Ipswich Town Supporters Group. Previously led the successful campaign against Marcus Evans. #itfc
Timeline 2007-2017 (Marcus Evans Ownership)
2007
• Marcus Evans buys Ipswich Town Football Club and the existing debt (£32million)
• He injected £12million additional revenue into the club in exchange for more shares giving him a total of 87.5% stake in the club.
• Total cost of buying the club is just £44million
• Deal was finalized in December 2007.
2008
• Marcus Evans becomes main club sponso
r
• Simon Clegg appointed by Evans to run the Club
• Clubs attendance average drops to 21,934 in 2007/08
2009
• Ipswich record final win over Norwich City
• Jim Magilton sacked as manager in April and replaced with Roy Keane
• Clubs average attendance drops to 20,960 in 2008/09 (- 974 from 2007)
• Jordan Rhodes sold for £350,000
2010
• John Walters sold for £2.75million
• The Times Rich Lists estimates Marcus Evans worth to be around £500million
• Ipswich spend the majority of the 2009-10 season in a relegation battle, eventually finishing 15th
• Ipswich Town makes annual loss of £14million
• Average attendance drops to 20,840 (-1094 from 2007)
2011
• Roy Keane sacked in January as club faces another relegation Battle, Paul Jewell appointed manager
• Debt at the club had risen to £67million (+ £35million from 2007) by June.
• Club had paid out an addition £3.4million to Marcus Evans for interest on debt.
• Gate receipts are £6.6million (2010-11) half of which is paid over to Marcus Evans as interest
• Connor Wickham sold for £12million
• Club makes £10.8m profit on player sales
• Norris & McAuley contracts allowed to run down meaning they could leave on a free
• Clubs average attendance drops to 19,614 (-2320 from 2007)
2012
• Staffing & Player Wages Exceeds Turnover
• Accounts show that the entirety of the club’s debt is owed to Marcus Evans, who charges 5.4% interest on that debt.
• Ipswich avoided their worst league finish for 55 years, ending the season in 15th position on the last day of the season after a relegation battle throughout.
• Paul Jewell sacked as manager in November 2012 with the club again in a relegation battle, Mick McCarthy replaces him as manager
• Clubs average attendance drops to 18,266 (- 3668 from 2007)
2013
• Mick McCarthy steers Ipswich from relegation in 2013/13, finishing 15th
• Average attendance drops to 17,526 ( - 4408 from 2007)
2014
• Ipswich finish 9th in 2013-14
• Aaron Creswell sold for £3.5million
• Attendance drops further to 16,654 (- 5280 from 2007)
• Simon Clegg is replaced by Ian Milne
2015
• Ipswich manage to reach Playoffs on last day of 2014-15 season finishing 6th but losing in the Semi-Finals 4-2 to Norwich City. It’s the clubs first Playoff qualification in 10 years and only qualification under Marcus Evans ownership.
• Rise in average attendances to 19,605
• Tyrone Mings sold for £8million
2016
• Ipswich finish 7th in 2015-16 season
• Marcus Evans charged in connection with a ticket-touting case in August's Olympic Games in Brazil
• Mick McCarthy and his assistant Terry Connor extended their contracts with the club until the summer of 2018
• Daryl Murphy, Ipswich’s 11th all-time top goal scorer is sold for £3million
• Clubs loses a further £6.6million
• Club debt owed to Marcus Evans increases to £86.51 million (+ £ 54.51mil on 2007)
• Cash in the bank down to just £91,000
• Marcus Evans wealth estimated at £765million
• Operating loss is due mostly to wages at the club with the rest of the expenditure directly going to Marcus Evans (clubs debt)
• Marcus Evans Out group formed by Ipswich supporters
• Average Attendances begin to drop again to 18,989
2017
• Brazil case continues. The report found that Pro10 provided an inadequate service as an Authorised Ticket Reseller (ATR) to such an extent that it was unfit for purpose. It went on to say that it appeared that Pro10 was not a genuine ATR but its involvement disguised the continuing role of THG and Marcus Evans as the real or de facto ATR. Judge Moran went on to say that Pat Hickey and THG boss Marcus Evans had a "concealed relationship" which was of mutual benefit to both the OCI and THG.
• Club begins to implement 5 point plan to reduce transfer and wage budget further
• Ipswich become the 6th lowest paying club in the Championship
• Ipswich reach 50-year record low finishing 16th, 4 points off relegation to League One (3rd Tier)
• Marcus Evans restricts overall transfer budget to £2million, and implements cuts to the first team squad to reduce the wage bill
• Average Attendance falls to 16,981, the lowest in a decade ( - 4953 from 2007)
• Matchday prices lowered, offset against a rise in the cost of Season Tickets
• Record low attendance for a League match since 1998, 14,164 recorded in September
• Club announces that debt has reached 89million, owed exclusively to Marcus Evans.
• Ipswich makes a pre-tax loss of £4.3m for the year ending June 30, 2017 – a figure that would have almost doubled had it not been for the £4m brought in from the sales of Daryl Murphy (Newcastle, £3m), 16-year-old Charlie Brown (Chelsea, £500k) and top-up fees from previous deals.
•The 16/17 accounts show that gate receipts fell from £6.5m to £5.1m due to the fact that season ticket sales dipped from 14,017 to 12,022 – double the decrease widely reported at the time – while average league attendances dropped from 18,959 to 16,980.
