Town have announced that former club chairman David Sheepshanks has stepped down as chairman of the board of the PLC which owns 12.5% of the club. Roger Finbow, a former director of the club and member of the PLC board since its formation in 2007, is taking over as chair, while Supporters' Club chair Elizabeth Edwards is being added to the PLC board.

Sheepshanks, who will leave the PLC board entirely but remain a vice-president of Town, his only remaining involvement at the club, says he is stepping down now with St George's Park, the National Football Centre project of which he is chairman, set to open: "I am honoured to be a vice-president of the club and I will always have the blue and white of Ipswich Town in my veins!

“That said, with my various other commitments, not least to the FA at St George's Park, this is an appropriate time for me to stand aside.

“Roger Finbow is every bit as devoted to the club as any of us and is an excellent choice to succeed me. I will always be here to provide whatever help and assistance I can."

Lawyer Finbow, also a vice-president of the club, said: "I am stepping into some very big shoes indeed.

“For many years David successfully led and inspired Ipswich Town to achieve great things. He provided strong and effective leadership through the rough as well as the smooth.

“He has always had time for every supporter and has demonstrated a deep and genuine recognition of the club's position within the local community.

"We are all delighted that we will continue to see him at matches when his other commitments allow, and we know that he will continue to serve St George's Park with the same commitment as he has demonstrated to the club over the past 25 years."

Finbow says he’s pleased to welcome Edwards to the PLC board: "We are delighted that Elizabeth is joining the board. She is a lifelong fan, an associate director through her shareholding, a personal sponsor of the academy and has made a huge contribution to ITFC through her role as chair of the Supporters' Club.

"It is highly unusual for a football club in private hands to retain a shareholding drawn from its wider community - yet this provides an essential link to the tradition, history and community roots of the football club.

“The PLC board takes our responsibility on behalf of the wider shareholder and fanbase very seriously and Elizabeth will play an important role in both maintaining and developing the links between club and community."

Edwards added: "I am delighted to have been invited to join the board and feel very privileged and honoured to have been given this opportunity.

“Our club is far more than just a name or stadium - it is home to Town fans from Ipswich, Suffolk, East Anglia, the rest of the UK and worldwide.

“The link between club and community is just as important for our future as it was a part of our past. I look forward to developing the work I have done in my role as chair of the Supporters' Club and helping both to maintain and develop that link between club and community so that future generations can make ITFC their club."

Photo: Action Images

Photo: Action Images

brian_a_mul added 14:36 - Aug 1 Thanks for all the hard graft you have put into Town over the past 25 years Mr Sheepshanks, especially during the dark administration days. You helped steer the ship to more steady waters and managed to bring Mr Evans on board to keep us afloat. A true blue.
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Paulc added 15:08 - Aug 1 This was the guy who had the decency to spell out to the fans his/the club's 5 year plan in 2005, and guess what happened 5 yrs later! I know he ballsed up with the stands/Finidi/Sereni in 2002 but our current crop could learn a hell of a lot from him about PR. I remember being at Newcastle for a midweek league cup match when we were 4-0 down at half time, he came up to see the 400 of us who had made the effort. Fantastic, a legend!

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JimmyJazz added 15:09 - Aug 1 OMG, Ms Edwards getting more power, you naughty fans had better beware
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commuterblue added 15:19 - Aug 1 agree with brian a mul. This guy was a blue legend.
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WickedBlue added 15:38 - Aug 1 A legend and a really nice guy. Thanks for every thing.
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Legend added 16:23 - Aug 1 The bloke was a true blue. Unlike the current owner and CEO!!!
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EatonBlue added 16:24 - Aug 1 No more naughty chants in the Boardroom then!
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runningout added 16:29 - Aug 1 hope he doesnt stay away from Portman Road.. dont think this will be the last we see of Mr Sheepshanks at our club ; )
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MattinLondon added 16:34 - Aug 1 I remember when we were last relegated Mr.Sheepshanks received a lot or abuse/ criticism, but all he did was back the manager of the club. Such backing led to administration as the players brought were not good enough. But I would rather have him then Simon Clegg.
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murraybrunning added 16:41 - Aug 1 @paulc, a late November night if I remember rightly... I was thinking about that night when I read the article as well. Flew up from Stanstead and had a great evening- despite the score!
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runningout added 16:42 - Aug 1 Mr Clegg.. if you read our drivvle, can you get your act together, because there is something not quite right with the way things are going at our great club...
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nitroblue1970 added 16:49 - Aug 1 Looks like Ms Edwards is taking over...maybe she will be in the dugout soon?
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runningout added 16:56 - Aug 1 Mr Clegg.. if you read our drivvle, can you get your act together, because there is something not quite right with the way things are going at our great club...
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carsey added 17:15 - Aug 1 Pity for me Mr S is not still in charge instead of Clegg. He loves the club and whatever he did it was for the benefit of the club. He may not have got it right all the time but he is a true blue and in my view should be the CEO not that chinless wonder we have right now. Best of luck Mr S hope you manage to get down to see a match now and then.
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steed added 17:15 - Aug 1 Thank god he has gone. This is the man who broke the club by building two stands we couldn't afford and buying duff players on massive wages like findi and serini . Putting the club into massive debt and administration and putting local business out of business . And those who did get money git very little back from the club . He caused the mess we are in simple as that .

