Ipswich £96.3m in debt and their council owns their stadium

However, the club debt is owed to the owner of the club and not secured against the stadium (because they don't own it).

One assumes that the club used to own the he stadium, did all the rebuilding work then sold it to the council.


Ipswich Borough Council, which owns the Portman Road ground, has agreed the site should be regarded as an Asset of Community Value (ACV).

As a result, the grounds cannot be sold without the local community being told and given an opportunity to bid for it themselves.

David Ellesmere, leader of Ipswich Borough Council, said the council had no intention of selling Portland Road but added: "We are very happy... to give supporters the reassurance they need that Ipswich Town Football Club will remain in the heart of Ipswich."

Mr Kreidewolf, secretary of Ipswich Town 1st, said: "Having ACV status means that any future administration at the council wouldn't be able to change that situation without involving supporters and local people.

"It helps to safeguard the future of Portman Road as a part of the Ipswich community."

The government allows local authorities to maintain a list of assets regarded as important to the community under the Localism Act 2011.

looks like another club that we could see die off in a few years. I cant see them wiping that debt clean quickly even if they get taken over by a sheikh

Been coming for years

Tgwu wrote:

Ipswich Borough Council, which owns the Portman Road ground, has agreed the site should be regarded as an Asset of Community Value (ACV).

As a result, the grounds cannot be sold without the local community being told and given an opportunity to bid for it themselves.

Yeah right...  How'd that work out for Argyle?  Brent sold it to Simon Hallett (thank God)and not a squeak from anyone..  Certainly not from Andy Symons the illustrious leader of the AFT!

Rickler wrote:

Tgwu wrote:

Ipswich Borough Council, which owns the Portman Road ground, has agreed the site should be regarded as an Asset of Community Value (ACV).

As a result, the grounds cannot be sold without the local community being told and given an opportunity to bid for it themselves.

Yeah right...  How'd that work out for Argyle?  Brent sold it to Simon Hallett (thank God)and not a squeak from anyone..  Certainly not from Andy Symons the illustrious leader of the AFT!

Tbf why would the trust have tried to stop Hallett buying the ground? I think we all knew what we were getting and no alarm bells were ringing. If Brent had on the other hand tried selling the club to Nool and Nikkk I think the trust and fan base should have been mobilised. Whether they could mobilise to that degree is debate able but the only reason you could object to ACV status is if like Nool you view ANY owner and his interests above those of the fan base and the long term future of the club itself.

Earwegoagain wrote:

Rickler wrote:

Tgwu wrote:

Ipswich Borough Council, which owns the Portman Road ground, has agreed the site should be regarded as an Asset of Community Value (ACV).

As a result, the grounds cannot be sold without the local community being told and given an opportunity to bid for it themselves.

Yeah right...  How'd that work out for Argyle?  Brent sold it to Simon Hallett (thank God)and not a squeak from anyone..  Certainly not from Andy Symons the illustrious leader of the AFT!

Tbf why would the trust have tried to stop Hallett buying the ground? I think we all knew what we were getting and no alarm bells were ringing. If Brent had on the other hand tried selling the club to Nool and Nikkk I think the trust and fan base should have been mobilised. Whether they could mobilise to that degree is debate able but the only reason you could object to ACV status is if like Nool you view ANY owner and his interests above those of the fan base and the long term future of the club itself.

But procedure wasn't followed at all, was it?  The ACV wasn't worth the paper it was written on as the club (and therefore Ground) was 'sold' to Simon Hallett before it was even announced that any sale was taking place.  It was all done in secrecy.  How do you know that somebody else couldn't have come up with the money or fronted a consortium that would have been an even better deal?  The ACV was and is, a complete farce!

Rickler wrote:

Earwegoagain wrote:

Rickler wrote:

Tgwu wrote:

Ipswich Borough Council, which owns the Portman Road ground, has agreed the site should be regarded as an Asset of Community Value (ACV).

As a result, the grounds cannot be sold without the local community being told and given an opportunity to bid for it themselves.

Yeah right...  How'd that work out for Argyle?  Brent sold it to Simon Hallett (thank God)and not a squeak from anyone..  Certainly not from Andy Symons the illustrious leader of the AFT!

Tbf why would the trust have tried to stop Hallett buying the ground? I think we all knew what we were getting and no alarm bells were ringing. If Brent had on the other hand tried selling the club to Nool and Nikkk I think the trust and fan base should have been mobilised. Whether they could mobilise to that degree is debate able but the only reason you could object to ACV status is if like Nool you view ANY owner and his interests above those of the fan base and the long term future of the club itself.

But procedure wasn't followed at all, was it?  The ACV wasn't worth the paper it was written on as the club (and therefore Ground) was 'sold' to Simon Hallett before it was even announced that any sale was taking place.  It was all done in secrecy.  How do you know that somebody else couldn't have come up with the money or fronted a consortium that would have been an even better deal?  The ACV was and is, a complete farce!

Fair enough I was talking about an ACV in principle it's a shame if that's the case of all ACVs.

Absolutely no sympathy for them. They've been living well beyond their means, and if they blow promotion this season (which is looking highly likely) then with the parachute and TV money gone, they are looking pretty fecked.
How any 3rd tier club justify nearly a 100 million of debt is beyond belief.
The league and the FA need to take action on this.

Marcus Evans has been there 11 years now so on the figure of £96 million of debt equates to the club losing £8.7 million a year over that period. And nobody's batted an eyelid at their accounts until now?

Isn't this indicative of how weak the EFL is as a regulatory body? There are other examples that you can cite where stronger governance should have prevented clubs becoming embroiled either in debt or in mysterious holes in accountancy. See also Northampton Town and Macclesfield. The latter in view of yesterday's debacle.

Grace Less wrote:

Isn't this indicative of how weak the EFL is as a regulatory body? There are other examples that you can cite where stronger governance should have prevented clubs becoming embroiled either in debt or in mysterious holes in accountancy. See also Northampton Town and Macclesfield. The latter in view of yesterday's debacle.

Yet for some reason a lot of the British public are so frightened of change and let's face so in awe of anybody with money they will argue against doing anything at all to change a thing. You can see it on this forum.

Earwegoagain wrote:

Yet for some reason a lot of the British public are so frightened of change and let's face so in awe of anybody with money they will argue against doing anything at all to change a thing. You can see it on this forum.

  You must have been feeling particularly cynical when you wrote this. Even if you look at it from a footballing point of view simply having money doesn't imply that fans will not argue that the money is not being used for the benefit of the football club they support. An example would be FC of Manchester where fans riled against the onset of the Glazer regime and have gone off to form their own football club. As for this forum "I couldn't possibly comment". I'm still a relative newby.

We don’t mind criticism as long as it’s not abusive.

Grace Less wrote:

Earwegoagain wrote:

Yet for some reason a lot of the British public are so frightened of change and let's face so in awe of anybody with money they will argue against doing anything at all to change a thing. You can see it on this forum.

  You must have been feeling particularly cynical when you wrote this. Even if you look at it from a footballing point of view simply having money doesn't imply that fans will not argue that the money is not being used for the benefit of the football club they support. An example would be FC of Manchester where fans riled against the onset of the Glazer regime and have gone off to form their own football club. As for this forum "I couldn't possibly comment". I'm still a relative newby.

It's not just on odd occasions I'm a cynic. I'm just a cynic.