Ipswich Town: Kieran Maguire on what promotion would mean financially

The Blues are now just one point away from securing promotion to the Premier League, having last featured in the top flight in the 2001/2002 campaign.

Of course, football has changed a lot since then, with finances at the highest level reaching new heights on a yearly basis. As a result, Town are set to reap the rewards if they can avoid defeat against Huddersfield Town on Saturday afternoon, with Maguire predicting that all aspects of the local area will benefit from it.

“If we take a look at Ipswich Town’s accounts last year, they generated £21 million of income,” he told BBC Radio Suffolk. “That’s likely to come up to about £30 million this year with the enhanced TV deal you get in the Championship.

“If you then compare them to the bottom side in the Premier League, which was Southampton last season, Southampton generated just under £140 million. We’re talking a four, four and a half times boost to income.

“You’ve then got all of the ancillary benefits in terms of tourism, you’ve got vox pops coming from TV stations all around the world.

A place in the top flight would provide a big boost to the local economy (Image: Pagepix)

“Brighton did an economic impact report last season which showed that being in the Premier League brought £600 million of benefits to the broader economy of the town or city.

“The Premier League is exported to 197 different countries around the world. The TV deals are amazing, the level of commitment from overseas fans who are just as desperate to watch Premier League matches as we are domestically is huge.

“Therefore, if you are hosting the world champions Manchester City or a club of the calibre of Liverpool or Chelsea or Arsenal, that does bring additional attention.

“Local chambers of commerce, hospitality, industry locally, because you’ll be having international fans coming to Ipswich who wouldn’t necessarily have come before. All of that can give a significant boost to the local economy.”

In terms of the squad, it’s vital that Ipswich get it right if they do confirm promotion on Saturday. Some clubs have made little to no changes going into Premier League and have suffered as a result, while others have paid the price for overspending in order to establish themselves at a higher level. The latter can lead to points deductions and other significant penalties.

Town will want to end up somewhere in the middle. Brighton and Brentford are both strong case studies of how to achieve that, and Maguire knows that the Blues will have to follow a similar pathway.

Both Nottingham Forest and Everton have received points deductions in the Premier League this season (Image: PA)

“I think it’s absolutely essential,” he explained. “We’ve seen a few clubs historically go up, spend a fortune, it’s not worked out and then they’ve crashed and burned back to the Championship.

“All of a sudden, you’ve got players who are on contracts worth £40,000 or £50,000 a week. Yes, they’ve probably taken a minor cut in terms of relegation clauses, but you’re having to pay Premier League wages back in the Championship. That can take a huge hit to the club’s finances.

“Getting the decisions right is absolutely essential. You’ve got to have a long-term strategy, and of course, the nature of football is that 10 days is a long, long time because you’ve got three potential fixtures then. If they’re three victories or three defeats, they can have a huge impact in terms of promotion and relegation and so on.

“Having a board who are in line in thinking with the manager as to the strategy of the club to, first of all, establish yourself in the Premier League and then push on from there, is absolutely critical.”

On the flip side, Ipswich’s financial muscle would be significant - if not within the sphere of the Premier League, certainly in the wider view of global football.

In recent months we’ve seen mid-table clubs beat some of Europe’s heavyweights to certain signings because they have the backing to do so. CEO Mark Ashton will know that the club will have to be ambitious, and Maguire believes that we could see that come to fruition in the coming weeks.

CEO Mark Ashton will hope to be ambitious in the summer transfer window (Image: Ross Halls)

“I think they’ll be able to be very competitive because of the success of the Premier League,” he added.

“A club that has been promoted is able to pay a level of wage and is able to go and commit to the transfer market, which effectively outpaces every other club in Europe with the exception of what you might refer to as the ‘senior teams’, the clubs who are regularly appearing in the Champions League and the Europa League and so on.

“Ipswich Town will have a bigger budget than every team in Belgium, probably every team in the Netherlands bar the likes of Ajax and so on.

“It does mean that you can attract good players. Of course, if they then prove themselves in the Premier League, you then have accept that there will always be eyes enviously watching - whether that’s Kieran McKenna, whether that’s someone that you sign or whether that’s someone who comes through your youth ranks.

“That’s part and parcel of the broader issue of the Premier League because the Premier League itself is in fact two or three separate divisions.

“You’ve got the big six, perhaps the big seven with Newcastle. You’ve then got an established middle class and six or seven teams at the bottom who are trying to get into that middle class. They’ve all got slightly different budgets.”