Sir Bobby vents fury at Town crowd

IPSWICH legends Sir Bobby Robson and Kevin Beattie today expressed their fury at a section of the Portman Road crowd.

Their anger was aimed at those fans who booed Newcastle star Craig Bellamy - a former Norwich player - throughout last night's well attended Dale Roberts Testimonial match.

Sir Bobby, the Newcastle boss who was in charge at Portman Road between 1969 and 1982, was scathing in his condemnation of the treatment meted out to his player.

He fumed: “I didn't bring my team down here to listen to that sort of thing. There was no place for it on a night like this.”

Beattie, consistently voted Town's greatest player of all-time in supporters' polls, hit out: “The way they treated Bellamy was very harsh and it upset me, to be honest.

“Dale and I went back a long way - I knew him as boy and man - and it was a night for him and his family. Who are these people to think they could spoil it?”

And former Ipswich favourite Titus Bramble, now a team-mate of Bellamy at St James' Park, also joined the chorus of criticism.

He said: “We were all disappointed and especially the manager. It was a testimonial game for Dale and his family, and the booing was disrespectful to them.”

Bellamy merely shrugged his shoulders when asked for his reaction, before adding: “I expected it. But hopefully I reacted the right way.

“All the Newcastle players knew what this game was all about and it was disappointing that some people behaved the way they did.”

Beattie said supporters should be prepared to “forgive and forget” the fact that the Welsh international started his career at Carrow Road.

He added: “The lad's been gone from Norwich for four years and the fans who booed him have got to sit back and think about how they got it wrong last night.

“The majority of the fans were fantastic, but why do a minority have to spoil it?

“Bellamy played his heart out and did nothing wrong at all. The gaffer (Sir Bobby) went wild at the crowd and rightly so.”