Blues CEO Mark Ashton has spoken about the club’s planned infrastructure improvements, including the purchase of the land behind the Sir Alf Ramsey Stand, the new dugouts, the pitch, which won’t now be replaced until the summer of 2023, and the training ground.
Ashton says a lot of work has been going on behind the scenes since the takeover just under a year ago and the fruits of that labour will start to become more tangible in not too distant future.
Last week, it emerged that the club had applied for planning permission for work which will take place over the summer, however, as previously reported, the window available isn't long enough to install the new Desso pitch.
"Over the coming months, supporters are going to start to see some of that work coming to life,” he told iFollow Ipswich.
"That starts with the south-east corner, we’ve applied for planning permission to break through the corner and that’s really important because that firstly gives us far better access and egress into the Portman Road stadium. Currently it’s difficult to get big machinery and big vehicles into the site.
"We’re doing that primarily because we need to put a new pitch in and we’ve talked about this before.
"A modern pitch is really important to [manager] Kieran [McKenna], the coaches, the backroom staff and the players. It’s a key enhancer of our performances.
"The order for that pitch will be placed very shortly but it’s important to note that that pitch will not be in place for the start of next season.
"We simply do not have the timeline to do that because of the additional infrastructure works we have to do in advance.
"Some of those infrastructure works we can’t start until the last game of the season has been completed.
"So we will apply for the breakthrough of the south-east corner and we’ll plan for the pitch to be started in circa 12 months’ time.
"That will be a modern pitch and that’s really important, there’s never been a modern pitch in place at Portman Road.
"I’m not quite sure what we’re going to find when we dig down on this football pitch, but the best type of pitch will be put in place which will serve this club for many years ahead.”
New dugouts at the front of the Magnus Group West Stand were an aspect of the plans submitted to Ipswich Borough Council.
"We are going to change the dugout area,” Ashton continued. "The dugout area simply isn’t at the level that we need.
"The dugouts are too close together, they’re old, they’re tired, so we’re going to put in modern infrastructure around the dugouts and that work will be started at the end of the season and will be complete by pre-season.
"It’s fair to note that the seats behind the dugouts, because I know people are going to ask, those will not be available for sale. A few will remain but the majority of those seats will go.
"We’ll be communicating that to season ticket holders who sat in those seats prior to the pandemic, because those seats haven’t been used for the last 12 to 18 months.”
The much-criticised PA will also be upgraded this summer: "The order has been placed and that work will commence and by the start of pre-season there will be a totally new Tannoy system in Portman Road that will give us far better audio around the stadium. That’s a key piece of infrastructure work that’s taking place.”
There are also plans to digitalise the stadium, Ashton says: "Fans will see when they return for pre-season and the start of next season, we will have digital advertising boards in place.
"The plan is to have those on three sides of the stadium, moving us into a digital era and allowing us to drive more revenue and professionalise our infrastructure at the stadium.”
A big screen was also in the plans lodged with IBC but Ashton says that situation remains under consideration.
"That is proving to be a little bit of a challenge on where we put the big screen. We’ve looked at the south-east corner and it may be an opportunity to put it there,” he said.
"We’re looking at other options in the stadium at the moment and that’s purely due to site lines and where it sits best.
"But a big screen is something that we’re look at putting in place and we’re working currently on the best place to put that.”
The IT systems at the club have been given an overhaul. "We’re investing in our entire IT infrastructure right across the board. A whole new IT infrastructure is more or less in place at Portman Road.
"There’s a new till system that’s going in both commercial and corporate areas of the stadium, that started to be rolled out last week.”
He added: "There will be a new access system to the stadium. In a digital age, we need to look at new CRM [Customer Relationship Management] systems, all the orders have been placed. It’s a huge investment from the owners and I can only thank them because they’re determined to put in the infrastructure in place to take this football club forward, but there is a lot to do.”
Town’s long-criticised catering is also set for a revamp: "Watch this space, there will be further announcements coming out in relation to catering.”
Regarding the land behind the Sir Alf Ramsey Stand, the club having announced its purchase yesterday, Ashton said: "That’s really important because in the short term, that gives us flexibility and in the long term that’s probably the only piece of land around the stadium that we could acquire that we could further develop on.
"We’ll look at plans in the medium to long term that we develop on that site, facilities that enhance the football club.
"That’s a big step and again, thank you to the owner, they’ve made sure the funds were available to buy that, to protect, to own the land around the stadium.
"This football club is only going in one direction and you can see the results on the pitch instantly, you can’t see the results of the work off the pitch instantly, but there’s a team of people that have worked tirelessly behind the scenes.
"We’re looking at staffing structure behind the club to take it forward and there will be a variety of new people joining the backroom staff on the business element of the football club and they’ll be coming into key areas.
"People with specific specialisms in their areas to help us take the football club forward.”
Regarding the club’s training ground, he added: "Playford Road is a totally separate project. Kieran knows what good looks like having come from one of the biggest football clubs in the world.
"Kieran, [assistant manager] Martyn [Pert] and [goalkeeper-coach] Rene Gilmartin are very clear with [director of performance] Andy Rolls on how they want Playford Road to operate.
"We’re looking at the two sites of Playford Road and how we best utilise them, there’ll be developments happening there, upgraded pitches in the summer, upgraded facilities in the summer.
"So much to do but I’m delighted because I think this should give the supporters the comfort that the football club is going in the right direction.”
Ashton says the club will be outlining the details of season tickets for 2021/22 before the end of March: "The plans are in the place for the season tickets, so by the end of the month we will have announced and launched the season ticket campaign for next season.”