Boss Paul Cook admits that supporters, currently considering whether to buy season tickets for 2021/22, are probably currently “totally bored” with the Blues but says he’s up for the challenge of getting them to “come back in their droves”.

Town released their season ticket prices and refund options for this campaign yesterday with the mood currently a mix of frustration and negativity regarding matters on the field but positivity regarding the changes off it with Cook having replace Paul Lambert as manager and the new ownership having been welcomed after the stagnation of recent years under Marcus Evans.

Asked what he’d say to fans in two minds about renewing their seat - Town have just under 9,000 season ticket holders this season - Cook responded: “The first I’d say is you never walk away from your football club, that’s for sure. One hundred per cent, you never, ever walk away from your football club.

“You don’t support football clubs for a reason, you support football clubs because it’s ingrained in you from being a young kid, through your mum, your dad, your grandparents. And the history of a football club will always shine through.

“For us, our history, success is too long ago. Unfortunately for us, [because of that] we sort of miss out on generations of supporters.

“My job, and it doesn’t look like I’m doing it very well at the minute, is to bring good days back to this football club, it’s to bring Portman Road back to a place where people want to come and watch an exciting brand of football that they historically have seen years ago.

“Unfortunately, what we serve up at the minute is absolutely not good enough. Nowhere near. If I’m an Ipswich fan today, I’m sure my words won’t touch them where they really should because if I was one of those fans I would be thinking what they’re thinking, but I know, by the time we sign a player or two and the exits come in the summer, what they’ll see.

“The new owners will come in like a breath of fresh air and all of a sudden we might see people smiling a little bit again, and that’s the way forward for us.”

Is it important to get younger fans engaged particularly? “It’s a tough one, isn’t it? Because you can historically go to watch with your dad, your mum, grandparents and you want to see your team do well, that’s the brutal truth.

“Like Liverpool fans, they had a generation of not seeing the team win the league. And within that you can lose supporters.

“We know how strong Ipswich Town’s fanbase is but at the minute they’re tired of us and they’re probably tired of listening to me.

“So somewhere along the line they just want to see action. If we were playing a game tomorrow at Portman Road to be promoted, how many people would be in the stadium? How many do you think? It would be full.

“The reality for us is that they’re bored with the lack of [success, with] what they’ve seen, totally bored.

“My job, the staff’s job and that of the players’ going forward - and as you can imagine that’s something where you’ll have to watch this space - will be a challenge to bring them back into that stadium. I’m sure when it starts happening they’ll come back in their droves.”

Cook says he’s looking forward to being at Portman Road with 20,000-plus supporters in it next season.

“One hundred per cent,” he said. “Today we’re in a period of pain and we’ve got to go through that period, it’s football, it’s sport.

“As a person, and I’m not going to criticise the group of people, the group of players we have in the building, I’m not going to do that, I won’t be drawn to that.

“Sport’s about winning and being competitive and giving everything you’ve got to be successful. They’re traits that we lack dramatically in our club today. We won’t lack them tomorrow.”

Photo: Matchday Images

Pencilpete added 11:27 - Apr 29 I like Cook and lets be honest we haven't had a manager that talks this passionately about our club since Jim Magilton. I have no doubt at all that he is as angry with the team as we are and this time these players have nobody to hide behind, nowhere to hide they have been challenged to come out of their comfort zone and show what they can do and the result of that challenge is 2 wins in 13, 6 0-0 draws and no goals since the dawn of pre-history. my season ticket is being renewed, my refund is staying in the club and i fully intend to do my bit (however small in comparison) to get us back where we belong.

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dav86 added 11:30 - Apr 29 I'm renewing and I can not wait, next season will be the best season we've had in years. Uppa town!!
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BLUEBEAT added 11:58 - Apr 29 Wasn't Cook talking about walking away from his football club, Liverpool, only a few days ago concerning that super league boll0cks? 🤔
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tempzzzz added 13:59 - Apr 29 "Cook says he's looking forward to being at Portman Road with 20,000-plus supporters in it next season." I know I'll get down voted for this but I just can't imagine us having more than 20k in the stadium. Season ticket prices stayed the same despite a poor season in the same league, not very enticing to new fans. We don't yet know the level of player we will be signing and some may be sceptical given the deadline dates. I don't understand the point of the early bird, just keep the prices the same at any point, why price people out? I feel the refund options are shocking in the scheme of things. Many who have had more than one season ticket being paid for in their household are paying £230 for a poor quality ifollow stream that they would've probably only used 1 code for between them anyway! Given that Millwall offered renewals at £39 for the season and the scum are letting people renew for FREE IN THE PREM I would've expected better given that they want more people to be in the ground. They keep telling us the fans are the most important people. Yes it is a business but take this hit of cash and make the fans happy, it will pay off in the long run.

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Europablue added 14:47 - Apr 29 If we are playing good football at the very top of the league we can get 20,000 in. It won't be like that at the start of the season for sure.
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Jugsy added 15:20 - Apr 29 tempzzzz - as you point out, the scum have just been promoted to the Prem, the cash for them isn't in the season tickets; the TV, advertising, endorsements, final position payments, etc will more than cover them. Unfortunately, we're neither wealthy nor have the lucrative commercial positioning of them. I won't down vote you though. We're all feeling sore about the performances and any money we've given the club this season. I've liked having access to iFollow being a South-West based supporter but it's not lost on me that families who have poured their hard-earned money into the club in recent years and have had very little in return. Whilst it's not the best offer being made, it's not an awful one.

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Bazza8564 added 10:12 - Apr 30 Cook will deliver and we will be back. Im more excited about stadium plans and released player lists than ever before. Its a new dawn, God i'd love to sit down with this new regime, buy them a beer, and soak up some of what we have coming!!
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