New Blues co-owner Berke Bakay says the club’s heritage, fanbase and the opportunity at Portman Road were what attracted him to Town.

Istanbul-born Bakay, 42, is one of the Three Lions, along with Brett Johnson and Mark Detmer, who own five per cent of Gamechanger 20, the Blues’ new ownership, and who are also co-chairmen of USL side Phoenix Rising.

“This has been a really exciting journey,” Berke said in an interview with iFollow Ipswich. “I'm a massive football fan and I have been since I was a little kid and I know a lot about the history of Ipswich.

“It's so humbling to receive a warm welcome from the fans, and to be honest it has been overwhelming because I have received so many messages on platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn. They've been brilliant.

“I've been asked the question 'why Ipswich?' and what I loved about the club is the heritage, the fanbase, but also the opportunity.

“I'm looking forward to working with the manager and other staff at the club. We want to get out of this division as soon as possible and then go from there.”

Photo: ITFC

WonTheCupin78 added 19:55 - Apr 22 Good to hear so much positivity from the new owners...now we just need a new set of players!
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Dissboyitfc added 21:28 - Apr 22 really enjoyed his passion!
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Foreverdon_Blue added 23:03 - Apr 22 Yes, another great interview and I love his passion. Very positive but also realistic and I like the way he says we need to get out of league 1 as soon as possible! COYB
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JewellintheTown added 00:56 - Apr 23 Just doing the maths with interesting results to put things in perspective: From what I understand, each of the "three lions" own 1.66% (5% for all three) of 87.5% of the shares, so roughly 1.45% total each. We know Ipswich Town Plc still own 12.5%, with the top 20 owning approximately 56% (roughly 8%) of those shares. Sounds to me like there's a good chance some of the top PLC owners will own more % than each of the 3 lions, but without the fame & recognition. Marcus Evans still owns 5% of the 87.5% (4.35%) so probably still the individual PERSON with the largest amount of shares. Appologies if my figures are incorrect but principal is the same.

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ted1e added 08:31 - Apr 23 I was always taught that with a bit of thought and effort you could get a set of figures to say what ever you want. The difference between the 3 lions and the top 20 PLC owners is that they have been able/wanted to raise the money to buy out the previous owner and try another way forward. We must also remember that the PLC investors have realistically lost their money but happily invested in a attempt to save their club (I did) unlike the super 6 who wanted to destroy English football. Season tickets news today and a new season in August. Happy days.

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Bluefox added 10:47 - Apr 23 hmm, Bakay said : "If he [Cook] wants 4-2-3-1, what are the two, three players that he needs for that formation?" Not wanting to put a dampener on things but it would appear unlikely we are going to get an entire new squad. In my book at least a couple of those players will have to be strikers.
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Razor added 10:52 - Apr 23 We could have got out of division 1 this season with a good manager and I guess that is what they were hoping
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BeattiesBackPocket added 11:59 - Apr 23 Love their passion since coming in something we've not had within the club since Sheepshanks
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dugoutdave added 12:31 - Apr 23 JewellintheTown - don't mean to sound critical but what point are you actually trying to make esp when you immediately apologise that the figures may be incorrect?
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Robert_Garrett added 16:27 - Apr 23 Lova a lively discussion!
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alhare added 23:23 - Apr 23 These guys are the best news we've had in years. Football is a business. Until we carry on the crusade started against billionaires treating fans like walking cash points we're playing the ‘get into the PL' at all costs game. This seems a transparent relationship; they have no connection to our club but they all want to make money from the PL and we were well priced so all we want as fans is to pay for and play our part to make that PL dream happen, so we're all on the same page so far. The only person that really matters is Ed Schwarz because he represents the company that owns 87% of the club AND he's the guy you need to go to when u want 3mllion to buy a professional footballer to play for us. The 3 Lions and our new chief exec are very important in running the club and getting our on and off pitch structures in place as they are exceptionally experienced business people. But they aren't shovelling their own money in. Not with a 5% stake. They are being entrusted to spend ORGs money wisely. So let's see how this pans out....interesting times ahead...

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