NEW INVESTMENT | EXTENDED INTERVIEW

Following news of Bright Path Sports Partners' investment in the Club, TownTV spoke to Ed Schwartz, Mark Ashton, Sam Simon, Jake Zahnow, Mike O’Leary and Berke Bakay.

[@siebdykstra]

It's astonishing how far we've come. Give KMc £105 million to stay here for five years please. And keep the team behind the scenes.

[@chrismcbain6377]

COYB...Excellent news for the club, what wonderful people we have running town...Brilliant

[@johnllewellyn3481]

Did not see this coming, no one did. Shows what a tight well managed football club we have. Us Town fans will continue to grow with you and trust you. Thank you. Johnnie Llewellyn.

[@CrushFamily]

Such a great time to be a town fan 💙

[@paulhinton6416]

Impressive people. Thank you for all you are doing for this great club.

[@ejnorris2779]

Wow Happy days this club just keeps on moving forward we are so lucky to have the owners we do. COYB

[@CrushFamily]

Such brilliant times for the blues 💙

[@STST]

Mark Ashton needs a statue

[@stevepeck2478]

And....oxygen 😂

[@blasedog3]

Oxygen to make the club breath 😂

[@Alex58399]

Outside of Ashton Gate just to rub it in their faces

[@CrushFamily]

💙

[@Gadders72]

Not sure MA could look any more smug if he tried 😂😂

[@chrismctaggart9946]

Great news. Especially if we do or don't get promoted! COYB.

[@hannecatton2179]

Fantastic news. The thought of American shareholders fills fans with fear sometimes but ours have only induced wonderment . They leave the daily running of the club to a superb management team. That is rare ! Thank you to all those benign investors.

[@CrushFamily]

They are amazing and helped massively 💙

[@leebayliss7847]

I just love listening to Mike O'Leary...he's always so eloquent,clear and precise in what he says ...he makes it so much clearer all the time ,he's another valuable member to our club .

[@richardpicking4459]

Great news to start the weekend. At last the club is being managed properly by people have a vision and who clearly know how to make it a reality

[@stephennicolay1940]

Ipswich Town will not only be in the Premier League next season, but will be one of the most significant teams in Europe.

[@MarlboroughBlenheim1]

Calm down! £105 m is not a lot compared to the top clubs. They spend billions!!!

[@franklinrwful]

but sometimes have horrendous debts. @@MarlboroughBlenheim1

[@ollylambert1039]

Go Tractor boys from down under!

[@michaelwilce2994]

Just give KM a life time contract and we’re set 🙏 COYB ITFC forever ⭐️💙⚽️⭐️💙⚽️⭐️💙⚽️

[@johnsmith-es7zk]

Why would KM or anyone for that matter want to leave this amazing club? The future is so bright and as MA said there are no limits to what can be achieved.

[@charliemilroy6497]

It would be a major statement to give KM an improved contract with a much higher release clause

[@Roxie66645]

Town getting stronger and stronger , 💙💙💙💙

[@CrushFamily]

COYB 💙

[@Dronesteve-72]

Will be 35-40 thousand fans at Portman road in the next 4 years 🚜

[@CrushFamily]

Hope so . We need the space LoL 💙

[@ig5025]

Fair play to Evans for holding out and selling us to these absolute gems. He could have sold us to others but he held out for people with a great long term plan… and I will be forever grateful to Evans for that.

[@gavintsang5778]

I would like Ipswich back in the PL and also in Europe. I remember about 20 years ago, Ipswich had a very good team and did pretty well in Uefa Cup.

[@doughboy19770]

Oxygen!!!! 💙

[@marksims5730]

and a lot of it

[@Alex58399]

We’re the custodians of this football club

[@JumpingToMars]

So hard to get my head around the difference that just 5 years has brought for this club 🤯 investors falling over to put money into the club!! Amazing!!

[@BAKON581]

Well done Ipswich.

[@CrushFamily]

💙💙

[@tractorfactorsteve]

The path is bright.

[@kevinbailey3384]

One of the best things about the Management Team of the football club at the moment, is the fact that this did not leak, and supporters who were asking previously why the Pension Fund invested in us, can now see, as the valuation of the club means that they have already done rather well. So far, everyone has done everything g that they said that they would, and we should be reassured by that. Would be better still if a way was found to ensure that those of us, normal supporters, who invested in the club when the chips were down, are somehow 'rewarded' for our loyalty. It really does put the abject failure of Marcus Evans in perspective, and the comments of certain ex-managers saying nobody wanted to come to Ipswich !!!

