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Town in Process of Acquiring Former Owner Evans's Training Ground Land - Ipswich Town News

Town are in the process of acquiring the area of Bent Lane which former owner Marcus Evans retained following the 2021 takeover as part of the multi-million pound redevelopment of the club's training ground which was announced earlier this month.

Evans kept a small area of the land across the road from the Playford Road buildings, which it was understood had the potential to be used for development, as well as taking a five per cent stake in new ownership group Gamechanger 20 Ltd, which has subsequently been diluted to around two per cent.

A statement on the club site this afternoon announced that the Blues are looking to buy more land and TWTD understands that it is the area still owned by Evans which is the subject of their interest.

"Gamechanger 20 Ltd has started the process of acquiring additional land at Playford Road, the club’s training ground,” the statement reads

"With the club’s plans to further develop Playford Road, the acquisition of the land, which is located on the Bent Lane side of the training facility, will play a key role in those developments as the club looks to deliver an elite performance environment for the men’s, women’s and academy squads.”

CEO Mark Ashton added: "I mentioned at the Fans’ Forum that the next big project would be the training ground.

"We’ve invoked architects to work on designs. We need a total rebuild of the training ground for the first team, a more professional environment in which Kieran McKenna can work and develop first-team players.

"We have the new pitches now, but we need a multi-million-pound spend on facilities at the training ground to bring us up to speed.

"In addition to this, further developments for our academy and women’s teams will be included.”

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