Takeover talk has dominated the TWTD Forum and Town social media over the last few days but with little in the way of firm information yet having come to light. TWTD examines the gossip and conjecture.

Rumours of a potential takeover of Town had been quietly circulating for around a week before a Whatsapp message outlining the scenario went viral over the weekend.

The gist of the rumoured situation is that a US-based consortium is keen to buy the Blues from owner Marcus Evans.

A price of £40 million has been mentioned, which seems high for a club in Town’s situation in League One, and we understand £30 million is a more realistic figure.

The rumours suggest the group’s overall plan is to buy the club, inject cash to get it into a better position before selling it on again at a profit.

Current Bristol City chief executive Mark Ashton is variously claimed to be leading or playing some part in facilitating the takeover. Ashton’s alleged involvement in any way is unconfirmed and he is continuing his job at Bristol City, commenting on new manager Nigel Pearson’s appointment earlier in the week.

Ashton has worked at a number of clubs over the years. Prior to joining the Robins in January 2016, he was at Oxford United for 18 months from 2014 and with Watford between 2004 and 2008, having previously been a director at West Brom for 14 years.

Bristol City’s 2019 pre-season tour of the US has also been the subject of speculation among Robins fans, Ashton and owner Steve Lansdown having met with owners of USL clubs among others while on the trip.

On Tuesday night it was spotted that Brett Johnson, who recently became the owner of USL League One side FC Tucson, having been a founder of USL Championship club Phoenix Rising where ex-Blues full-back Frank Yallop was formerly president of soccer/head coach, is following Town’s official Twitter account and later liked a tweet showing the Blues’ goal at Hull.

In addition to Town, the 51-year-old follows Bristol City, as well as a number of other British clubs, including Salford City, Newcastle United, Swansea City and QPR.

Johnson is the founder of Fortuitous Partners and is also the leading figure in a USL Championship franchise which is set to launch in Rhode Island in 2023 and recently joined the board of Danish side Helsingør.

In July last year a company called Gamechanger 20 Ltd was registered at Companies House with Johnson among the directors, along with Mike O’Leary, who was part of the takeover at Oxford in 2014 which was led by Ashton.

Also among the directors is Berke Bakay, principal owner, governor and co-chairman of Phoenix Rising, who made his money from Kona Grill, a restaurant chain.

Speaking in January, Los Angeles-based Johnson said his organisation was “fairly close to making an investment in England”.

TWTD understands that there is certainly something in the claims of current interest in the club although with the personnel involved unconfirmed, while Town are yet to comment on the rumours.

Evans, who took control at Town in 2007, has said in the past that if an acceptable offer came in, he would be prepared to sell.

A number of parties have shown interest over the years, several in the recent past, but up to now with none having made much progress.

Photo: Matchday Images

readtheleaguetable added 18:23 - Feb 25 Nothing in this article describes this as anything thing more than an unsubstantiated rumour, adds anything to the unsubstantiated rumour, or suggests that “TWTD” gives any credence to said rumour. So I think anyone who has doubted there is anything to the rumour has nothing to be embarrassed about. A healthy skepticism is always, well, healthy. By the way, someone told someone that someone else saw a unicorn.It is still ok to doubt that there are unicorns.

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Bert added 18:26 - Feb 25 Whatever deal is on the table, now or in the future, it must be a credible deal and pass the 'fit and proper person' test with flying colours. The wrong deal with shaky finance behind it could bring the club down. I'm all for Evans selling up but it has to be a long term arrangement, tested against reality and in the interests of the club not just the financiers. Regretably, the days of local investment from local people are gone so whatever happens it will be a new era for the club but success is not guaranteed.

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Bluearmy_81 added 18:27 - Feb 25 I've never known "better the devil you know" as pronounced or extreme as amongst some Town fans. Its monty python stuff... 😂
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RobITFC added 18:29 - Feb 25 So was there a meeting today between Evans & Lambert ?
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SuperCoops added 18:30 - Feb 25 Therein61, whilst we own the stadium, we don't own the land. I also think there's a covenant on the land for sporting use only, I think?
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boltzak added 18:31 - Feb 25 Better the devil you know!
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BlueNomad added 18:34 - Feb 25 I've got an idea!! Let's wait and see!
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dunkz84 added 18:45 - Feb 25 Buying to make a profit and then sell on isn't exactly what I'd want for our club but it's the way of the world in football at the moment so maybe we have to start rolling with the times before we end up even lower down the leagues or at best stagnating in this league while all of these supposedly smaller teams keep leapfrogging us because we don't appear to have two pennies to rub together and our academy players are t bringing in the large transfer fees they once did

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Countryboyblue added 18:59 - Feb 25 Although I appreciate what Evans has tried to do, I do hope there is something in this story. Buying ITFC has just been a bad experience for Evans and all concerned, although it's not been a want for trying! If a deal is in the pipeline, which suits all parties, I believe it's time to move on for every bodies sake. I will always appreciate what Marcus done and tried to do.

