By Aston
December 3 2007

Town Chairman David Sheepshanks says today is a big day in the history of Ipswich Town Football Club as the board agreed to the sell the club to businessman Marcus Evans. Earlier today the club announced an EGM will be held on the 17th of this month at the Corn Exchange in Ipswich were the clubs current share holders can vote for or against the takeover of the club by Evans, which should be it be approved looks set to be the dawn of a new era for Town and Mr Sheepshanks says Mr Evans is the right man for the club.

Mr Sheepshanks: "I think it's a massively important day, a tremendous opportunity for us to invest more into the team and push on and realise all our dreams of being a Premiership club. That becomes that much closer as a result of the likelihood of this deal, which isn't done until shareholders approve it at the EGM.

"The economy of football is increasingly lop-sided and most Championship clubs are loss-making. Fifteen out of 21 clubs in the Championship have made losses, the only ones which haven't are those with parachute payments.

"When you look at the finances, you've got to have someone to balance the books. You ask every Championship club and they'll tell you the same.

"Now we have an opportunity, not only with Marcus Evans putting £12 million into the club, but with him signalling that he will put in more money if necessary. He has also bought our entire debt, so we don't have an external debt.

"His interests are aligned with the club and we have a real opportunity of taking it on and realising our dreams of promotion.

"Everybody's chasing external investment because they can see the way things are going. I think in some ways it's a sad reflection on the disparity of wealth in football; the fact that we can't any longer afford to sustain a challenge as a community-owned club.

"We've been very public about our seeking investment, but we hadn't had any other propositions until we got this formal approach from Marcus.

"It's a good deal for the club, a good deal for the supporters, a good deal for the shareholders, because their shares will hopefully become more valuable in time, and it's a good deal for Marcus. All round, this is a very, very bright day for Ipswich Town Football Club."

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