed. That is locked in and will happen. But the core pre-season will be in Austria this summer.”