Fully agree mate. We are seeing some of our fans expecting us to shell £15million on players it’s a road to ruin. £13.5 million is more than enough for a Championship striker
If they were spending tens of millions on players and wages then rightly they would be in trouble with the EFL and punished as strongly as possible.
Losing £20m pa and wages 91% of income Owner propping them up for last few years. in the current FFP climate would be very worried if it was my club.
They're making no money and have just sold almost half the club to a 'buy and sell' operation. I know as little about the inner workings of football finances as most on here. What puzzles me is how an 'investment' is also a purchase at the same time. Is half of it to clear debts, is it to get around financial regulations, no idea tbh.
The vast majority of the owners input is for infrastructure, they are in the process of upgrading their academy to cat a status, plus a new training facility, improvements to Portman Road and investment in the women's team. Their actual spend on players for this season was less than ours
In the current FFP climate I think a lot of clubs are trying to be “creative” with their investments. But when so much more is going out than coming in It has to be a worry It May work out if they go up but doesn’t feel right to me
Would it be better if they had taken out a loan to pay for their infrastructure improvements and added it into their income figure? Even the major improvements we are doing this summer are technically ones we can't afford as our income isn't enough for the cost of them
There are a few Ipswich supporters uncomfortable with what's happening but, as is usual, will be shouted down. The Sunderland supporters frantically defending this 'investment' would be the first to be ringing alarm bells if it was Sunderland imo. It's not an investment of £105m and no one actually knows where that money will be used. It's actually a purchase of almost half of the club and, if they buy the other 10% which is held by others, would be half. What no one can explain is why Ipswich are saying it's 'up to £105m' and how much is coming in now ... ... surely, if you're buying shares, you have to actually pay for them. Could it be that Ipswich had already borrowed the money from the equity company and had to surrender 40% of the club when they couldn't repay the loan ... ... it's all a little unclear but more and more clubs are being bought into by these faceless 'investment' outfits.
I'm not an expert on what they are doing and if they are investing in the infostructure good. What I am saying is that looking at the accounts they are living way beyond their means. But they do look to be trying to be very creative with the new investment. It appears to be highly inflated to me. It may work out but with the current FFP climate where rules are at last being applied fairly rigorously and with the new Regulator starting there will be even more scrutiny into clubs financing. I hope they have all their ducks in a row. Good luck to them if it works out but I would worry that they are treading a very fine FFP line.
Their new investment is staggered and to 105 million, if they get to the premier league the full 105million will be invested, which would make their value about right (Bournemouth where sold for 300 million as an example) The fact the numbers are so high is because there existing facilities where / are so poor they need huge sums of money and in the case of the training ground a complete new build. Thats where our various owners back to Bob Murray should be praised for not letting them fall to much into disrepair and KLD certainly deserves massive praise for taking his investment into the AOL and now the stadium up several notches
Its a bold move. But I would worry they have picked to wrong financial climate to do this. And would be very worried if they don't go up. But who knows. The world of football finance makes no sense at times.
Americans are moving in which will continue until we barely recognise the game. The valuation of Ipswich is clearly nonsensical but the truth will come out eventually. Newcastle, already in the PL with a massive well occupied stadium, were sold for £300m. Bright Path are buying a share holding that means they're theoretically not in control ... but I bet they are "Bournemouth have confirmed the completion of their takeover by Bill Foley and his partnership Black Knight FC. Sky Sports News understands the deal is worth in excess of £100m. After months of negotiations, Foley becomes the latest American to invest in English football after the deal was finally approved by the Premier League following a stringent owners and directors test." 14th December, 2022
Football finances are a mess and make no normal business sense. They seem to have a plan and of that improves the facilities then it's not a bad thing for Ipswich. I'd rather owners spent cash on that sort of thing then spending 100's of millions on players and wages in a vain attempt at "success" but without the foundations to sustain it
Equity firms aren't registered charities are they ... ... they haven't given Ipswich £105m, they've taken almost half of the club. And how can Ipswich fans be claiming where it's going to spent etc. They might be putting in 10% of that figure, each year, over ten years. It's absolute guesswork unless Ipswich spell it out ... which they won't imo. My guesswork is that it's a guarantee on a loan they couldn't repay so have had to give them so many shares.
If Ipswich got up that ones the gates for income but I doubt people would presume promotion so maybe there are ifs and maybes. Outside of the possible promotion and fair play to them for that they aren’t going to become giants - extra fan base, number one club in Dubai etc - nothing like that, so could it then be relating to the land they own ?
There's clearly something other than the spin Ipswich have put on it. The club haven't been given £105m, the people with the shares in the club have sold them to other people. The money has gone to whoever sold the shares, not the club. If someone buys Sartori's shares does that mean we suddenly have that money to spend. As Confucius once said 'A man cannot live by bread alone and a football club cannot own itself or sell itself.'
