Town chief executive Simon Clegg says the club could look at the installation of undersoil heating as part of pitch improvements but only once the Blues are back in the Premier League. Clegg says the six-figure cost of such work is beyond the budget of a Championship side.

Clegg told TWTD: “We will look at lots of things in a Premier League scenario, including potentially the laying down of a new pitch and that is the time that you’d want to do it. But that would be a six-figure commitment. You can’t do it on a Championship budget."

He admits that Saturday’s abandoned game against Middlesbrough might have stood a greater chance of being completed if the club had undersoil heating: “We’ll never know but possibly verging on the probably would be my view of it.”

Saturday’s match was the first abandoned Portman Road fixture since November 1972. Then, a fuse blew at an electrical sub-station causing a floodlight failure in the 61st minute of a league game against Coventry with the Blues a goal down. They eventually won the restaged match 2-0.

The only other senior match abandoned at Portman Road since the club turned professional was in November 1948 when an FA Cup first round tie against Aldershot was brought to an early halt in the 63rd minute due to fog with Town a goal ahead. The Shots won the rerun 3-0.

Last season’s Watford game was one of only two postponed during former groundsman Alan Ferguson’s 12-year spell at Town - new man Ben Connell took over in the summer - and Clegg says the club has generally had a good record with the heated bubble purchased in the late 1990s: “This is the first season that we’ve had a requirement in the Championship to have pitch protection which we’ve already had for around 15 years. How many games have we had called off in that time?

“You’ve got to look at the level of investment that’s required [to install undersoil heating] against the benefit of it.

“We need to recognise that, while everyone is quite rightly upset about the game being abandoned on Saturday, it needs to be viewed in the context of the extreme conditions that we’ve experienced.

"I’m not sure of the last time that Portman Road got down to -13. I think the sensible thing is to view this in the context of some quite freak weather conditions.”

Photo: Action Images

Tractastic added 23:16 - Feb 12 @Hampstead Blue, Your credentials are extermely impressive and like you i run my own business. However what Clegg has or hasn't done in the past is irrelevant for most of the fans?Its what he has or can achieve for the club thats the most important thing. You don't have to be a businessman, army veteran or a director of a PLC to realise that the last 3 years have been 'for a club of our footballing standing' a massive under achievement especially when you consider the investment in new players ME has 'forked out' for.This has been Cleggs era? As someone in business i'm sure you appreciate that someone needs to take responsibility and do something about this poor performance ?This seems lacking at ITFC. Jewell despite the current results should clearly have gone before the transfer window in Jan and ME and Clegg should have seriously questioned their recruitment skills and learnt from it when picking the next manager. But taking all this aside for Clegg to comment on the cost of under soil heating when the main issue for the fans was clearly a full refund for a rearranged match seems like very poor PR to me.As someone who works in marketing and PR i'm afraid Clegg in the spirit of 'Come Dine With Me' gets a 4 out of 10. He needs to deal with the real issues facing this club.Doesn't he?

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casanovacrow added 23:21 - Feb 12 I am not bothered about under soil heating ...I'm interested in getting an intelligent referee who has enough sense to call off a game BEFORE you get half way through it. Even a chimp could've worked out the pitch would become unplayable shortly after removal of the cover.
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PhilTWTD added 23:28 - Feb 12 Daley Sub-station line was in The Men Who Made The Town. Wasn't old enough to go to the game!
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Tractastic added 23:38 - Feb 12 @Garv Well he hasn't for two transfer windows and god knows we need a GK,CB or 2 and RB.?
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Gazelle added 23:43 - Feb 12 Nine times out of ten the balloon would have done the trick but we did have an exceptionally low temperature of minus 10c. In hindsight the game should have been called off in the morning but then how many messages to the tune of..... " my mate works at the ground and he said the pitch was fit" ......would we have had.
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hampstead_blue added 23:45 - Feb 12 @tractastic. I feel you and I may be getting off the news post to which we have read. The business case for SC is an interesting one. I feel that he is embracing a new paradigm in football. We are coming into an era of financial reality and thankfully, moving away from the profligacy which took us into the mire and has take many other fine clubs down. I'm really intrigued as to how the future financial models will pan-out. Actually I'm excited as I feel stability will be the future. The problem is that in any change management scenario, there has to be pain, acceptance of the future, and among other things, a trust that the plans the senior management have ARE in accordance to the future landscape. I'm quietly confident that we could very well be ahead of the game and it may take some kicking and screaming by fans, but I've got the same instinct I've had over the years. I can't quantify it yet, but (puffing chest out) I wrote an academic paper predicting a credit tightening 3 years before it happened. I may be wrong, and if so then I will be hoisted by my own postings. Time, good humor, and patience will tell.

