Ipswich Town chief Mark Ashton aims dig at Birmingham City owner Tom Wagner | OneFootball

Mark Ashton has taken aim at Birmingham owner Tom Wagner regarding his views on the future of English football

Ipswich Town’s CEO Mark Ashton has hit back at Birmingham City owner Tom Wagner’s recent comments about how to grow the EFL.

The US businessman has earned a prominent profile in football since taking over at St. Andrew’s, overseeing their relegation to League One and subsequent heavy spending that brought them back to the Championship under Chris Davies.

The 56-year-old has recently claimed that clubs outside of the Premier League should not be relying on hand outs in order to support the football pyramid in England.

This comes amid reports in August that the EFL rejected a deal from the Premier League over a new distribution model that would see money trickle down to the second, third and fourth tiers from the top flight.

Birmingham have made it clear that their aim is to establish themselves back in the first division, with Ipswich also hoping to seal promotion from the Championship this year.

Mark Ashton responds to Tom Wagner’s comments

Ashton has claimed that his experience in English football far outweighs Wagner’s, and that the football pyramid must be respected.

He believes it is the cornerstone of the game, suggesting that the closed shop system from the US isn’t something that should be strived for from the future of the sport.

"Well, as someone who's been in this football industry for probably over 30-40 years now compared to someone who's been in it two minutes, I think we have to respect the pyramid,” said Ashton, via Talksport.

"When you compare us with the likes of US sports, the one thing that we have is jeopardy, and that's one of the things that drives the broadcast deal, promotion and relegation.

"I think in the big clubs, the Premier League does have a responsibility to the whole pyramid.

"Once you take away that competitive nature that you can start in non-league and you can go right the way through to the Premier League, you take away the essence of that game.

"So there's a balance in there.”

Birmingham and Ipswich met on the opening day of the new season, and tensions spilled over in the final stages as a late penalty from George Hirst earned Kieran McKenna’s side a 1-1 draw, which eventually led to punishment by the FA.

Since then, the Tractor Boys have won a further 12 points to move to ninth in the table, while Davies’ side are 16th with a total of 12 points.

Both sides will return to action this weekend following the October international break, with Birmingham facing Hull City at home, while Ipswich travel to take on Middlesbrough.

Future of English football is facing opposing views

Ashton and Wagner represent the two sides of the argument currently enveloping English football’s future.

Preserving the pyramid by redistributing a share of the Premier League broadcast money has been a negotiating point since the pandemic, and it is an area where the incoming independent regulator could step in to determine an outcome in the near future.

There is no denying Ashton’s wealth of experience, and the job he’s done in building up Ipswich deserves a lot of credit, while Wagner can bring in his knowledge of American sport, as well as clearly a lot of money behind his ideas.