Ipswich Town legend Kevin Beattie’s funeral procession will drive past the Portman Road ground, giving fans the chance to pay their final respects.
Ipswich Town legend Kevin Beattie’s funeral procession will drive past the Portman Road ground – giving fans the chance to pay their final respects.
Details of his funeral have been released, following his sudden death at the age of 64 on September 16. He suffered a suspected heart attack.
The funeral service will be held at Seven Hills Crematorium at 3pm on October 26 – but prior to that, the procession will pass Ipswich Town and the statue of Sir Bobby Robson.
In a notice placed in today’s Ipswich Star, the Beattie family said: “The Beat’s life was football and he was loved and admired by so many friends and fans.
“At home he was just our ‘Kev’ who adored his family as they did him.”
It added: “As a tribute to Ipswich Town FC and Bobby Robson, who gave Kev his first opportunity and where Kev considered ‘home’, the funeral procession will drive past his beloved club at 2.30pm approx.”
Beattie was voted the club’s greatest ever player on multiple occasions.
Flowers, notes and scarves were placed on the statue of Sir Bobby for the days after the news was broken by his friend and colleague, BBC Suffolk’s Mark Murphy.
“Kevin was my BBC Radio Suffolk co-host on Life’s a Pitch for the past seven years and I am proud to call him my friend,” said Murphy.
“He was without doubt the greatest ever footballer to pull on the Ipswich Town shirt.”
Former club chairman David Sheepshanks thanked him for leaving so many fans with “some sensational memories.”
He was part of Sir Bobby Robson’s great Ipswich Town sides, which won the FA Cup and UEFA Cup, before his career was cruelly cut short by a knee injury.
At the home match following Beattie’s death, his family were the club’s guests of honour, leading the teams out after his former team-mates had paraded his famous number six jersey as part of their own tribute.
The family have asked that anyone wishing to make a donation to charity for Kevin should donate to The British Heart foundation.
Donations can be sent to the East of England Co-op Funeral Service, 247a Hawthorn Drive, Ipswich, IP2 0QG.
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