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beerhelps added 23:45 - Feb 12 six figure cost? That would pay for a ex premiership prema donna to not play for nearly a month and a half, can't afford to miss out on that! Football is eating itself.
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algarvefan added 23:50 - Feb 12 Sack the Chief Executive and then we could afford under soil heating!!!
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itfchorry added 23:53 - Feb 12 Hampstead blue can't be that good at business If he's whinging about £80 and a free bovril ! Maybe as Clegg's only mate on this site he will Be given a seat in the directors box so they can hold hands !
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Tractastic added 23:55 - Feb 12 All good Blue Hampstead but not convinced ME will be here after the Olympics.
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Garv added 00:34 - Feb 13 Might as well not post on here with the intelligence of some at the level it is.
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shaunminx added 01:17 - Feb 13 @hampsteadblue Are you really that far up your own arse to even think you could possibly think about lecturing me? Grow up and grow the buggers and man up. This post will be deleted because you and Phil will not like it but hey That's typical of yes men who have NO balls
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Teds_left_foot added 01:35 - Feb 13 I dont post much,but you lot make me mad!What a lot of moronic comments on here about the abandonment.Yes, maybe the ref should have called it off at 11.00 or 2.00.It's nothing to do with PJ or Mr.Clegg.The ref is in charge of the match.The club has to sort out the admission price,which in the case of abandonments is as stated on the back of the ticket. Simples.I think 1 way around it is to call the re-match a ticket promotion again,and charge the same as Saturday.So we pay £20 to see a whole game,or £10 if you went to Saturdays.Yes, there are travelling costs etc,but it's not the clubs fault.If you book an August holiday in Spain and it rains every day,yes,We are pi**ed off, but thats the luck of the draw,I'm afraid. As for those who want ITFC to spend spend spend,we are losing £10m a year? Conor was sold for an initial £8m. thats still losing £2m a year.Read what PJ and Clegg say about transfers.They do have a budget and I think it's right. Dont overspend. Maybe the Portsmouth lot wanted £20000 a week plus add ons!Yes, PJ has made mistakes,and admitted them,but he knows who he wants,the type of player he wants.I bet we dont know who, despite the hundreds of names thrown about by rumour,and guesswork.Give him time and support the Club,stop winging about little things and see the bigger picture for once.Yes, we need a CB and a GK. No everything isnt rosy in the garden,but I've seen it all here. My 1st game,incidentally was against Notts County in 1954/55 season......

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Devontractor added 04:24 - Feb 13 A large number of the people posting on this site wreck any credibility they might have had with their complete lack of command of the English language. If you can't express yourself properly in your native tongue then, I'm afraid, your views are an irrelevance to me. 'Could of', 'Should of', etc, etc. Go back to school and then come back when you have some education and maybe a more rounded view of the world. Next: How on earth is it Clegg's fault that the ground froze - I didn't realise controlling the weather was part of his remit. As for under-soil heating - cost/benefit? Doesn't seem worth it to me. PR cock-up. Yes, a massive one. Hopefully to be corrected. But one only has to look at Liverpool FC to realise how out of touch with their fans many clubs have become. Finally Paul Jewell. History lesson - 1969/70 season and Town finish 18th in the old Divison 1. 1970/71 and Town finish 19th. 'Sack the manager, the board don't know what they're doing' many of you would have cried. 1971/72 - a little better - 13th. 1972/73 Town finish an unexpectec 4th. From then on ten years of happy days. The man whose head many on here would have called for?? Sir Bobby Robson. ITFC over-performed when Sir Alf and Sir Bobby were here - two exceptional (by any standards) managers/coaches. Other than that for most its professional existance ITFC has been a second tier club. Accept it and get over the fact that we will never compete in the Premier league again - if we ever get there the best to hope for is survival or, as NCFC are currently achieving, to be the best of the rest. And those coplaining about Jummy Bullard (in particular)? Er......it wasn't long ago that PJ and SC were being criticised for failing to sign him on a permanent. Fickle bunch of ill-educated idiots most of you.

