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Bowden Transcript Online
Bowden Transcript Online
Wednesday, 17th Sep 2003 11:03

A transcript of Derek Bowden's question and answer session with fans last week is available on the Ipswich Town 1st website. The Trust organised the meeting which was open to members and non-members.

Bowden answered numerous questions from fans, the majority coming from the floor on the night of the meeting.

Unsurprisingly, much of the questioning centred around the club's finances. Bowden revealed that the media reported fees for the summer transfers were correct and that the club deliberately wouldn't disclose fees during the transfer window due to that information being commercially sensitive.

The Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) was also covered fairly extensively, the chief executive revealing that the club did a deal with builders Jacksons over their debt.

The construction company felt that they were not subject to the CVA as they were owed cash not by the Ipswich Town 'Club' company but by another part of ITFC, the 'Stadium' company.

Bowden explained the situation: "So far as the Jackson's debt is concerned, they were a creditor of the Stadium company and therefore not subject to the CVA. An accommodation has been made with Jacksons regarding the amount owed to them, but the details are confidential."

The chief executive also admitted that Town were wrong to describe their administration as 'temporary' or 'voluntary' in February when Deloitte and Touche were called in: "The club accepts that some of its initial statements regarding the administration suggested that the CVA was not a ‘full administration' and now recognises that any such statements were not correct."

Bowden also accepted that the club's PR had been lacking in recent times and promised that this will be rectified in future. He also conceded that errors were made back in the summer of 2001: "Three years ago, the decisions made did not appear to be mistakes.

"Investing £15m on new players to strengthen the squad after the successful first Premiership season did not appear to be wrong at the time, though hindsight has demonstrated that the wrong players were bought.

"So, yes, mistakes were made, but they were decisions made with the best of intentions but which turned out to be wrong."

Bowden answered questions at length, the full transcript available on the Trust's website: " target="_blank">http://www.ipswichtownfirst.co.uk


Photo: Action Images



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