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happybeingblue added 17:46 - Aug 1 sheepshanks out clegg in! keep the faith!! you gotta smile aint you or us town fans will end up like crazee!
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StowTractorBoy added 18:27 - Aug 1 Always had time for David Sheepshanks and thank him for what he did for us. Wherever you travelled he was there and was happy to speak to the fans. Had many chats with him on away trips including the trips abroad and on the hoo at Plymouth. The one possible blot was that he took a bonus when the Club were in dire financial trouble. It was the board who offered it to him so I am sure many others would have taken it. Others say he purchased over priced players but his only crime was trusting Burley as he had done during the whole of the Burley era. Yes he approved the building of the new stands but he was ambitious for ITFC. I am sure many would rather he was still here with a leading role.

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Lightningboy added 18:55 - Aug 1 Always had the club's best interests at heart...shame he's not going the other way and taking Clegg's job. Good luck David.
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wrightyblue added 19:02 - Aug 1 No wounder he left with the way this club is being run at the moment! Clegg OUT!!!
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RegencyBlue added 20:31 - Aug 1 Sheepshanks did fine until he began to believe his own publicity, that he could do no wrong! Spending vast amounts of money we didnt have without any sort of meaningful business plan started us on the slippery slope which has brought us to where we are today. I dont doubt his intentions at the time but the best that can be said about him is he took very wrong decisions for what he thought were the right reasons. ITFC have spent a lot of years paying for his mistakes and will continue to do so for many more to come imo.

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HARRY10 added 20:41 - Aug 1 Jumping ship before the sh it really hits the fan. Leaving behind a massive mess which I doubt we will recover from, for a long. long while.
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Arthur added 21:20 - Aug 1 Very sorry to hear that We all know about the decisions that didn't work out but he made them with his head and his heart and wow,what a ride!! I beleive he negotiated a very good deal with ME. How would anyone know that those ££££s wouldn't give us promotion. I wish him well.
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itfchorry added 21:31 - Aug 1 Total true Blue - Top Man who had vision and ability - Hope one day that he will return to the helm Of this great club Clegg Out
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beerhelps added 21:33 - Aug 1 Yet again the Sheepy debate brings opposing views. Here is my ten pence worth! The good bits - 1.He was usualy (not always) available, approachable and good company - as has every Old Etonian I've known (including the OE I shared a very boozy day with yesterday!) 2.The Five-Year-Plan was well communicated, helped by a 'purple patch' of talant from the youth system and GB's knack of spotting lower league talant. 3.For several years he ran the club in the right way, ie the debt stayed constant and managable. 4.Most of the time he gave the impression of putting the club first. Bad bits - 1. Like every other OE I have ever known there was always a feeling of a deeper agenda, one of self-promotion, in Sheepys case it seemed to be a thirst for FA power. 2. During the early years of the five year plan, he was reluctant to gamble for success (imagne reaching the prem earlier with Tarrico and Dyer and perhaps £5m debt!) 3. His losing the plot, gambling the future of 'our' club to stay in the Prem (and maybe save face with his FA buddys) The Elephant In The Room History will always tell us that he was the man whose decisions led us, ultimately, from a community club to a rich mans play thing. For all his good points, for that, I can't forgive him. To me he will always be the Eaton Spiv (copywrite Basilsmallpiece, I believe). Bring on the usual forelock tuggers shooting me down.....

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yorksblue added 08:04 - Aug 2 So building the Pioneer stand instead of investing in the squad after 81 wasn't the beginning of the end then!
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