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ChrisR added 19:01 - Feb 25 Who wants a US consortium owning and running the club? Would know even less about the game than ME ? At least Evans has shown some loyalty to the club , but who could blame him for giving up at any cost after so much disappointment and abuse. Hard to see where the Club goes from here , I'm worried now !
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LWNR2013 added 19:06 - Feb 25 Doesn't Liverpool have US connection? I'm not sure though.
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TimmyH added 19:20 - Feb 25 All vague and just assumptions and rumours...US consortium doesn't fill me with optimism but if I knew now 13 years ago I wouldn't have believed Marcus Evans ownership to be so disastrous, the club does feel like it needs to turn a new page. and yes Liverpool are owned by John Hendry (US) owner of Fenway Sports and Boston Red Sox.
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LWNR2013 added 19:26 - Feb 25 Thanks Timmy
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Billericay12 added 19:31 - Feb 25 Can't think of many consortiums that have bought lower League clubs and sold at vast profits ? Football clubs tend to be money pits. ITFC certainly would be in the short term at least.
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TimmyH added 19:45 - Feb 25 By the way seems like a number of Prem clubs are run by US consortiums, Glaziers (Man U) worth near $5b, Stan Kroenke (Arsenal) whose wealth has dropped this year to a miserly $8.3b and Liverpool owner the poorest at $2.4b...makes Evans look like he's shopping at Primark or should I say in league 2 :)
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bobble added 20:01 - Feb 25 couldnt give a hoot who owns the club ,as the fans are the true owners
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Robert_Garrett added 20:07 - Feb 25 For somebody who came in to take on 90M in debt and pump 6M in every season since 2007 equates to nearly 200M in total. Still have moaners if he had pumped 500M into the club. You cannot buy success as leeds proved for donkeys years and couldnt get out of League one. Mick kept us in the Championship and I personally still wish that he had never left. The moaners got us relegated and the moaners will bankrupt us. Moaners are canaries in sheeps clothing - so beware what you wish for? Nice to hear expert opinions on the subject of Hydogen sulphide refreshed air. I too am entitled to my opinion not just the ones that shout laodest.

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bringingbackthedutch added 20:20 - Feb 25 This is actively terrifying. Evans tenure has been a failure, but the idea that we could be sold to the equivalent of sporting venture capitalists with deluded profit aspirations is a real cacker. The championship is a heavy loss making division that's notoriously hard to get out of. What will someone following this model do if they start losing multi-millions every season? They're not likely to stick it out. We should never want to see the club sold to someone who doesn't have a long term interest and the means to invest over the many many years. Evans for all his faults at least provides the admittedly slim chance of rebuilding from a stable base. Better the devil we know until someone with the means and the chops for the long haul comes along.

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reva added 20:28 - Feb 25 I get it that everyone is passionate about the club and we all want success. But has anyone noticed we are in the middle of a pandemic, and the millions out of work, the economic situation worldwide is in crisis and things will not return to being the same when we finally start to open up again. Like everyone on here I love this club and have done since 1962, but lets get things into perspective. Yes we want success but at what cost? I'd rather have town playing each week even if it's in a lower league, than suddenly facing a Bury (remember them) or Bolton situation, and many clubs are in debt to the tune of billions. What if the banks suddenly call it all in when the books are audited after the pandemic. There are some serious issues which need addressing at the club, but we have a club to support, and an owner who may not suit many but who is keeping us going. Perhaps more positivity from the supporters urging the players on and being thankful we have a club to support at this time would go a long way to turning the tide. Just my opinion!!

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rogie_dog added 21:29 - Feb 25 Can we have David Sheepshanks back please.
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moggasnotebook added 21:29 - Feb 25 Big rumours that I'm about to marry Jennifer Aniston. There have been whispers for a while and if I repeat the rumours often enough then people start asking if it's true. A quick Google search shows she is single so it's a possibility. It would be a dream scenario so it's definitely worth looking in to what the marriage would entail and how it could progress after the union. A quick look at her socials confirm she's has been to the UK before and the fact she's been married before means that she has form for such an investment - even though quite frankly there are far better opportunities out there for her at much less than the £40 million dowry that my family and fans are hoping for. I have said before if an acceptable offer came in then I would be prepared to commit. A further Google search suggests that the price is within her capability. It all looks like there could be something in the rumours but I'm not prepared to comment further at this time.

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Saxonblue74 added 21:52 - Feb 25 Where are you ME? If these rumours are untrue then please tell us so. The team are finally finding some form and offering a little hope, we don't need disruption off the field interfering.
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blues1 added 21:53 - Feb 25 Regencyblue. I suggest you read that again. Nowhere in that story does it state he intended to sell the club. All it states is thatchad we got into the premier league, hed have made a lot of money. which he would, as the club would have made a profit, thus hed get money from the club.
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dougalmcguire added 21:54 - Feb 25 I don't understand why someone would pay £30 million for a League One club which doesn't own it's ground or training ground and is over £100 million in debt to it's current owner. There's no guarantee that pumping a bit of money in would immediately gain success. The Championship is an incredibly tough division to get out of (getting out of League One is apparently hard enough) and any prospective owner would need more than a couple of years to make a profit out of Ipswich Town - maybe a five year plan at least.(to coin a phrase)......

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blues1 added 21:57 - Feb 25 Rogiiedog. It was sheepshanks who got us in a mess to start with. If he hadnt taken us into administratiion, we woyldnt be in this mess now.So no, dont want him back.
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