Marcus Evans big interview: Town’s budget is ‘14th, 15th in Championship’

Martyn Waghorn left Ipswich Town to sign for Derby County in the summer. Picture: DERBY COUNTY (Image: Archant)

The Blues’ latest set of published accounts, for the financial year 2017/18, showed the wage bill had risen from £17.8m to £18.5m.

That figure is likely to have reduced following last summer’s transfer business – established players like Martyn Waghorn, David McGoldrick and Joe Garner replaced by an influx of lower league recruits.

MORE: Read our exclusive Evans interview in full

Evans said: “I reckon that if you take out the seven or eight clubs with parachute payments, then the three or four others who are just chucking money at it, I would say we rank, of the remaining 12, we are probably fourth or fifth there. We’re certainly not at the bottom.

Big earner David McGoldrick left Town for Sheffield United in the summer. Picture: PA SPORT (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

“I would say we will always rank in that little bit there, whereas some of the clubs that throw money at it tend to find, two or three years later, to be down below us in terms of budget.

“Out of the 24 clubs I’d probably put us at 14th, 15th.”

MORE: Marcus - Why I didn’t spend in January 2015

He added: “I completely and utterly understand the fans’ frustrations. If I was on the other side of the table it would be so easy to say ‘spend three million on that player’ or ‘spend six million on that player’ and ‘if we had just spent £10million in that window...’

“But sit down and think about you writing out a cheque for £10 million quid on something that has got the level of certainty this particular business has.

“People might say ‘well you shouldn’t own a football club then’. Well I do at the moment and nobody has come along and offered something that is better for Ipswich. We are where we are.”