Ipswich Town Ist, the Supporters Trust, has announced changes to its committee as part of a relaunch and has backed the academy’s move to Category One. The Trust was formed in the wake of the club’s period in administration in 2003 and was highly critical of Town’s decision to opt for Category Two status at the start of the season.
Secretary Colin Kreidewolf told TWTD: "The Trust invited its members to submit names to join the committee with the intention of relaunching.
"Alasdair Ross has replaced Carl Day as acting chairman, although Carl remains on the Trust committee, as do I, alongside other committee members Jane Summerfield, Graham Steel and Rob Freeman.
"The new members are Grant Bage, Gavin Barber, Susan Gardiner and Joe Fairs, who have recently been involved in the production of the one-off fanzine, By Mutual Consent.
"We hope this injection of new people and new ideas will reinvigorate the Trust and take us forward when there are many pertinent issues facing the future of Ipswich Town.
"Amongst these are the Financial Fair Play rules, the increase in solidarity payments to clubs relegated from the Premier League, creating an unfair competition, safe standing and, maybe of most immediate importance, how the club can sustain the ever-rising debt to the Marcus Evans organisation. We are seeking an active dialogue with the club.”
The Trust has welcomed the announcement that Town will be upgrading the academy to Category One in a statement on its website: "If successful, this will be a great step forward in restoring the club's much-loved tradition for producing homegrown talent.
"In recent years the academy, though greatly strengthened with excellent coaches such as Bryan Klug, has sometimes struggled for funding to extend its students sporting and educational development. The Trust hopes that by pursuing Category One status, this work will be resourced in a more sustainable way.”
The Trust criticised the decision to take on Category Two status and last year presented the club with a 5,000-name petition calling on the Blues to opt for Category One, which they felt was ignored by then-chief executive Simon Clegg: "This week's announcement demonstrates that Clegg's failure to respect supporters’ views was an opportunity missed by Ipswich Town.”
Meanwhile, the Trust has praised manager Mick McCarthy and his staff for seeing Town to safety and restoring faith amongst Blues fans: "We want to express our support for Mick McCarthy and his team in what was a remarkable turnaround in the team’s fortunes which has left us more optimistic on the playing side than for many a year.”