Town chairman David Sheepshanks says that UEFA should promote the UEFA Cup more than it does at present. Sheepshanks was speaking in the wake of David O’Leary’s less than complimentary comments about the competition earlier in the week.
Sheepshanks said: "I think the Champions’ League has been a such a great success that, a bit like with the Premiership, the rest of football has got left behind. The UEFA Cup has a very important place. It gives other clubs a chance to play European football."
However, he feels work can be done to improve the image of the tournament: "There is scope for UEFA to promote the competition more. It needs a distinct image."
He is in favour of keeping the two legs element to the competition and thinks a group stage as in the Champions’ League might be worth discussing and in some ways, mainly financial, is in favour of it: "A group stage has more revenue attached to it, although I’m not sure it’s right for the competition."
He is also unconvinced over the presence of Champions' League losers in later rounds.
He says the competition needs to be pushed as the pinnacle of European knock-out competitions: "It needs to be promoted as the top knock-out competition in Europe, like the FA Cup is here."
Of this evening’s game with Torpedo Moscow the Town chairman said: "We’ve all looked forward to this moment since we qualified and delighted to welcome European football back to Portman Road."
He cites the excitement currently being experienced at Portman Road as typical of the UEFA Cup: "You just see the excitement here tonight and you'll realise the importance UEFA Cup football has."
Of Town’s excellent home European record he added that Town have: "A proud record that George and the players will want to continue."