I’M SORRY I DID NOT GET US IN TOP FLIGHT – EVANS
MARCUS Evans regrets not returning Ipswich to the Premier League, having this week sold the club to an American consortium.
The consortium, called Gamechangers 2020 for the purpose of buying the League One club, also own American side Phoenix Rising FC and have bought out owner Evans, who had been in charge at Portman Road since 2007.
Evans has agreed to write off the money the club owes him in exchange for a five per cent share of Gamechangers 2020, who will receive additional finances from the ‘Three Lions fund’ – a group consisting of investors Brett Johnson, Berke Bakay and Mark Detmer.
The outgoing owner said: “I had always wanted to take the club to the Premier League and, sadly, for too short a window, at one time this had seemed possible. However, as important to me as my ambition for the club was, if it didn’t work out I wanted to leave the club in not only a more secure financial position than the perilous state in which I found it, but with ownership that provides triple-A financial backing alongside a community ethos.
“I believe I have found this and I look forward to cheering the team on as we work our way back to where we all want to be.”
Michael O’Leary will take the position as club chairman and will be joined on the board by Johnson, Ed Schwartz, Bakay and Detmer.
Johnson says they will invest heavily in order to get the club back into the Championship.
“We are humbled and excited to be investing in Ipswich Town, one of the finest clubs in the history of English football,” he said. “The short-term priority has to be the playing side, and we are committed to improving that.”