Ever since leaving the Portman Road boardroom, FLW has been looking into Marcus Evans’s profile.

After being promoted to the Championship, Ipswich Town has now earned the most points of any newly promoted team thus far, with 28 out of a possible 33.

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The arrival of Kieran McKenna has contributed to the general optimism at Portman Road, but the upturn started even before his arrival. In April 2021, Gamechanger 20 LTD acquired a majority stake in the club, ending Marcus Evans’ 14-year tenure as the Tractor Boys’ principal owner.

How did Ipswich Town perform during Marcus Evans’ tenure?

Evans paid off the club’s debts of £32 million and invested an additional £12 million to acquire an 87.5% majority interest in December 2007, while Ipswich was also among the top teams in the Championship table under Jim Magilton.

Town, however, was unable to make it back to the Premier League for the first time since 2001–02. The closest they would get was in the 2014–15 season, when Mick McCarthy led his team to the play-offs, where they lost to fierce rivals Norwich City 4–2 on aggregate in the semi-finals.

Town would then falter and end up relegated with just 31 points in the 2018–19 season, 13 points outside of safety. During this campaign, there were first rumours that Evans wanted to end his stint in the Portman Road boardroom. At the time, there were rumours that he wanted a £35 million sale, but he refused to write off any debts.

In a statement following the club’s takeover two years prior, he disclosed that although he would continue to be involved with the new ownership’s business, he would buy 5% of Gamechanger and relinquish day-to-day management of the team.

“However, I plan to divorce myself from any day-to-day responsibilities and get back to following the Town as a highly interested, passionate and vested fan.”

Evans’s company, Marcus Evans Group, is currently celebrating 40 years in business. Evans continues to make his money in the hospitality, conferencing, and media industries.

Since its foundation in 1983, the organisation has employed over 3,000 employees in 59 locations and produced over 30,000 events with over 500,000 speakers.

His most recent disclosed net worth was revealed by the Sunday Times’ Rich List for 2023, which valued the 60-year-old at £985 million, placing him 173rd among the UK’s richest men and moving him up seven spots from his 2022 rating.

Evans has been connected to return to football after leaving Ipswich Town; in 2021 and 2022, he was linked to both Derby County and Huddersfield Town.

After accruing a 21-point deduction for breaking EFL regulations, Evans was reportedly “one of many parties to have registered a ‘firm’ interest” in taking over at Pride Park during a season that would conclude in relegation.But before they could enter League One themselves, David Clowes would take over the team.