Today marks the fifth anniversary of the Gamechanger 20 Ltd takeover of Town.

After months of on-off negotiations with former owner Marcus Evans, the £40 million takeover was announced on Wednesday 7th April 2021 with the members of the incoming consortium later admitting that they weren’t sure whether Evans might pull out even up to the previous day.

New chairman Mike O’Leary, who retired in July 2024, immediately outlined the ambitions of the new ownership following years of stagnation under the previous incumbent.

“They had two of the greatest managers football has seen [Sir Alf Ramsey and Sir Bobby Robson] and it’s crazy that a club of this size is in League One,” he said.

“We are here to help the club climb the football pyramid. Promotion to the Championship as soon as possible is the immediate aim. It’s possible this season but if it takes another year or so, so be it.

“Then if you are in the Championship, you take stock and see what is needed to give you a chance to get into the Premier League, and they are the goals that we will set.”

New CEO and now chairman Mark Ashton was appointed that summer from Bristol City having been instrumental in the takeover and manager Kieran McKenna was installed in the December.

Town won promotion to the Championship in 2022/23 and then made it back-to-back promotions the following season to return to the Premier League after 22 years away.

Meanwhile, there have been major changes to the club infrastructure with improvements made to the stadium ahead of the top-flight campaign and a £30 million upgrade of the Playford Road training ground currently nearing completion.

The ownership was initially made up of US pension fund PSPRS (the Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System with their funds managed by ORG), who had by far the biggest stake, and the Three Lions, Brett Johnson, Berke Bakay and Mark Detmer, but has undergone changes over the five years.

Bright Path Partners took a 43 per cent stake in March 2024, then in December there was a restructuring with Clara Vista Partners, who were also part of the Bright Path group, increasing their investment along with the Three Lions.

Portman Holdings LLC is now the new majority shareholder with ORG, which continues to manage funds on behalf of the pension fund, Clara Vista and the Three Lions holding broadly equal stakes. Portman Holdings has a 45 per cent stake with Bright Path maintaining its 43 per cent, with the rest smaller shareholdings.

At the five-year anniversary, the Blues look well-placed to win a second promotion to the Premier League - and third overall - since the ownership took charge with Monday’s results seeing Town into second in the Championship, ahead of Middlesbrough and Millwall on goal difference but with two games in hand on both the Teessiders and Lions.

Photo: James Ager