Ipswich chief Bowden: Takeover is paramount

The club's board today agreed to the takeover which will see Evans purchase 87.5% of the club's shares in exchange for clearing the club's £32million debt and investing a further £12million.

And Bowden insists that despite the club's fine start to the season under Jim Magilton, the extra cash was a necessity to push on to the top flight.

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He said: "It is a historic day in this football club's history.

"This level of investment was absolutely essential. If you look at the clubs who have been promoted from this division in the last five years they have all had either a parachute payment or a benefactor.

"We've struggled manfully without either - most notably three seasons ago when we finished third - and this year we have done very well.

"But we are hovering around the play-offs and in order to have a real go at winning promotion we do clearly need to spend more on the playing side.

"Marcus is investing £12million into the club which will all be available in January for Jim to spend on a combination of fees and wages to take this club forward."

Magilton has steered the Tractor Boys to within a point of the play-off places so far this season on the back of a peerless home record.

They had won 12 league games in a row at Portman Road before Saturday's 0-0 draw with Barnsley but have yet to win away ahead of their trip to Bristol City tomorrow night.

And Bowden has insisted that there is no danger of Evans meddling with team affairs at the club despite such a huge investment.

Bowden said: "Marcus won't be on the board, he is on hardly any boards of the many businesses he owns but is the owner and ultimately has the controlling interest.

"But the day-to-day running of the club won't change and myself and the chairman and the rest of the management team will stay in place.

"I don't think we should be xenophobic, there is a lot of good investment from abroad, but the fact that this is an English businessman who has some connection with Suffolk in his past is very exciting.

"He has set no timescale on promotion but we have our own. We want to really push on this year and then move on strongly next year. We want to get into the Premier League as quickly as we can."

Magilton is in only his second season as a manger but Bowden was also at pains to emphasise that the club had no plans to replace him with a more experienced man and has every faith that the former Northern Ireland midfielder will guide them to promotion.

He said: "Jim's tenure at the club only began last season and we've made great strides forward.

"Jim has just signed a new two-and-a-half year contract and that is a clear statement that we intend to keep him here."