Former Blues chairman David Sheepshanks wants to take Town’s award-winning groundsman Alan Ferguson to St George’s Park, the FA’s National Football Centre at Burton, according to a report this morning. Sheepshanks, who is due to step down from some of his roles at Town, the Football League and the FA in the summer, is the chair of the project.

Ferguson, Groundsman of the Year on five occasions while with the Blues, has been at Portman Road for 14 years, having previously worked at the St Andrews golf course and at Rangers.

The Scot, who previously turned down the job of groundsman at the new Wembley, is also a non-executive director of Support in Sport, a company which works with both natural and synthetic pitches in the UK and Europe.

He has taken on consultancy roles around the globe, including a trip to the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola last year.

Meanwhile, former Town striker James Scowcroft has revealed that his one-time Crystal Palace manager Neil Warnock questioned him about places to live in Suffolk in 2009.

Writing in his column for the Bury Free Press, Scowcroft said: "Before Roy Keane got the Ipswich job, I knew Neil was in the frame and one day he quizzed me over places to live in Suffolk.

"I was a little disappointed that he didn’t get it, as for sure Town would now be playing Premiership football. But their loss was QPR’s gain."

Warnock has long been understood to have been on the Blues' short-list to succeed Jim Magilton.

Photo: Action Images

portman23 added 11:05 - Apr 23 dont go fergie!!!!!!!
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tractorblue99 added 11:23 - Apr 23 Is he out of contract or something. And we should have got neil warnock instead of keane.
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Garv added 11:29 - Apr 23 Would have been odd having Warnock as town manager, doesn't particularly fit the bill. Chances are though we would be up the top of the league or in the premier league by now. Think, Qpr were where we were last season if not worse, it was Magilton that saved them really with a good run.
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Marcus added 12:31 - Apr 23 @Garv - I agree. At the same time Keane was never a comfortable fit either. It's always easy to be wise after something happens though. When Keane was appointed I thought it was a brave choice and one that could have gone to either extreme - and I was right but disappointed that it was the worse of the extremes. Warnock is a bit more level headed (haha, can't believe I said that) and is certainly more experienced and I agree that the odds are he would have done better.

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broomfield123 added 12:54 - Apr 23 Now he is 1 member of staff i would keep.We cant live on ifs and buts with Warnock but life goes on. Peaple have mentioned Keane again and his appointment.My intitial response was when he got the job was that if both Keane and Ipswich had played their cards correct then it would have benifited boit parties. Keane could have learnt his trade at a decent club out the way of the big city lights and Keane could have toughened the club which i thought had gone a bit soft around the belly. Not blameing either the club or Keane but it didnt work out. Possibly may have had a similar result with Warnock.But hay hoo its happened now and lets pull together and move forwards

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jas0999 added 15:45 - Apr 23 Warnock would not have been my choice at the time, but he has once again proved himself again at QPR. A decent manager at this level - but it's all irrelevant as it never happened! Hopefully Ferguson will stay.
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suffolkpoker added 15:47 - Apr 23 I hope we dont loose ferguson as he is clearly one of the best groundmen in the country. As for the non=appointment with warnock, i say never regrett and move on.. if warnock got the job, then we may of never of got Jewell :)
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TractorRoyNo1 added 17:30 - Apr 23 F.A. please F.O.
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Frankley_Blue added 11:55 - Apr 24 Smuggy ... leave Fergie where he is! Happy at Portman Road! I imagine that the TWTD board would have gone in to meltdown had Warnock been appointed manager ...
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