Town chief executive Simon Clegg has revealed that the Blues would like to own the freehold of Portman Road. Clegg confirmed that the club offered to buy the land on which their stadium is built earlier in the year but says they and landlords Ipswich Borough Council were some way apart in their valuations.
While the Blues own Portman Road's stands and other buildings, IBC own the land with Town having signed a lease on the 8½ acre site in August 2001, the term lasting 125 years from June 1969, with rent reviews carried out at seven-year intervals.
Clegg says ultimately the Blues would like to own the land: "We are keen as a club in the long-term to have the freehold of Portman Road.”
Earlier in the year, with the club and IBC in dispute over back rent, the chief executive confirmed that the club made a bid - believed to be around £1 million - to buy the land: "I don’t really want to go into figures, but we did make a substantial offer to the council earlier in the year and they felt that the offer didn’t value the ground in the same way that they did. It is fair to say that there was some considerable distance between us.”
Clegg says that despite the impasse regarding the backdating of rent, the Blues aren’t currently looking to relocate: "Not at this moment in time. We find ourselves in an advantageous position geographically, bearing in mind where we are in the centre of town.
"You only have to look at clubs who have moved further afield, only just down the road in Colchester, to see the impact that actually has on people.
"But I can only state what our policy is at this moment in time. Who knows what influences may impact on that decision-making process further down the road.”