[@DebChilvers]

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 spot on

[@dannyp2143]

Thx for telling us what's going on. Really inspirational. Thx for making the club great again. 👍

[@brentduffy402]

What A Club Excellent Infrastructure going on at the Town COYB

[@johnsmith-es7zk]

I think the really impressive thing here is that many people wanted to invest in ITFC and the owners were able to be selective as to who they wanted to bring in to the project. That shows that our once run down club is now attracting interest from people who believe it is going to be bigger, stronger, better and are prepared to put their money behind it. The turn around has been so impressive both on and off the pitch and as MA says there are no limits on what can be achieved here. MA, KM and their respective teams are being allowed to run things and are being backed all the way. Clubs being run this way are what supporters dream of.

[@stevelewis6303]

Great news. Nice to hear that there is so much oxygen around the place

[@robertchinn5263]

Just can't believe this hopefully this will give KMC the tools to work with fantastic club

[@CrushFamily]

Yes and hopefully Mckenna stays 💙

[@Selfation]

A bit long - but i would rather have more information than less ... So thank you ... and this is great news for our long term future.

[@davepage6428]

I hope this indicates to Mkc that he can really make something meaningful in Ipswich. Looking forward to the future.

[@chrysalis66]

Great stuff. If I had a mill for every time the word 'oxygen' was used I could have put in that investment!

[@penningtonsurveyorsltd]

This is amazing stuff for this club 🎉

[@onomeonome6153]

am a palace fan i just want to see ipswich against my club

[@keithclempson2729]

This is before Ed chips in his £105M as well !! Well.....we can but hope 😅 Onwards and upwards Town💙

[@NigelCraske]

Hats off to u all that work behind the scenes is now paying off 4 u now,any other team i would be over the moon but im a envious canary,we waisted alot of money every time we went up,u have a top manager and good back room team mark Ashton sounds like a determined man,if u do go up automatic i just hope we join u via play offs to soften the blow with u doing so well on and off the pitch,just hope ed sheran dont put his millions in with the 105million,i can only take so much being a budgie,lol,😭😭🚜🤣💰🏆💛💚🏆🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@JemAllen-c4n]

Ipswich Town pride of anglia blue army 💙

[@CrushFamily]

COYB 💙

[@Bneen-1]

احبكم من العراق🇮🇶💙💙

[@blasedog3]

“Go tractor boys” 👍👍😂👍💙

[@CrushFamily]

COYB 💙

[@grahamtait6151]

Great News

[@CrushFamily]

Blue army 💙

[@Grooveturtle67]

It would appear Town has a bright future as the club moves forward. ITFC is on fire and these are the gentlemen fuelling that fire.

[@finleygoldring1556]

All that oxygen fuelling the fire

[@MrTrevorhann]

WELL DONE ALL OF YOU...C.O.Y.B

[@Tractorboy68]

Delighted to see more proper investment in the clubs future ,that decade plus of Marcus Evans is now a distant memory

[@CrushFamily]

Brilliant news 💙

[@smile-sh1im]

Didn't the Game Changers buy the club for 40M? Three years later they've sold 40% for 100M - that's an amazing turn around in a short space of time.

[@kevinbailey3384]

You are on the right tracks, the original purchase price was around £40M, and the fact that the new investors now own 40% of the club, and have invested £105M, values the club at around £260M. However, Gamechanger have not received any funds themselves, the £105M is to be invested in the club, and if we assume Gamechanger have spent £30M, on top of the £40M purchase price,, it means that they did own 90%, (and have spent £70M), whereas they now own 50%of something worth £260M (ie £130M) with that £130M investment, having a further £105M to invest in the club in the next 5 years,( I would think.) So, as you say, an amazing turn around in just under three years. So the pension fund will be showing a valuation of £130M for something that they have spent £70Mc on, with the valuation only likely to rise as the £105M is invested in coming years, on the training ground facilities, Aquatic centre, hotel? and new stand to increase capacity, further enhancing match day revenues as well.

[@nielsjensen8288]

Grown-ups now leading the club: on the pitch, in the dug out and in the boardroom. Yay! COYB!

[@simonnolloth6103]

Frank Yallop is the man who needs the biggest thanks in my opinion because of Frank we have the three lions involved

[@onomeonome6153]

In the prem

[@AnimeRatings_AR]

I'm kinda new to watching football, is £105 million considered a lot for a championship team?

