How GameChanger 20 Ltd. revived Ipswich Town FC

Read how the new owners of Ipswich Town FC, GameChanger 20 Ltd., revived the club from a struggling third-division side to a Premier League prospect.

With Leicester City’s promotion bid to the Premier League facing a new challenge, the spotlight has once again begun to shine on Ipswich Town FC, one of England’s only clubs who have never lost in a European match at home and were languishing in League One until last year. The resurgence of the club has come as sort of a shock to many, with the club now looking to make a comeback to the Premier League after two decades with a possible automatic promotion spot in the Championship under the ownership of GameChanger 20 Ltd. 

Ipswich Town FC History: A tale of meteoric ups and downs

Ipswich Town has seen a history of meteoric ups and downs. The club won the league in 1961–62 immediately after gaining promotion. But The Tractor Boys were relegated back to the second division by 1964. In the following decades, Ipswich Town FC won an FA Cup and a UEFA Cup and ended up playing in all three European club competitions, defeating heavyweights of European football like Real Madrid, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Lazio, and Barcelona. The last time club gained promotion to the English top division was in 2000. The Blues did well in their first season and finished at fifth position, securing a place in the UEFA Cup. However, known for inconsistency, they were again relegated in the 2001–02 season. This, though, was also a major setback for the club, as Ipswich went into administration due to this relegation from the Premier League. The period of uncertainty was, thankfully, short-lived, as the football club managed to come out of administration by the 2003–04 season, clearing its debts of £35 million and returning to striving for a successful Premier League promotion.

The Premier League, however, remained elusive to Ipswich for the next two decades as the club continued to remain in the Championship, with things getting worse for the club before getting better as they went down in 2019 to League One, ending its 63-year-long stay in the top two divisions of English football. This was also a moment of reckoning for Ipswich’s owner at the time, Marcus Evans, who ended up selling the club in 2021. 

GameChanger 20 Ltd: Unexpected Ipswich Town FC owners and sudden revival of fortunes

The nature of the new owners of Ipswich Town FC was, however, what became the centre of conversation over the structure of the deal. The purchase was made by GameChanger 20 Ltd., a company formed just for the purpose of owning the club. The majority of shares (90%) of this company were held not by a private company or hedge fund but rather by ORG, an investment firm responsible for managing pension funds in the US. 5% of GameChanger 20 Ltd. is held by former Ipswich Town FC owner Marcus Evans. The remaining 5% stake was bought by a consortium called Three Lions, consisting of three American investors: Brett Johnson, Berke Bakay, and Mark Detmer. Together, they have brought an understanding of business to the club that is based on security and potential. They have been responsible for clearing £100 million of debt from Ipswich’s accounts and for significantly upgrading the facilities across the club. 

The Americans’ takeover of the club has led to a complete revival of not only the infrastructure of the club but has extended to the touchline too. In 2021, the club appointed Keiran McKenna, who was part of the assistant staff to Manchester United managers Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and Ralf Ragnick. The appointment saw an immediate change in fortune for the club, with the club achieving an immediate promotion in the following season and giving Leicester City a run for their money for the title of the Championship. But the club’s main target still remains aiming for consecutive promotions, which will be a feat no less impressive than the title-winning season of 1962 that remains the overarching peak of the club.