Supporters on Twitter will have seen tweets from a new fans' group called The Five Point Protest in recent days, organiser Mark Beck told TWTD what it’s all about.

The Marcus Evans tenure as Ipswich Town owner started with much expectation and promise, saving the club from the brink of administration, the injection of initial investment and the high profile appointment of manager Roy Keane brought a sense of optimism to Portman Road.

Sadly, apart from one brief season as promotion contenders, the bubble burst seemingly very quickly. A catalogue of failures both on and off the field saw our club stagnate whilst those around us improved and progressed.

The same reoccurring failures has left the club slumped in its lowest position since the 1950s. The Ipswich fanbase has been very tolerant of this plight, although with underlying frustrations throughout, but we cannot accept this situation we are facing any longer. Together, as a united fanbase, we need to offer some resistance and challenge to those responsible for running our great football club.

This is the birth of The Five Point Protest. A name derived in retaliation to our owner's former Five Point Plan launched in January 2017 during the Mick McCarthy era. A plan which seemingly feels like what we have now become accustomed to, a PR stunt aimed to appease our frustrations.

The aim of The Five Point Protest is to focus our frustrations as a fanbase and demand answers from those at the very top overseeing our sleepwalk into the unknown. There are a wide range of views and opinions as to where we feel our football club has faltered in recent years but we, as fans, should not be the ones asking these questions.

Ultimately, this is the responsibility of the owner of our football club and the many people who represent him. We have broken down some of the key frustrations to formulate the five points of our protest: Mentality, Ambition, Investment and Sustainability, Transfer Policy and Transparency.

We appreciate that this doesn't cover every frustration that we feel as a fanbase but the key thing to note is that the vast majority are frustrated, angry and heartbroken at the club's fall from grace. We are not expecting a return to the glory days of the late 70s and 80s. We are expecting a football club that we can be proud of, one that is run correctly with the best interests of its fans both present and future at heart.

We would like to point out that this is NOT a ‘Marcus Evans Out' protest. Most of us will be grateful for the club being saved by the intervention of Marcus Evans over a decade ago. Asking for our owner to leave without a buyer in hand leaves the club in considerable danger and simply isn't realistic at this time. However, as fans and paying customers we have every right to question when we feel that the club is heading in the wrong direction.

We have the right to challenge his commitment to our football club. I feel this is an important step that we need to take as a fanbase, one many clubs could learn from, in not feeling afraid to challenge our ownership in times of consistent and reoccurring failure. It is a common theme in countries on the continent and across the world, albeit different footballing cultures, but something we can take inspiration from.

A number of people have mentioned the absence of the current manager and his playing staff within our protest. Any action that we choose to take going forward will strive to have minimal impact on any match proceedings. We accept that the on-field staff, the past two seasons in particular, are a huge frustration and have contributed heavily to the failings of this football club.

At time of writing, the managerial position is very much hanging in the balance so we do not feel that it is appropriate to base a protest purely on this issue. Moreover, I feel that it is important to target the frustrations at those responsible for selecting, questioning and managing our current manager and his staff. Ultimately, the failings we have seen in previous managerial reigns are still plaguing our current manager and will continue to hamper managers in the future.

As a protest movement, we aim to respect and hear the views of all supporters regarding the issues we have pointed out as well as hear frustrations we may have missed. This is our football club and to launch a successful and constructive protest we must gather the most accurate viewpoint from our fanbase.

I ask all supporters to view this movement, whether on the TWTD site, social media or YouTube with an open mind. I appreciate and understand that this kind of movement won't be to everyone's taste and I cannot guarantee that our protest will work. However, we will strive to provide a well constructed and significant protest which aims to include as many fans as possible. We are aiming to deliver a protest, either static or a march, before one of our final home games this season.

The end goal for the protest would be to have an interview with Mr Evans in a neutral environment, answering questions from us as fans. I cannot promise or guarantee that we will get anywhere close to this and I have to admit that this protest movement will take time, patience and dedication in order for this to grow effectively. I am not prepared to make any promises at this date.

This fanbase has suffered far too many instances of overpromising and under-delivering in recent times. However, I and many others will work hard alongside our normal working lives to try and deliver a protest with the best intentions of bringing about positive change.

For those who don't know me. I am just a 25-year-old man who adores this football club and can't sit by any longer without trying to provoke some change by challenging those responsible for running our club.

I have featured heavily on the YouTube channel Ipswich Fanzone, who have been fundamental in the early stages of this campaign. Once again, I ask you to view this protest with an open mind and judge it on your own principles and feelings towards the football club that we love. I cannot do this without you.

I would like to thank all those who have registered their support to The Five Point Protest in its infancy. I would also like to thank TWTD and the other media platforms for sharing and for giving us the opportunity to further explain our protest. We will continue to provide updates to TWTD regarding any updates and progress. If you would like to join our mailing list then please email IpswichFanzone@gmail.com.

