Marcus Evans Takeover at Ipswich Town F.C.

Here are some links on the subject-and if you want to read what I think then scroll down:

Who is Marcus Evans from Money Week
Who is Marcus Evans from Wikipedia
This, I think, is the official website for one of his companies
The story reported in the East Anglia Daily Times
as is this story
The story reported in the Daily Mail
This article is from This is Money
..and I think that story is pretty much a reworking of the story from The Official Clubsite

As I have said elsewhere on this blog- I have always had a bit of a soft spot for Ipswich Town FC since going to school near there in the late seventies/early eighties and now I've moved back to East Anglia I've been to watch them a few times.

I guess today could feature large in the not inconsequential history of the club as it has been announced that businessman Marcus Evans has bought the club. I don't know how this story will pan out -but the fact that Evans is successful, a bit reclusive and shadowy (as in private) means that there may be the kind of moral indignation that some journo's (especially those from the Guardian and those who have been refused access) and some fans (usually those from rival clubs) like to show. I'm not sure how Ipswich fans will feel about it- the club is doing rather well- a young team- the product of what is a really good scouting system (particularly in the Republic of Ireland). They are very well organised and could quite easily make the play-offs this season. Something like this could destabalise what has been built up.

However ITFC do have massive debts- a result of getting carried away last time they were in the Premiership (and something that resulted in them in having to flog off all the young players that had come up through the club). It would be nice to see Evans allowing the club to continue to develop the way it has over the last year or so- with his money being used to support what Magilton has being doing rather than replacing it.

So here are two predictions- it's the Summer of 2010 and Ipswich have just finished in a decent mid-table position in the Premiership- the only blip being two humiliating defeats by Pompey- and the Republic of Ireland-with a team built around a number of decent young Ipswich players are about to do rather well in the World Cup.