Town are in the process of acquiring the area of Bent Lane which former owner Marcus Evans retained following the 2021 takeover as part of the multi-million pound redevelopment of the club's training ground which was announced earlier this month.

Evans kept a small area of the land across the road from the Playford Road buildings, which it was understood had the potential to be used for development, as well as taking a five per cent stake in new ownership group Gamechanger 20 Ltd, which has subsequently been diluted to around two per cent.

A statement on the club site this afternoon announced that the Blues are looking to buy more land and TWTD understands that it is the area still owned by Evans which is the subject of their interest.

“Gamechanger 20 Ltd has started the process of acquiring additional land at Playford Road, the club’s training ground,” the statement reads

“With the club’s plans to further develop Playford Road, the acquisition of the land, which is located on the Bent Lane side of the training facility, will play a key role in those developments as the club looks to deliver an elite performance environment for the men’s, women’s and academy squads.”

CEO Mark Ashton added: “I mentioned at the Fans’ Forum that the next big project would be the training ground.

“We’ve invoked architects to work on designs. We need a total rebuild of the training ground for the first team, a more professional environment in which Kieran McKenna can work and develop first-team players.

“We have the new pitches now, but we need a multi-million-pound spend on facilities at the training ground to bring us up to speed.

“In addition to this, further developments for our academy and women’s teams will be included.”

Photo: Blair Ferguson

Bluearmy_81 added 12:58 - Sep 25 Has to be good when not a trace of that man lingers at ITFC. That day can’t come quick enough!
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Europablue added 13:15 - Sep 25 I hate to be pedantic, but ME is not really the former owner when he still holds a minority share. He really should have just sold everything to have a clean break, but it makes sense for him to own part of the club because the return on investment should be very good now that he's not making any key decisions. No doubt he is able to get a better price for the land now he holds it over the club. I'm not one of those who hates ME, he just didn't have the football know-how.

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Radlett_blue added 13:26 - Sep 25 I'm sure Mr Evans will make a tidy profit from the land, to offset some of his huge losses from owning ITFC.
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Suffolkboy added 13:48 - Sep 25 Dwelling on past history wil not get ITFC anywhere ,nor reflect the truly positive and business like enthusiasm being shown by our new owners . From the Board down ,through Mark Ashton and Kieron McKenna we seldom see anything but joined up thinking and an action plan to go with it ! Our training grounds used to belong to Fisons and Cranes ,and being conveniently adjacent present the ideal opportunity for development and expansion ! This news of further progress ,alongside the commitment of architects already is another exciting step forward . COYB

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blues1 added 13:48 - Sep 25 Europablue. Holding shares in the club doesn't make you an owner or thered be a lot of fans who could claim to be the owners. The share he has gives him no say whatsoever in the club. Its purely symbolic. And would eventually disappear totally anyway.
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Lion added 14:28 - Sep 25 We're on the up, something special is happening at our club. There is magic in the air, you can feel it. Never, ever, ever again can we be in a position when the scum are coming in to our town and taking our best youngsters, it is sickening and i know many ex town pros feel the same. I know there are arguments against it but I think we need to be a category 1 academy club and this will only accelerate the process. Up the Towan.

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ArnieM added 14:45 - Sep 25 Evans will drive a hard bargain I suspect.
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runningout added 14:46 - Sep 25 Pointless slagging off the previous owner at this stage!! We all know it was a big mess for ages from a mixture of poor decisions. The difference now is remarkable, so to dwell on those rubbish times is no help to soul
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ChrisR added 15:09 - Sep 25 Beats me how ME made his fortune considering his awful ITFC management appointments ,but at least he wrote off the £100 million debt to enable the Gamechanger take over , and did save the club when faced with bankruptcy.
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Bluearmy_81 added 15:50 - Sep 25 Evans did not save the club ffs! There were other potential buyers, it was our bad luck he was chosen. He was a complete unmitigated disaster for ITFC but some like Suffolkboy still mindblowingly sympathise with him and his tenure. How many town fans died of Covid while we were a joke club due to him?!! Never ever again such unwavering patience in the face of such abject failure town fans!!

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Bluearmy_81 added 16:07 - Sep 25 Radlett does he really deserve Mr Evans?!! Ffs evans is the best I’ll ever refer to him as and there’s far worse!
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Europablue added 16:54 - Sep 25 Bluearmy_81 I'm not sure what relevance COVID has to anything! We can't take back those bad years, so we might as well see how far we've come and enjoy the contrast. Bit harsh on Lee Evans. He's a decent squad member, not sure why everyone is so down on the poor man!
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tractorboybig added 17:04 - Sep 25 surely evans saved this club from extinction? just a dippo in the way he ran it.
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Bert added 17:34 - Sep 25 Opinion is one thing but to distort the truth is another.
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Saxonblue74 added 17:50 - Sep 25 Nicely put Bert
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Dissboyitfc added 18:30 - Sep 25 Bluearmy let me educate you! Evans did save the club, he did an awful job running it, that part is true! But watch life's a pitch tv and you will hear David Sheepshanks saying that he had to work quite hard to convince Evans, there was no queue and NOBODY else! If you are interested in the facts, listen to the above at the hour mark. But get your facts right before writing rubbish! Lets not forget he did a good sell on clause!

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IpswichT62OldBoy added 19:42 - Sep 25 TWTD sources understand that Mr Evans has plans to build a luxury ranch style bungalow with: an Olympic size Jacuzzi, 200ft observation platform serviced by cablecar, helipad, barracks for his minions and some sort of underground secret lair, the Borough Council need more information regarding drainage and disabled access before signing off the plans. He would of course be living there, running his organisation. Good luck buying that off him.

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churchmans added 20:28 - Sep 25 Blue army81 and every body else! We all know how bad the club was under ME tenure but if not for him we could of been a bury or points deduction! He tried and it didn't work out! (FACT)t was ME who saved the club from going into administration for a second time! (FACT) it was ME who wiped out all the clubs debt and brought in gamechanger (FACT) wtf has over the top covid got to do with any of it

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Bluearmy_81 added 20:40 - Sep 25 Ah could be worse could be Bury?!! Not heard that one for ages!! Statue for Evans? You’re without doubt the weirdest fans in the country
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Bluearmy_81 added 20:49 - Sep 25 Diss you held an eternal candle for your man evans and only now can we see what might have been years ago had town fans had the balls to stand up for their club and demand action/change when that was needed. What we have at the club now shows just how wrong you were to stand by Evans. You got it about as wrong as was possible. Just be a man along with all your lickspittle fellow sycophants on here and admit it

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Keanos_Barmy added 21:02 - Sep 25 Nice that this piece of land, Bent Lane, has been named after one of our legends of the past - Marcus Bent.
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Europablue added 07:33 - Sep 26 Keanos_Barmy I always thought it was named after Darren Bent ;)
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Dissboyitfc added 07:36 - Sep 26 Bluearmy we can all see and admit the club was worse than most of us thought! My post was referring to your post and its inaccuracies !! I assume you will watch the said episode of LIFES A PITCH to get yourself up to date with the facts!
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Bluearmy_81 added 08:04 - Sep 26 Still holding the candle Diss…
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therein61 added 18:56 - Sep 26 There are people who walk around wearing blinkers that cannot see the truth of a situation even if it hit them in the face with a bit of 4x2 but hey ho that period is done and dusted and not worth dragging up when we have so much to look forward to, There are so called supporters on here who would find something to whinge about if we won the champions league!! while revelling in their own favourite team having an open bus tour for getting a corner.

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