We are holding our Open Forum on Thursday 12th March at 7.30pm at Wiff Waff on the Ipswich Quayside. This is an open event for anyone interested, concerned or has any questions regarding The Five Point Protest. Anyone interested but unable to attend need not worry, an update will be provided to all issues raised.

In the meantime, for any updates or queries you can contact The Five Point Protest via email at IpswichFanzone@gmail.com or our dedicated Twitter account @FPP_ITFC.

Photos: TWTD/Contributed

saffers12 added 12:07 - Mar 10 Just a point I would like to raise from the Accrington match. Whilst watching the team get off the bus. There were 4 guys , aged around 28ish going on 14, who were in Town shirts etc, who were constantly taking the Michael out of other Town fans. Their approach was to stand there and use The Inbetweeners "friends" tone and make comment on the other fans because they were watching the lads get off the bus. Here is my points to those rude and ignorant fans: 1) For some people in this world at the moment it is not great, seeing the players in a real boost for them (also younger kids were watching, which should always be encouraged). These people for all they or I know maybe ill, suffering from grief or simply could be the first time they have seen players so close up. It is important to them and could give the fans a mental boost for reasons we do not know. This is coming from someone who has suffered from depression in the past and my now wife took me to watch Town at Bolton when Chopra scored last minute and it really gave me that boost. 2) They are Town fans who are likely to have spent hours and money getting there, which should always be respected. Why be like this with other Town fans? 3) The Inbetweeners joke is 10 years old, I do hope for their families, friends and partners they do not do this stale joke all the time. 4) If they were that offended then why bother still standing there watching the players get off? I just thought it was so poor.

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Gilesy added 12:10 - Mar 10 There's a lot more to be said for this than some idiots on here and their vitriolic Facebook campaigns which offer absolutely no route to compromise, no suggestions of improvement or anything other than populist claptrap. Ring any bells?
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Chrisd added 12:14 - Mar 10 Good on him for actually trying to get something up and running, some of the negative comments I find quite strange. Aren't prepared to do anything themselves but moan and pick holes about a fellow Town fan trying to be proactive about the current state of the club we all support.
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dirtydingusmagee added 12:26 - Mar 10 respect to the lad, i would back him , the only problem is that , asking Evans questions will not achieve anything, he will, as ever, evade , and bull###t all day long as he has in past. He would just sit there grinning with his poodle O Neil , talk in riddles ,and come away feeling smug that he has again ''fooled the peasants'' . He is fully aware of the fans being being pi##ed off ,he is fully aware Lambert is failing , he is fully aware the other managers he employed all failed, and is fully aware that club is in far worse position now. BUT he has done nothing . He probably feared a backlash last season when we got relegated, it didnt happen , he fooled people into renewing season tickets ,and ended up with more people attending games than for many years .!. He will believe he can pull it off again by more bull###t . HE DOSNT LISTEN, HE DOSNT ACT . So whilst i would support this group it would only be that doing nothing is not an option .

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ABO1itfc added 12:37 - Mar 10 With respect to those of you who have commented on this ref: Accrington it was an “in house” joke among friends of which two were standing at the bus waiting for Toto to come off; they are very much aware of the joke and this has nothing to do with the fans that were congregating to show support for their team. What has this come too, for crying out loud. Support the protest because it's in everyone's best interest to get answers from the owner.

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Doctor_Earman added 13:01 - Mar 10 So the grand plan of this protest is to have a meeting with Evans!? What a joke. We NEED Evans OUT, not to have a chat with him ffs! As other have pointed out, the only way to get Evans' notice is to hit him where it hurts i.e. his bottom line. DON'T renew your season tickets, DON'T go to home games, DON'T buy any merch from the club. Basically don't give any money to Marcus Evans. He won't care if there's a march or if people wave banners. It won't work.

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senduntd added 13:23 - Mar 10 If we have to play behind closed doors Marcus will be our saviour. EFL teams will go to the wall without income from turnstiles. Stop criticising Marcus and try to understand that he keeps us afloat Its not the owner or the manager that scores its the team so no more booing please and lets encourage the boys.
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Tractastic added 13:24 - Mar 10 A young lad who loves the club and is a least trying to give the fans some kind of voice. He hasn't even experienced the incredible 'highs' we've had in the past like some of us , yet he is still passionate and wants to instigate positive change. Whether or not Evans will take a blind bit of notice , as i can't help feel his agenda is somewhat different to the fans , the alternative is to do nothing at all and argue amongst ourselves for the reason for our ongoing demise on social media and local pubs. Good luck Mark. I'm in total support.

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SouperJim added 14:33 - Mar 10 That statement reads very well an I applaud the approach, which is the correct one. It's not about this manager, or about screaming "more money", it's about wanting the club to be run in a competent manner and the owner being accountable for the utter failure that his stewardship of the club has been to date. Evans - appoint someone competent and with experience of running a football club to lead us, or sell up and move on. Enough is enough.

