Tractor Boys Look For A Benefactor - 2/11/2005

Only four years ago Ipswich finished 5th in the Premiership, qualified for the Uefa Cup and splashed out £4.75m on an Italian goalkeeper. The Uefa Cup was in many ways their undoing as the season ended with the club relegated from the Premiership. Less than a year later they were in administration, more than £30m in debt and reportedly losing a quarter of a million pounds a week. In the last two seasons the club has been defeated in the play-off semi-finals, earning a reputation as the 'nearly men' of the Championship. Their financial situation is now stable, but without a wealthy benefactor and with the parachute money clubs receive two years after relegation no longer coming in, they are aware that they are at a financial disadvantage compared to many other Championship clubs. The £4.75m they splashed out on a goalkeeper would now come close to being enough to buy the club, as chairman David Sheepshanks launched a public plea for investors to come to Portman Road. 'Five to six million pounds would buy new shares and give someone on paper 51 per cent', Sheepshanks said. The chairman noted that any prospective new owners would have to satisfy several conditions. Ipswich justifiably see themselves as a community club and in addition to respecting that ethos any new owners would have to command the respect of bankers, major stakeholders and creditors such as Norwich Union, the Bank of Scotland and Barclays. The club have raised £4.5m in the past three years from a share issue, loan notes and debentures but will not got for another share issue which Sheepshanks describes as a 'sticking plaster solution'. Sheepshanks admits that the club has been looking for larger investors, but have not found anyone. They have a number of irons in the fire, some warm, some cool. If you were a rich guy with some spare cash interested in taking a stake in a football club, would you choose Ipswich? Ok, they have some Premiership experience. But Ispwich is a medium-sized city. Admittedly, it is located in an affluent county with a significant population. However, many of its inhabitants are relatively elderly prosperous people who probably look down their noses at football. Does the club have the potential be to anything more than a Championship team in contention for promotion?