Ipswich Town: Stars & Stripes In their Eyes
Ipswich Town’s CEO & Chairman Mark Ashton on how American ambition, plus support from local star Ed Sheeran, has helped their stellar rise to England’s topflight.
Written by: Marc Webber
The only constant in life is change. And nowhere is that more evident than when you take a walk around Portman Road with Ipswich Town CEO & Chairman, Mark Ashton. As we walk through the final throws of a multi-million-pound stadium refurbishment, we are reminded of the high standards which are now demanded of this Premier League club which languished in League One for years before a supercharged 36-month revolution.
“I’m very proud of how we’re presenting Ipswich to the world,” says Ashton. “We’ve brought a beautiful old stadium back to life and re-energised a whole county in such a short time. The world is now seeing what this club and 30,000-plus passionate fans can bring to the sport.”
No part of Portman Road has been left untouched in the revamp, with a new pitch, media facilities, enhanced away and match official spaces just a few of 100 off-season projects which needed to be completed before they hosted Liverpool in their August opener.
“It’s been a huge job to update facilities to Premier League demands,” Ashton continues. “This ground had no investment for over two decades and our investors have always wanted to update this ground for the fans. But our quicker than expected rise has forced us to be hyper focused on delivering that.”
What most people will see – and talk about – is the phoenix-like rise of the men’s first team under coach Kieran McKenna, with back-to-back promotions rocketing Ipswich back to topflight football from League One. What most people won’t see is the teams off the pitch having to push just as hard as the players to ensure the player support, ticketing, retail and other administrative roles to deliver for fans.
“We are not scared of challenges. Everyone is running towards adversity in this club. That’s our mantra. It’s written on the wall of the changing room, but it’s also in the minds of everyone as we challenge ourselves to be better every day.”
The motto that motivates Ipswich comes from the pension fund of emergency workers in Arizona, who are the major shareholders of Ipswich Town through holding company, Gamechanger 20.
And one Arizona police pensioner who embodies that has become a key part of the Town team. Jason Schechterle suffered major facial burns when he ran to rescue someone when a 911 call came in. A taxi went into the back of Jason’s patrol car that ended up engulfed in flames.
His injuries were so bad, his son did not recognise him when he left hospital around six months later. He is now a regular at the club’s ground, giving talks to players and all staff about how he overcame the adversity of his lifechanging injuries. He also gives everyone he speaks to a special coin for them to carry around to remind them they can overcome any adversity.
“I don’t think it is an overstatement to say Jason’s story has been a significant reason why we are succeeding on and off the pitch,” Ashton adds. “When you look him in the eye and you hear that story, how can you be worried about being a goal down or the project management adversity you face?”
But it’s not just the access to inspirational people and the funding Ashton is grateful for from his shareholders. He also appreciates the modus operandi of those that have chosen to invest in Ipswich.
“It’s very different from other clubs I’ve worked at, in that this board don’t have the manager’s phone number…don’t go to the training ground and not in the dressing rooms. They give management the oxygen to build the club.
“They back a plan, they challenge the plan, but then they let us get on with it. And I’m so grateful for that. And I think that’s one of our big differentiators between a lot of football clubs. They don’t meddle. There are no big egos. We just get on as a professional team and try and build the football club.”
And on Ashton’s 35-year personal journey through football, as a player for West Brom and with various administrative roles with them, Watford, Oxford United, Bristol City, he feels the stars have aligned in East Anglia.
“This is my dream. I wanted the opportunity to build something in my own vision. I knew I wasn’t wealthy enough to buy a football club, so I had to find a group of people that would back me!
“So, when I found this meeting of minds between myself and the pension fund, that excited me. I have such a passion about how we build football clubs.”
And it’s not just in the stadium where potential investors see the value of Ipswich Town. “I’m proud of the work we do in the community. I’m sure every club says that, but we make a real difference throughout Suffolk and that only happens because everyone is active in the work we do.