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ArnieM added 14:47 - Mar 10 Evans only listens to “Money”. To get him to listen you have to hit HIM where it hurts. Talking, asking questions will cut no ice I'm afraid not will demonstrating from the stands . Don't buy a season ticket - suddenly he listens !!
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Jesney_Havoc added 15:13 - Mar 10 We have an owner who owns both the club and the debt. Smell the coffee. The club owns nothing, so there's nothing to sell. He'll never sell the debt, an asset to him, which is worth £100m and generates 5.4% interest.
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Kickingblock added 15:21 - Mar 10 Some of you are going off topic! It is not an "Evans out" protest! It is an attempt for some transparency with sensible dialogue! Read the well written article!
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Lightningboy added 15:22 - Mar 10 Best of luck with this - we all want better for ITFC - the stagnation has to stop. 👏🏻💙
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Bluearmy_81 added 15:39 - Mar 10 I'm ashamed to say town fans have been utterly negligent in their duty as fans for tears. They are great at putting the miles in but awful at standing up for their club. Any action to put pressure on our appalling owner is admirable but I fear it is years too late to stop us falling into the abyss. It goes without saying I hope I'm wrong.
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Bert added 15:55 - Mar 10 This is the first real attempt to articulate why and how our owner needs to consider his aspirations for our club. To some it may sound a bit thin but the case for change is correctly argued from the starting point that we recognise that without an owner who pays the bills and the debt, Ipswich Town FC could well go down the tubes. To date the antagonism displayed in the SBR stand is unproductively aggressive and wrong during a game. As we saw on Saturday this stand is divided between the boo boys and those happy to acknowledge when the team has tried. The campaign articulates a balanced and rational plan. As a businessman, the owner is more likely to listen to that than offensive chants. Not renewing your season ticket is something that some will do and it will hurt the owner in the pocket but if we really care about our club and want it to progress we should find an intelligent means to convey our huge sadness at our decline. Well done Mark.

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Tufty added 15:56 - Mar 10 Fans call for a new owner or a new manager and want t buy success. Take a look at Derby County got a new owner spent millions still languishing in mid table. Facing 21 point deduction for overspending. Owner trying to get fresh investment not any definite interest. I'm sure Sconthorpe fans wish they were in a higher league likewise Grimsby Notts County and many more. Truth is this all started when clubs got to keep all the money from home games then TV money came in. Big clubs got bigger and richer smaller clubs began to struggle. Players wages sky rocketed transfer fees went through the roof and Bosman cost the smaller clubs dear. We are not a massive club. We are a small club with a massive history. Protest all you want it won't help the players on a Saturday afternoon nor will it encourage Mr Evans to spend more We could all give the club 10% of our take home pay and it still wouldn't be enough. Of course who would be daft enough to do that .Oh Mr Evans perhaps.

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goat_man added 16:13 - Mar 10 Good luck to him. At least he's being proactive and trying to make things happen, rather than the rest of us just sitting here.
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BlueGhost added 16:18 - Mar 10 As Brian Clough said the chairman only has to make one right decision, appoint the right manager. This clown has had a number of tries and messed up every time. Ideally the decision should be taken away.
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TimmyH added 17:01 - Mar 10 Give the lad credit...he's at least doing something, which needs to be done at this shambolic running of the club and there's no light at the end of the tunnel currently.
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happybeingblue added 17:22 - Mar 10 unfortunately football is a business these days run by businessmen and their primary concern is making £ however they dress it up,that is the problem they do not have the same interest as fans,so good luck in your quest speaking to the masters of spin at portman rd. the good old days are long gone from our beloved club.
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blueboy1981 added 17:47 - Mar 10 Great idea - with a logical, realistic approach to such. Credit due for doing this in a democratic way - not an airy fairy style of doing something along these lines. Well done. You have my 100% support. If you get any, just ignore the knockers, those who couldn't understand rationale if they tried. I repeat great idea.
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jas0999 added 17:49 - Mar 10 Not a huge fan of protests BUT enough is enough. Evans has got away with his poor management of the club for some time, with little in terms of discontent (vocally) from the fans. We keep turning up, week in week out and have almost accepted the clubs decline. We've listened to countless spin attempts to address why fees received haven't been fully reinvested into the playing squad (the Cresswell and Mings money springs to mind). Bottom line is Evans tenure has been a complete disaster. It's about time he realised how discontent the fans are. Although I suspect Evans will hide behind his countless yes men, the protest in my mind is long over due.

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blueboy1981 added 18:01 - Mar 10 Some of the negatives towards this great idea - only go to prove one of two things, maybe both ... !! - and most of us will know what I mean by that. Get behind the idea - if you're what you claim to be .... !!!
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blueboy1981 added 18:13 - Mar 10 ...... the work of a True ITFC Fan - a credit to the wellbeing of the Club. Has to be applauded, and supported by all True Blues.
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Dozzells_Bobblehat added 18:31 - Mar 10 Don't know if it will get anywhere but a very sensible perspective . Some of the replies on here show the mentality of a small percentage of our fan base . Good luck with it
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