OWNER Marcus Evans has been booted out of an Ipswich Town supporters' club for 'disrespecting' ex-players.Members of the Ipswich Town Independent Supporters Club have not been happy with the way Evans has been running the club and were further angered when we revealed former players, associate directors and guests, had had some of their match-day privileges withdrawn and were now being asked to pay £1.

Derek Davis

OWNER Marcus Evans has been booted out of an Ipswich Town supporters' club for 'disrespecting' ex-players.

Members of the Ipswich Town Independent Supporters Club have not been happy with the way Evans has been running the club and were further angered when we revealed former players, associate directors and guests, had had some of their match-day privileges withdrawn and were now being asked to pay £1.60 for a pre-match cup of tea.

That was the last straw for ITISC, and chairman Malcolm Thompson, who said: “I wrote to Marcus Evans last week to tell him that we at ITISC have terminated his honorary membership after he disrespected the ex-players by penny pinching etc.

“It's a disgrace to insult the guys who put Ipswich on the map and who put the three stars on the shirts.''

Although Evans has allowed manager Jim Magilton to spend more than £6m on new players since his take-over last December, Thompson feels that fans don't believe there has been a significant improvement on the pitch.

Thompson said: “I believe the club has gone backwards since his take-over and I believe he should be seen and also the accounts should be made public as well.

“The family club has gone and it saddens me - I wish we, the fans, could do more to get him to make himself known.

“We have tried and now we are fed up with him, hence why we have terminated his membership from the club.”

Although not a regular at matches, Evans does attend some games and watches the game from an executive box, which he has had especially redecorated with white leather walls and mirrors.

When the row over ex-players paying for refreshments was first revealed, a club spokesman said: “Marcus Evans has always made it clear that his priority is to provide the backing to the manager to strengthen the squad and that has clearly been evident with the number of signings made since January.

“A number of those players have been prised away from the Premier League. The costs of running the football club continue to rise and indeed Ipswich Town Football Club's operating loss is now subsidised by Marcus Evans. “Accordingly, we have trimmed expenditure off field where possible and seek to recover our costs throughout the business as any commercially-run organisation would.”