New boss Paul Lambert will join managing director Ian Milne and academy manager Lee O’Neill in answering questions from shareholders at the Annual General Meeting of the Ipswich Town PLC, which takes place this evening in Portman Road's Sir Bobby Robson Suite (doors open 6.30pm, start 7.30pm). We will be live-blogging the event via the TWTD Forum.
Lambert will answer questions from the floor before watching the second half of the FA Youth Cup tie against Andover Town, while Milne and O'Neill, who we understand is taking on a general football operations role while retaining his position as academy manager, will also take shareholders' questions.
The PLC owns 12.5 per cent of Ipswich Town Football Club Co Limited and consists of the club's shareholding prior to the takeover 11 years ago with Marcus Evans owning the other 87.5 per cent. The meeting is open only to shareholders or their proxies.
In addition to the PLC’s own accounts, shareholders are also provided with a summary of the club's accounts for the year to the end of June.
In a letter to shareholders ahead of the meeting PLC chairman Roger Finbow wrote: "It is perhaps an understatement to say that 2018 has been a challenging one for the club.
"We said goodbye to two managers: Mick McCarthy worked tirelessly over six seasons to achieve success for the club and I would like to place on record the board’s gratitude for the bonhomie he engendered and the results he produced.
"But sometimes change is a good thing, and there was widespread buy-in to Marcus Evans’s plan to recruit a young, modern, ambitious manager to drive the club forward.
"Unfortunately Paul Hurst was unable to produce the results that he and all of us hoped for; we wish him well in his future career.
The #itfc PLC AGM for shareholders takes place at Portman Road tonight.
Any attendees for the AGM who want to watch the start of the Youth Cup fixture need to purchase a ticket & enter via the turnstiles.
They will then be escorted to the AGM when requested.– Ipswich Town FC (@Official_ITFC) December 4, 2018
"As I write this letter Paul Lambert has been in charge for only one match — but what an entertaining match it was. We look forward with optimism to moving up the league table to a place of safety over the coming months.
"At last year’s AGM we focused on the success of our academy in producing, year after year, crops of talented young players.
"The hopes we expressed then, that they would develop and flourish, have been well and truly confirmed this season, with our U23 development squad and our U18 team currently first and second in their respective leagues: and that’s without a number of our most talented boys — Tristan Nydam, Luke Woolfenden, Ben Morris, Chris Smith, Josh Emmanuel and Aaron Drinan, all of whom are currently out on loan but whom we hope to see more of later in the season.”
He added: ”Sadly, 2018 also marked the passing of a number of the club’s greatest servants: Ted Phillips, Colin Harper, Bobby Ferguson and, of course, Kevin Beattie, for many the greatest player ever to play for the club.
"His loss was a shock to us all. He maintained a keen interest in the modern game and was a stalwart on Radio Suffolk’s Life’s a Pitch show, through which he had regular contact with today’s fans. Simply, he was one of us.
"I also want to pay tribute to the club’s captain, Luke Chambers. The role is often underplayed, especially when the going is good.
"But Luke has demonstrated what it means to be an effective captain in both good and bad times: with a hand on the shoulder of younger and less confident players, on and off the pitch; as a link between the coaching staff and the dressing room; as a spokesman and diplomat; and as an example on the pitch to the whole team with his determination and never say die approach.
"His leadership of the squad and his support for young players have been magnificent. On behalf of all of you, I congratulate him.
"Finally, a warm welcome on behalf of all shareholders to Paul Lambert and his coaching team.
"I am delighted that Paul will be with us at the AGM to answer your questions alongside Ian Milne and Lee O’Neill. We look forward to meeting as many shareholders as are able to make it.”
Lambert, Milne and other members of club staff also recently answered questions from fans at the Supporters Club AGM.