Ipswich Town: Marcus Evans era compared to "Man United at present" - "The club was dying" | OneFootball

Marcus Evans was chairman of the Tractor Boys for 14 years

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Expectation levels at Ipswich Town have taken a massive skyrocket this season, with the club hoping to bounce back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

Kieran McKenna is the man largely credited with such a recent and well-documented upturn in fortunes at Portman Road, having taken charge in December 2021 from Paul Cook with the Suffolk side stuck in the middle of a four-year stint as a League One club.

Since then, though, the Tractor Boys have achieved the remarkable feat of back-to-back promotions from the third tier to the Premier League, with the 2024/25 campaign ending a 22-year wait for top flight football in this particular part of East Anglia.

The task at hand for the Northern Irishman is very simple at present too, which is to return the club to the elite level of English football as soon as possible, despite overseeing a major reshuffle of his squad.

Current ownership group, Gamechanger 20 Limited, haven't been afraid to back the 39-year-old in the transfer market either, with Town recently breaking the Championship transfer record for Norwegian forward, Sindre Walle Egeli.

It is a far cry from the 14-year period in which Marcus Evans oversaw matters between 2007 and 2021.

However, more than four years later, Football League World's Ipswich fan pundit, Adam Wilkin, doesn't have any sort of fondness towards the 62-year-old.

Manchester United comparison made amid Marcus Evans, Ipswich Town ownership reflection

Indeed, Evans took control of the club for £12m in 2007, during a period in which Town spent 17 unbroken years as a Championship side before being relegated to League One under Paul Lambert in 2019.

The man who formed the aptly-named Marcus Evans Group in 1983 cleared the club's £32m debts at the time of his arrival on top of the aforementioned cash injection, but put the club up for sale for a reported £35m just months before their relegation campaign ended six years ago.

Unwilling to write off any debts at the time, Evans eventually agreed a £40m deal with Gamechanger in April 2021 which saw him lose his majority stake, before his remaining shares were sold in May 2025.

After such a tumultuous period in the club's recent history, Wilkin still pins the portion of blame regarding Ipswich's prior stagnation and decline on Evans, drawing a comparison to INEOS, who currently own the majority of Manchester United through the controversial Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

"There's two phases of Marcus Evans' ownership, and I have to say, I was a fan of neither of them," he told FLW.

"I was a big fan of Jim Magilton and felt he should've been given more time at the time. And, during the period when he was splashing money, he made a bunch of horrendous coaching appointments.

"The worst of all was Roy Keane," he claimed. "He'd come off one successful season with Sunderland, but was largely employed on his playing career.

"After his experiment of throwing money and investing over the odds in bang-average players, much like Manchester United at present, he cut all funding, and we were very much surviving on scraps for ages.

"Towards the end, the club was dying a very slow death, which is night and day to where we are now with the American owners," Wilkin stated.

"They are very much invested in the club, facilities and everything to do with the community.

"They've brought that community spirit back, the academy, all of that. Even the simple things such as renovating Portman Road and making sure it's clean and fresh.

"They've invested from the ground up, and have also invested in the playing squad. I, for one, am very glad that Marcus Evans' remaining shares were bought and that he's left the club," he added.

Ipswich Town supporters cannot thank Gamechanger 20 Limited and Mark Ashton enough for upturn in fortunes

It has been a mixed return to the EFL for Town, who now have a clear target on their back after being relegated.

However, supporters still remain grateful to Gamechanger and CEO, Mark Ashton, in particular, for the several positive calls they have made in such a short period of time which have changed the outlook of the club in so many ways.

Portman Road is now back to its best in terms of atmosphere, having previously been extremely apathetic, whilst they continue to boast one of the country's most highly-rated managers, who is under contract until 2028 at present despite several departure links.

Town fans will certainly hope that they can regain their top-flight status sooner rather than later and kick on as a club, having failed to bridge such a gap last time around.