Town CEO and chairman Mark Ashton has revealed the club has agreed to buy the land behind the Cobbold Stand ahead of the rebuild of Portman Road’s oldest stand.

Ashton has previously stated that a new Cobbold Stand is a medium to long-term aim with the club careful to get the timing right, while building part of the new structure around the existing stand has also been considered.

Speaking in a lengthy piece about Town in The Athletic, Ashton reiterated that the next big project is the renovation of the Playford Road training ground, which will cost up to £30 million, but with the Cobbold Stand rebuild also very much in the current thinking.

“We’ve got big plans for the stadium, including a potential expansion when the time is right,” he said.

“We’ve agreed to buy the land behind the Cobbold Stand to do it but, like everything, it’s about timing. We would lose 4,000 fans for 18 months during the rebuild.”

In March, Ipswich Borough Council, who currently own the land, the main Portman Road car park, announced plans for a new aquatics centre with planning permission applied for in June.

We understand the land in question stretches some way over the road behind the current Cobbold Stand into the car park but will not impact IBC's plans for the aquatics centre.

Ashton also says the relationship with sponsor and minority shareholder Ed Sheeran is something which will be developed further, although the Framlingham-based pop star will no longer have his logo on shirts from next season.

“Another big expansion will be our relationship with Ed Sheeran,” he said. “You’ll also see us in the U.S. at some point, probably in some sort of collaboration with him.

“He’s a local boy who wants to do the best by his club and community. Our relationship started because he didn’t like that we had a gaming company on our shirt [Magical Vegas], he didn’t think that fitted well with the club’s ethos. So he sponsored our shirts in League One, the Championship and this season.

“He has decided to come off the shirt next season to allow us to get a bigger sponsor but what he’s done to replace that support is buy equity.

“He’s invested millions as a formal shareholder. You’ll see further development of the relationship with merchandise and concerts. He’s part of the family.”

Photo: TownTV

withyblue added 10:03 - Oct 19 Pleased to hear that Ashton is cognisant that many didn’t feel a gambling shirt sponsor was in keeping with the spirit of the football club. Should mean we avoid a return to a gambling shirt sponsor next season (though I believe they’re being banned soon anyway)
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Gforce added 10:34 - Oct 19 Starting work on the new east stand,will probably hinge on whether we stay up this season. If and when the building work does commence,it would be great if the new stand could give us enough seats for a 40000 capacity,then we could move the away fans to the far corner of the south .stand .It doesn't seem fair they currently get some of the best views and seats in the stadium.

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Westy added 10:43 - Oct 19 All good. I agree that progress will largely depend on staying up and maintaining it for a few seasons. The purchase of the land (I assume IBC are prepared to sell it which would give the Club a few more options). 40,000 would be great and with all the houses going up around here would be regularly filled. I've never thought much of the big screen - some seats in that location would fill that upper corner and still leave access underneath for lorries and emergency vehicles. Mark Ashton, has, as he describes it tried to 'manage expectations' regarding the new stand but it wouldn't surprise me if this happened sooner than anticipated.

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ElephantintheRoom added 10:57 - Oct 19 All rather at odds with the low budget computer graphic impression of how wonderful the cattle market might look with a swimming pool and plaza announced by the council with no ability to pay for any of it. Presumably persuading the cowboys to pay for something they dont need to buy, as the club has developed 4 stands and gone belly up twice without buying any land, is one way of getting in some cash. Might also help them dodge a FFP bullet too.

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Mark added 11:38 - Oct 19 Absolutely brilliant. I think whether or not we stay up this season, the club is moving forwards with the ownership and management we have now, and the superb support of Ed Sheeran. I am glad Ed disliked the gambling sponsor, as betting advertising is a blight on the modern game. Ipswich needs to remain a club for the community.
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Robert_Garrett added 12:33 - Oct 19 ´Nothing like progress - we used to only have terraces on three sides of the groud because the temporary scaffolding was removed for cricket in the summer.
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victorysquad added 14:01 - Oct 19 Think Ed could create clothing brand to rival superdry. Maybe that could Be a collab
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Linkboy13 added 21:02 - Oct 19 Building new stands dosent guarantee a successful team on the pitch. We need to be more ambitious in the transfer market and get it right on the pitch first.
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not_a_witty_name added 09:21 - Oct 20 Why has the club agreed to buy the land off IBC? Doesn't IBC own the rest of the land the stadium is built on?
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ElvisMariner added 12:14 - Oct 20 The council owns the land that Portman Rd sits on and the club owns the stadium. As with the above comment not sure why the club needs to buy the land needed for the Cobbold expansion from IBC. Council ownership has always meant that no private owner can ever sell the ground.
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