[@Alex58399]

Most championship clubs aren’t even valued at £100m

[@AnimeRatings_AR]

​@@Alex58399Alright, thanks! What are Leicester and Leeds valued as?

[@CrushFamily]

Oh yes 💙

[@Roxie66645]

@@AnimeRatings_ARLeeds and Leicester had Premiership status for many seasons they would have more money,

[@ashley_bell]

Great news! But can anyone confirm if there’s any oxygen included in the deal?

[@anthonykidd1963]

I want some of this oxygen!

[@maxxfx4767]

I wonder if Marcus Evans looks at the club now, and appreciates what a shite job he did. Well done Ashton and co. COYB

[@shahid1296ify]

Evans was a lazy owner

[@MarlboroughBlenheim1]

@@shahid1296ifyhe wasn't a manager

[@MarlboroughBlenheim1]

To be fair he didn't have this cash available and what he did have he provided to Keane and Jewell who let him down. Plus he sold ethically to good new buyers.

[@shahid1296ify]

@@MarlboroughBlenheim1 oops yep I see the error I made !

[@CrushFamily]

He sold it for Ipswich to help grow as he knew they could do what he couldn't so Marcus Evans has to be thanked

[@mattheweade3810]

Plenty of oxygen coming our way then!

[@Dronesteve-72]

What a club what back room staff at ipswich 🚜

[@shahid1296ify]

How many times did they say oxygen 😆

[@DarrenUrso]

What a club.the biggest club in the anglia region. Ncfc take note you little club.

[@NigelCraske]

My little club yeah right,15years in our shadow,2semi final defeats against us and 3rd on the way, league one last year and U get a little success and get carried away,little clubs don't win back to back promotions wembley win thanks 2u, beating man city in the premiership who r one of the best teams around,c where U r in may ,I can either have egg on my face and eat humble pie,or a beaming smile that we have beat U in the play offs again,thanks McKenna for pissing me off because U keep frigin winning, respect though of the wrong team in East Anglia,🤣😭🚜🤬💛💚💰🏆🇬🇫

[@thejig9361]

high on oxygen right now

[@cgplayz724]

Second come on u town

[@leebayliss7847]

Said all along Mark Ashton has been out best signing .

[@clivebennett6549]

Hi guys I'm a big person so I'm asking you if you good get bigger football shirts in please

[@PhilipHurrell]

105m will prob only cover the wages of all these bosses from shell companies inside pyramid schemes. As an investment they are simply wanting to maximise the money they have invested, which will prob be once Ipswich gain promotion, at which point the sweet spot for investment has been reached. Which means they'd cash in.

[@trimley]

Oxygen

[@h2rrison25]

First!!!!! 😂😂😂Uppa Towen

[@Dronesteve-72]

Get a life

[@barriemorris2829]

I do see this differently. Good news yes but I can’t see how there is going to be anymore money in the club. Feels to me like the pension fund have made a profit so they’re out.

[@darrenleejones3516]

No one invests big money into anything for nothing, they just have the gift of the gab to convince the patsys otherwise, just wait till things go wrong and then see what happens

[@finleygoldring1556]

It's £105m into the club. They issued more shares so org haven't sold a single share to these investors, they've diluted their control

[@soulboyclarke6122]

Lots of cliche sayings used here ie "Oxygen" over used in this interview. All interviewed were at pains to highlight that Game Changer haven't taken any money from the club. Buying a business for 40 million, and then getting a cash injection from another investor 3 years later of 105 million. Seems like a nice little bit of business to me.

[@joshskeemer8658]

Pinch me! ❤

[@flemmingbroni902]

Consider yourself pinched..

[@user-pe7sw3dv9c]

Very very vague. A lot of clichés and a lot of nonsense about oxegen

[@finleygoldring1556]

Which bits were vague

[@emem666]

Ipswich not going for Category One was a poor decision during Marcus Evans era. It's nice to know that American owners want to make Ipswich great again.

[@soulboyclarke6122]

We did go for Cat 1 under Evans.. We missed out by one point if memory serves.

[@emem666]

@@soulboyclarke6122 Yes, but they didn't even try to fix it next year and explained to us that Category One is not necessary. They were wrong as Town are forced to sell their best youngsters. Academies results doesn't matter. It's all about quality of best players and if you can't keep them from joining big clubs, it's pointless.

[@mikebaker8675]

This is massive … 💙🤍