“We have an issue in Ipswich where there are pockets that are so deprived children don’t have toothpaste, young girls don’t have sanitary wear. We can help impact that. We can help deal with those issues. That’s the ‘money can’t buy’ benefit of Ipswich Town Football Club.
“Our investors attend and take part in sessions. But our men and women’s team captains are actual trustees on our Foundation board. They’re not just there as a token presence, both Conor Chaplain and Natasha Thomas have legal responsibility.
“That empowers them to affect how we help our communities and ensures they cascade the importance of playing a role in our society to every single team member.”
Ashton also understands why English football is attractive to US investors. “One of the things I found is, if you invest in US sport, no matter how your team performs on the pitch, you’re going to be in that division next season. We have something in England that’s called jeopardy. You can be promoted; you can be relegated.
“Now, some people would say from an investment perspective that’s a weakness because you could be relegated, and your value could drop.
“But what that does is drive a uniqueness of competitiveness and passion. When I bring potential investors or board members from the US to Portman Road, it just blows them away. The intensity, the non-stop passion. It’s different to US sports.
“They see the UK market as a place where, if the club does well, the value of their club grows. You can impact the value of your asset in England by being successful on the pitch.”
And the flip side is true. Whilst some involved in UK football fret over what American owners might do to their club, Ashton thinks American investment can only enhance the game here.
“What I found with the US guys was every time you talk to them about them, they gave you ten reasons why you could do it. “‘Do it. Brilliant. We’ll try it.’ They had a very can-do attitude.
“When you’ve worked in English football for a period, sometimes people will say, ‘nah, we’ve done that before.’ And they’ll give me ten reasons why not to do it.
“I just liked their can-do approach, their positivity, their enthusiasm, their will to try different things. I still go out and do talks to investment groups on English football because you just build your network, and you learn.”
But whilst Americans have helped put Ipswich back on the football map, there’s one local lad who has played his part too, going from fan to shirt sponsor to investor in three years. His name is Ed Sheeran.
“When we joined the club, it had a very tentative relationship with a local man who was a global superstar. We’ve got to know him and see how much he cares about it. And it’s been a magical period where there’s been a meeting of hearts and minds, and a bond of trust has built between us.
“Ed’s family. He comes into the club, he meets the players, he meets the staff. If we ask him to do things, I’ve never known him to say no.
“He gets involved with the design of the shirts. Wears the shirts. It’s incredible. He’s on stage with Chris Martin and he’s in Ipswich Town merchandise! I think the record shirt sales for us in the Premier League was around 10,000. We’ll sell 100,000 shirts this year. “He agreed to sponsor the shirt for at least the first year of us being in the Premier League, but then he wanted to step aside because he knew we could get more money elsewhere. That’s when he said ‘you’re bringing in all these other investors, can I invest as well?’ We weren’t going to turn that down!”
There are, of course, pain points. Long standing season-ticket holders had to be moved to tick the Premier League box of better facilities for all. Two-way communication was the key; to be clear as early as possible why they needed to pick new seats and find out from them what worked for them. And, at the time of writing, Ipswich are yet to win a Premier League game after eight attempts. It has raised the early calls of relegation from outsiders, but for Ashton, it’s just part of running towards adversity.
“The foot has been on the gas 100 mile an hour for the first three years. But right now, the accelerator’s going through the floor. We’re all working harder than we did before, because we have to.
“Because for us to for us to thrive in this division we’ve got to go harder and faster than anyone else. There are 17 clubs who are established Premier League sides. You’ve got two clubs in Southampton and Leicester who are on a parachute payment. That puts their revenues 30 to 40 million pounds in front of us.
“We’ve gone from League One to the Premier League so quickly. We’ve had no time to build which means the limit that we have on Financial Fair Play means we’re behind them. So, every team in the club has to work harder because we’re trying to catch up. “We don’t have the best yet, but we’re not afraid of the work required to get there.”
Images: Ipswich Town & Getty Images
