Under the most amazing sunset above Portman Road, Ipswich Town climbed into the automatic promotion places with a 2-1 victory over a strong Oxford United.
It was a fantastic New Years Day celebration with first-half goals from Jaden Philogene and Chuba Akpom.
We moved a point above Middlesbrough after their 1-0 defeat against Derby.
Let’s find out more about who was joining us in Box 19 this week.
Josh Yasar
Josh is a close friend and joined us in Box 19 with his family for an afternoon of great football. We met initially through professional networking but we soon became friends.
As a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, Josh leads the Finance and Commercial team at Pound Gates. Before joining in 2016 he held senior positions in a range of industries including import and export of goods, energy, manufacturing and retail.
At 18, Josh owned two shops in Bodrum, Turkey, a tourist hotspot, specialising in fashion.
During the early 2000’s, the business started to struggle due to the impact on the Turkish tourism industry caused by the war in Iraq and the trouble in the Middle East.
“I now realise that my over-indulged self-confidence affected the decisions I made, and perhaps with more experience and guidance, I would have acted differently and saved myself some heartache along the way.”
After moving to UK, Josh became a keen supporter of Arsenal FC and is a coach at youth level. He says he’s pretty decent at football but I am yet to see this.
Josh is also a Trustee of The Soma Leo Foundation.
The Soma Leo Foundation is a small charity based in Ipswich, founded in 2015 to deliver education and practical support to disadvantaged communities in East Africa.
Their work centres on The Soma Leo Academy, a primary school in Nyiera, Kenya, as well as supporting partner schools in the neighbouring community of Osieko. At the Academy, they strive for excellence by providing safe, clean learning environments, high-quality teaching with a strong teacher-to-pupil ratio, a rich and engaging curriculum, and daily nourishment for our 175 pupils.
Beyond their own school, they work with local partners to raise educational standards across the region. This includes lending computer equipment, supplying books, and offering ongoing teacher training and development.
Soma Leo is Swahili. It translates as Learn Today, and was in part selected by the local community.
In December 2025, the decision was made for the UK representation of the The Soma Leo Foundation to hand back over full responsibility to the rightful owners based in Kenya. They will now continue with the amazing work and look to grow and expand it further.
Brian Baldry
Having known each other for many years, Gordon invited along good friend and neighbour Brian as our guests in Box 19. Over his career Brian worked in various countries as Head Teacher of many military schools, spending a lot of his working time with British Forces in Germany.
Although having been retired for over 20 years Brian is still very active and has been attending Ipswich Town for over 75 years. But believe it or not, Brian has never stepped foot in one of the Ipswich Town boxes.
A true supporter, Brian even left his family, who had come over to the UK, all the way from Australia to visit for Christmas, to join us in the box.
Lyndsay Edwards
Hospitality Answers helps accommodation providers grow their profits without the long-term financial commitment of employing a full-time staff member.
With nearly 30 years’ experience in the hospitality industry, Lyndsay bring extensive expertise across sales management, revenue management, hospitality software, business development, and online travel. These disciplines work together to drive strong commercial outcomes and sustainable growth.
“In recent years, I’ve seen how unpredictable our industry has become. Some businesses are restructuring or reducing headcount, while others struggle to attract the right talent. Often a property doesn’t need a full-time role, but does need expert support for a short-term project or during critical periods. Recognising this gap in the market, I created Hospitality Answers — a flexible way for hospitality businesses to access senior-level expertise, exactly when they need it.”