Town In Talks

By Aston
May 11 2007

Town Chairman David Sheepshanks says Town will need money in order to get out of the championship and he has revealed Town are talking to a number of different parties.

Mr Sheepshanks: "You have to see the writing on the wall - and the numbers on the wall, some people may be aghast but these are the realities of life nowadays. We want only what's right for the club. What is right for this club now is to re-capitalise it and enable it to fly.

"We have an eye to the East and the West. We are speaking to merchant banks, advisers, and one or two interested parties. We are hoping something will be forthcoming in the not too distant future. But there are a number of Championship clubs wanting to do the same as us - 12 clubs, maybe more.

"Ipswich Town do have a soul, I'd like to think the club can have both a soul and a wallet. Frankly, a boardroom full of soul with a club going nowhere, and continuing to make losses, is a recipe only for failure.

"I love this club with all my heart and my head. You can cut me in any area you like and I bleed blue and white - the same for the other directors, for Jim Magilton and the staff. I don't see why the wallet has to remove the heart.

"That will be the most important judgment for the board and shareholders before we approve anything. But we can't be too sentimental. Unless you have a fairy-tale you need money. Watford had a fairy-tale but they had the benefit of very significant investment halfway through their promotion season. John Madejski at Reading invested substantial amounts of money to get promotion.

"Kevin McCabe at Sheffield United invested very significantly. Derby County have been transformed from a relegation contender. Sunderland have benefited from massive investment, particularly in January.

"The vast majority of non-parachute clubs are making large losses in the Championship, you usually have five or six clubs with that parachute payment - last season £7million, next season £11million. They have a huge advantage. It also inflates the wages that the rest of us have to pay to compete.

"The average wage for a player at a non-parachute club would be around £200,000 a year. A parachute club might have quite a few players on double that, and star players in excess of £500,000 a year. Those are figures that the other 18 of us can't contemplate. Maybe the penny has finally dropped. Maybe the Championship has become a money game as much as the Premiership."

Source: Telegraph

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