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gorse added 06:05 - Feb 13 Since 1972. Is that a good investment? No. Makes sense. Just pay a little more attention to the forecast in future please.
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Moscow_Blue added 09:29 - Feb 13 Well said Hampstead, Ted and Devon (although I think you will find that it is existence).
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JewellintheTown added 09:46 - Feb 13 I'm with Hermann, Hampstead and Deveontractor on these comments - some silly illeducated comments from dreamers who believe every negative thing is Evans/ Cleggs/ Jewells faults and think that money will solve everything so keep on spending it at any price. Whether we like any of them is somewhat irrelevant, they're doing the job and we arent, so man up and live with it. If you're not happy, protest and come up with sensible alternatives, otherwise support another team you're happy with or just stay away from the game altogether. I suspect you're all blues through and through so I doubt the latter, so lets all calm down, hold our tongues and see how things pan out. We live in a different era than the Robson one, with high wages, finincially motivated decisions, love of the game often lost by those that play for or run it etc etc but lessons of support from the fans can still be learnt. Hindsight is priceless, decisions are a gamble (buying or playing players, managers, chairman, whether matches are played etc) but ups and downs are part and parcel of supporting any team. If you cant handle that, you shouldnt be a football fan, especially not a Town one.

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Devontractor added 11:44 - Feb 13 You are quiet right Moscow Blue. Forgive a late night typo!
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tractorboy2434 added 12:23 - Feb 13 So we can pay 1.7M for a third rate striker from Watford and then let him go on a free, 2.65M for a second rate midfielder who will leave on a free in June but we cannot afford 300,000 to keep our pitch in good condition in cold weather, it could only happen at PR where they are on a different planet to the rest of us, just more evidence of the shambles that is Ipswich Town, Nurse Mr Clegg needs his medication

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tractorboy2434 added 12:27 - Feb 13 Beyond the budget of a Championship side ? that would explain how Burnley, Leicester, Leeds, Southampton etc have undersoil heating then would it, what an idiotic statement, Mr Clegg, what you should have said is " some clubs have done it but we cannot afford it " that would have been more accurate !
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BlueVelvet added 12:37 - Feb 13 Clegg, you can do it for less than 6 fig or the lower end of 6 figs - what you need to learn about is ground source heating, you wouldn't need expensive heating, just electricity to run a water pump. Youd need between 5 and 6000m of black alcathene pipe buried 450mm down and 15m3 of circulating water from 6 boreholes drilled to 35m depth - job done How much did it cost to get the pitch in the 'fit' state for the Boro game and the costs associated with abandonment and ticket refunds (which you must give)

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cmajm added 13:06 - Feb 13 blueblood66 - Marcus Evans didn't get as wealthy as he has by just "coughing up" at everything he ever wanted/needed. Ipswich have a budget and unfortunately we can't afford undersoil heating at the present time. Considering Ipswich have had very few abandonments due to frozen pitches over the years I would say it is not a priority. Spending the budget on loaned centre backs is the priority, otherwise undersoil heating will be even further away on a League One budget......

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DaneITFC added 14:18 - Feb 13 Bye bye bullard, hello undersoil heating!
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yorksblue added 20:23 - Feb 13 So Sheff Utd can manage it on their precarious financial position. Remind me what league do they play in. Clegg, u r a total merchant banker!
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