Town chief executive Simon Clegg says far too much has been made of his involvement in club owner Marcus Evans’s Olympics-related business. Clegg joined the Blues in April 2009 after leaving a similar role at the British Olympics Association a year earlier, having been with the organisation since 1989.
The Marcus Evans Group is the official Olympic ticketing agency for three nations at 2012 and Clegg admits some involvement in the early stages of those deals, but says his overall role has been vastly exaggerated: "I’ve pointed him in the right direction and facilitated introductions to the president of the Irish Olympic Committee, the Maltese Committee and the Hellenic Olympic Committee.
"They are the three contracts that he’s got. The presidents of those NOCs are people that I know very well.
"My involvement within Marcus’s Olympics-related business is very much overstated. I’ve read a couple of things which are just complete rubbish.
"It’s as if I haven’t got a full-time job. It’s a 7am to 9pm job. People are quite surprised that they come for the tour of the stadium on a Monday evening and still see the chief executive’s lights on at 9pm at night. That’s what goes with job.”
Having played an integral part in helping to bring the Olympics to London, Clegg’s only current direct involvement is a role on the Athletes’ Commission with whom he spends a day every other month.
Clegg is still holding discussions regarding one of the football teams possibly using Portman Road's facilities as a base, although even if that doesn’t happen he still hopes for some participation by Town: "Recently I was speaking to someone about how we may involve the club in the wider celebrations of London staging the Games in 2012.”
He would also love to see Town represented at a competitive level: "Tommy Smith could be involved with New Zealand and an ex-Ipswich player, Connor Wickham, could be involved with England.”