Mark Ashton used a BBC Radio Suffolk interview to frame Ipswich's next phase as more than staying up. The chairman, who has been in the role since 2021, said the club have been promoted to the top flight twice on his watch and won their third promotion in five seasons in May, but he wants the next step to be sustainable Premier League football and European qualification.
Ashton's long-term target
"I want it sustainably in the Premier League, I want it knocking on European football, I want it playing European football," Ashton said. He also said, "I have one goal and that's to make this football club the best it can be."
That sits well beyond a basic survival message. Ipswich sit 12th in the Premier League ahead of Saturday's trip to Hull City, with 10 points from eight matches and three league wins already this season. Ashton also said he wants people to look at the club and feel Sir Bobby Robson and Sir Alf Ramsey would have been proud of the way success has been built.
O'Neil's calm start and the rebuild around him
Ashton said Gary O'Neil arrived "really calmly" and "very focused" after replacing Kieran McKenna at the end of last season. He added: "Without that calm leadership I don't think you get the points on the board."
The transfer window formed part of that same push. Ashton said the investors "push hard" and that they pushed hardest in the summer window, while the club brought in Emersonn as the first Brazilian, Sasa Lukic as the first Serbian and Daizen Maeda as the first Japanese player to join. He also said plans to develop Portman Road and the area around it will come out over the coming months, with no set timetable attached.
Ipswich's league position is good enough to let Ashton talk about a bigger horizon, but not good enough to make Europe anything more than an ambition. The real test comes at Hull on Saturday, when the club try to back up his words with another result.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
