All Town’s US directors and investors will all be at the Blues’ home game with Sunderland on Saturday 18th December, CEO Mark Ashton has confirmed, the first of three games which are part of the club’s #PackOutPR promotion.
Ed Schwartz (pictured above with Ashton), the CEO of ORG, who manage funds on behalf of the Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (PSPRS), which holds a 90 per cent stake in new Blues owners Gamechanger 20, will be at Portman Road for tomorrow’s game against Oxford United, having watched Tuesday’s Papa John’s Trophy tie with Colchester.
Last month, Brett Johnson, one of the Three Lions, who own five per cent of Gamechanger, was at Portman Road for the first time to witness the Fleetwood victory.
However, Johnson’s fellow Three Lions, Berke Bakay and Mark Detmer, and Mark Steed, the chief investment officer of PSPRS, are still to make the trip, Covid restrictions having prevented them from doing so in the first few months of their ownership.
The plan had been for all Three Lions and Steed to be at the Fleetwood match but personal circumstances intervened - in Steed’s case a ruptured appendix - and in the end Johnson was the only one able to attend.
But Ashton has now confirmed, as previously reported by TWTD, that they will all be at the game against the Black Cats, which promises to see potentially the biggest crowd of the season.
"For the Sunderland game, the whole board are going to be here,” Ashton told iFollow Ipswich.
"All of our American-based investors are going to be here and at the game. That’s the first occasion that we’ve got the whole board and investment group together.
"Brett and Ed have already been here and have started to experience what this amazing crowd can do. Let’s do it with everyone here.”
Regarding the #PackOutPR initiative, announced this morning, Ashton added: "It’s a really important campaign. We’ve talked about working together and everyone being in this together. This is our first initiative to start to pack out Portman Road.
"We want to go for 28,000-plus. We want to be brave and bold. We want to show the world that Ipswich Town Football Club is back on the map.
"Let me be really clear, we haven’t forgotten season ticket holders. They stick with us through thick and thin, and they will be rewarded too.
"The fans have been incredible but let’s go a bit further. Let’s get behind the boys and fill this place.
"We need to build attendances. We want to create an electric and amazing atmosphere. It’s a call to action to the supporters - let’s pack out Portman Road!”
Town last exceeded a 28,000 crowd for the play-off semi-final with Norwich in 2014/15 when 29,166 watched the sides draw 1-1.