Ipswich Town season ticket holders are able to enter ballots to attend the upcoming home games against Portsmouth and Burton Albion from midday.

The club has around 9,000 season ticket holders and a maximum of 2,000 of them are now able to start attending games at Portman Road in line with new Government guidance.

Ahead of the next two home matches – Portsmouth on Saturday, December 12 (3pm ko) and Burton on Tuesday, December 15 (7.45pm ko) – the club has explained: “We have decided to use a balloting process to allocate tickets for every home game until further notice. The ballot will have rules in place to ensure a fair distribution of access to games amongst season ticket holders.

“If you miss out in the first ballot you are not guaranteed a ticket for the next game, but you will receive a ticket ahead of anybody who was successful for this game gaining access to another match.

“Please note, there will be an individual ballot for each game, so if you wish to attend both the Portsmouth and Burton fixtures, you’ll need to enter both ballots.

“Only one person from each group of fans needs to complete the ballot application on behalf of their group members. If you’re planning to attend alone, you must enter the ballot process. If you’re in a group, one of you will need to get the details of the others wishing to attend together and enter the ballot on behalf of the whole group.

“The minimum age for entering the ballot on your own is 14 years of age. Children aged 13 years and under will need to be entered into the ballot with an adult.

“Season ticket holders who live in a current Tier 3 area are not permitted to attend matches.”

Fans have until 10am on Monday, December 7 to enter the ballot for the Portsmouth game, while there is an additional 48 hours to enter the Burton Albion ballot. Those who have been successful will be notified, via email, by the close of play on both those days.

The official club website has a detailed step-by-step guide on how to enter the ballots. Those who require further help can request it via email: mainticketoffice@itfc.co.uk, or phone: 03330 05 05 03.

Those who are successful in being allocated tickets will then receive an email informing them of the next steps, including selecting their seat(s).

They will have a choice of a print at home ticket, a mobile phone e-ticket or a traditional match ticket, which will be posted. The club’s preference is that supporters choose the print at home or e-ticket option to reduce contact.

All season ticket holders will continue to receive an iFollow code to watch home games, regardless of if they’ve been successful in the ballot or not.

By the time the Portsmouth game comes around, it will have been 279 days since Town supporters attended the 1-0 home loss to Coventry back on March 7.

After Portsmouth and Burton, Town’s next home game will be the Boxing Day clash with Northampton. Then comes the visits of Swindon (Sat, Jan 9), Peterborough (Sat, Jan 23) and Sunderland (Tues, Jan 26) in the new year.