EXCLUSIVE

Ipswich Town: Kieran Maguire on Blues as bookies’ promotion favourites.

Ipswich Town are the bookmakers’ favourites to win promotion to the Premier League next season, but does their financial edge in the Championship justify that?

The Blues invested substantially in the top flight, but it was insufficient to keep them there. They now return to the second tier with a stronger roster than in 2023/24, albeit several players will look to leave before the season begins.

At least one of the three relegated teams usually recovers quickly. In terms of resources, there is a huge difference between teams who receive parachute payouts and those that do not.

Of course, Southampton, Leicester City, and Sheffield United will compete for automatic promotion, but does Town have what it takes to finish ahead of them? “I think that the bookies have probably got it right,” football finance specialist Kieran Maguire told the East Anglian Daily Times and Ipswich Star. “We’ve seen parachute payments transform into trampoline payments over the last two years.

“Both Burnley and Leeds United received parachute payments and were automatically promoted. Sheffield United had a chance to be promoted, but they fell to Sunderland in the play-off final.

Burnley returned to the Premier League at the first time of asking (Image: PA)

“Congratulations, Sunderland. It was a good battle, albeit quite stressful. I’m pleased I wasn’t emotionally invested in it, just observing as a spectator. “There is an opportunity.

Portman Road is an excellent stadium with a solid fanbase and a reasonable capacity. I believe you have owners with the resources and willingness to support the management during the summer.

“People are questioning if we have two or three Premier Leagues. We have a large seven or eight, followed by the middle classes and nine to ten clubs vying for six slots in the Championship and Premier League.

“I believe Ipswich Town has all the resources to join that group. They have been up and down, and are properly seen as a club with the potential to recover. “I think it will be an exciting season.

” There is, of course, the possibility of complacency. Luton Town, for example, were anticipated to compete for a top-two finish last season after relegation from the Premier League. Instead, they placed 22nd and were relegated to League One.

Some observers believe the Blues are on a same path, and supporters are equally concerned about what happened to the Hatters. However, Maguire says there is no need for fear.

“If I was an Ipswich fan, I wouldn’t be worried at all,” he told me. “The two clubs share nothing in common.

Maguire doesn’t believe that the Blues are at risk of following Luton Town’s spiral post-relegation (Image: PA)

“If you look at Luton’s budget, they spent £27 million signing Premier League players. That was with a group that advanced swiftly. Congratulations on getting there, but the owners practically stated, “We are now budgeting to be relegated.” “If you look at the average salaries they were paying, and we’re not going to bring out the world’s smallest violin here, it was only £25,000 per week. The Premier League average is between £65k and £70k. You have clubs where the average wage is £170k or £180k.

“They didn’t have a Premier League squad, so there would be a ‘all for one, one for all’ mentality in the dressing room. “I went there on a Tuesday night in late January, and I am a Brighton supporter. Luton really dominated us, winning 4-0, which suited Brighton. “I thought, ‘Well, if they can keep this level of camaraderie, they have a good chance of staying up.'” That was their last win of the season. They experienced a very difficult end to the season. “The money they earned from being in the Premier League was basically banked and utilised to construct the new stadium. We saw no investment in new players in 2024/25.

“We didn’t see many sales because the general view among Premier League teams was that, while Luton’s squad did well to get to the Premier League, they lacked Premier League level players.

Town will aim to secure a top-two finish next season (Image: Ross Halls)

“I believe Luton are a very different place than Ipswich because Ipswich have made that investment in their team. They have a larger stadium, more match attendance, higher commercial revenue, and higher commercial appeal thanks to the sponsors.

“I don’t anticipate a replication of what we’ve seen at Luton.” Fans will expect Ipswich to be in the promotion mix next season. If they miss out, they only have a limited length of time before their parachute payments expire.

As a result, there will be a strong desire to return to the top division as soon as possible, but Maguire contends that this isn’t always where fans enjoy football the most.

“Because Ipswich were relegated immediately following promotion, they only get two years’ worth of parachute payments rather than three,” explained the player. “That means that their monetary edge will only be available for the next two seasons. “We discuss the value of self-worth, self-reflection, self-analysis, and so on, but is it vital for you as an Ipswich fan to follow the team in the Premier League, or just Ipswich? This is a more abstract, esoteric question.

“I’ve spoken with some Leeds United fans since they got promoted. What shocked me, but perhaps hasn’t surprised me, is that they enjoy being top dog in the Championship and going to away games with the expectation of a win, as opposed to partying like it’s Christmas if it’s 0-0, as is the situation in the Premier League.

Mark Ashton wants to see a change in football’s finance rules (Image: Ross Halls)

“Do you want to be a giant fish in a tiny pond, or a small fish, or tiddler, in a much larger pond? That is a discussion to have. “If you don’t get promoted in the first two seasons, like Norwich and Watford, we’ve had clubs like Stoke. Stoke’s owners, Bet365, are most likely the richest in England.

I know there was a formal sale, but it is currently owned by the Coates family, formerly of Bet365. “They have been extremely kind owners, both the corporation and the Coates family. Yes, they were relegated in 2018, and seven or eight years later, I don’t believe they have finished higher than 14th.

“There is a risk that you will not get into the routine of being in the Championship. That can be rather soul-destroying, especially if you’re not terrible enough to be relegated and aren’t bothering the scorers in a play-off campaign.

“Fans become weary, but this is common in the Premier League. Consider what happened to Stoke in the Premier League. They used to finish eighth or ninth every season. It was the same with Charlton 15 or 20 years ago, and look what has happened to them since, albeit I welcome that they have returned. “It’s an odd sensation when your realistic goals are limited to finishing in the top half of the standings.

“I support Brighton; we finished seventh. This was the club’s second-best finish ever. The majority of fans said,’meh’.

It should be noted that Crystal Palace’s FA Cup victory did not improve matters. That was arguably the biggest source of pain at the Amex! “Our final match of the season was at home against Liverpool, who had just won the Premier League, but the stadium was not full. People struggle to motivate themselves, which is why there were vacant seats all around me.

“Personally, I don’t care about those people. I witnessed us beat Liverpool, which was wonderful. It was a fantastic game of football, and I support my team regardless of category.

“I have to accept that I’m not a representative of the whole fanbase.”

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