'Hurt' and 'pride' - Those are the juxtaposing emotions Ipswich Town chairman Mark Ashton is feeling right now.
We know the back story: A four-year exile in League One, back-to-back promotions, the second very much against the odds, and a return to the Premier League following a 22-year absence. The ambitious American owners' project was way ahead of schedule.
We know what followed: Having risen so high, so quickly, the Blues suffered from altitude sickness. A £120m+ transfer spend wasn't able to counteract that. A sobering, so-near-yet-so-far campaign ended with just 22 points recorded, a single home win and a 19th place finish.
"I'm taking a balanced view," said Ashton, speaking exclusively to the EADT and Ipswich Star.
"There's an element of frustration that we'll be plying our trade in the Championship again next season, but that's probably outweighed by a huge sense of pride about the way we've approached the division and the way the club has conducted itself.
“We always knew, going into the biggest and best league on the planet, that this was going to be a challenge.
“If I'm honest with you, from when that amazing night at Coventry (when promotion was effectively sealed last April) it's almost felt like I've been in a snowstorm, literally no time to breathe.
“We went into Huddersfield, into celebrations, into the challenge of retaining Kieran (McKenna), the spotlight of the Premier League, 100 plus projects to deliver at Portman Road, being told we've got Liverpool here in August for the opening game… and that's before you get into player trading, building the squad, contract renegotiations. It feels like that has just continued through the year.
“It's not a complaint, by the way. That's just the world we live in. But getting time to breathe within that, I think, has been a real challenge.
Ipswich Town were relegated from the Premier League with four games to go.Ipswich Town were relegated from the Premier League with four games to go. (Image: PA)
“Could we have been physically any more prepared? Not a chance. Because it took every ounce, every drain of energy, focus, determination, obsession that we all had to drag this football club back into the Premier League. And you know what? No matter what happens, no one can take that away from this team and this management team. Because that was immense. I don't think at that time you probably realised the magnitude of it because you're right in the middle of it.
“Could things have been done differently? We learn every single day. I certainly do. My team certainly does. Kieran certainly does. And I think hindsight's always a wonderful thing. We're mid-morning now and I could look back at this morning and say there's three things I would have done differently.
“I think I'd rather focus on the amount of things that we've done right. And I think the amount of things that we've done right certainly outweighs things that we would have done differently."
The Blues chief continued: "We have a very special manager and very special management team who are incredibly invested in this football club and, for the last probably seven weeks, having known our fate, I think there's been a real hurt.
"I'm struggling to even say this to you. I saw a real hurt in people's eyes I know. I've felt it. I haven't slept well. You just feel it every day because we care so much.
"I think the way Kieran (McKenna) has kept that team competitive and kept them together has been quite incredible.
"You've seen every single club around us in the league, and some very big ones, chop and change managers left, right and centre. I think we've been the best version of ourselves.
Town won just one home league game in 24/25 - against Chelsea at the very end of 2024.Town won just one home league game in 24/25 - against Chelsea at the very end of 2024. (Image: Steve Waller)
"The Premier League have said to us 'you could have had six, seven, eight more points on the board, that's sport, but in our view you've done everything that you physically could do'. The feedback that we've had from other clubs, even clubs around us, has been 'you've done this right, you haven't been a mess throughout the season, you've represented your football club incredibly well'.
"So I think Kieran and his staff, and my team here as well, deserve a hell of a lot of credit because they've kept the club together. I'm very, very proud of that because stability is key and it's important how we roll into next season.
"As I say, it hurts, I'm not going to lie, but you've got to take that hurt and you've got to use it as motivation and be ready to make the best use of time and go again."
He adds: “As we plan to move this football club forward again, it's important that we remember where we've come from. Had we said four years ago, when I sat in this room and the paint was peeling and the walls were leaking, that in 2025 we'd be relegated from the Premier League, we'd purchase players for record numbers, at £20 million-plus, and we would break record sales, at £30 million-plus, we'd have all probably looked a little bit curious at each other. But that's the reality of what we've done.
Ipswich Town chairman Mark Ashton (left), pictured speaking to club legend and ambassador Matt Holland.Ipswich Town chairman Mark Ashton (left), pictured speaking to club legend and ambassador Matt Holland. (Image: Ross Halls)
“There a lot of things to be proud of. We must remember that as we move forward, because when we judge ultimately what success looks like, we have to look at the club on a whole."
When Ipswich were promoted to the Premier League, they did so as major underdogs. Ashton revelled in proving the doubters wrong, saying: "We have a shark mentality. Sharks attack from behind and that’s what we’ve done."
Next season will be very different. Already the Blues have been installed as the bookies' favourites ahead of Southampton, Sheffield United and Birmingham. So how does Ashton feel about the collective mindset shift that's going to be required?
"The hunters will become the hunted, and we've got to be ready for it," he says.
"You can't go into this division with a mindset that it's going to be easy and 'we've got players who've played in the Premier League'. It doesn't work like that.
"I like the routine of the Championship. You get into that roll of games. It's tough, it's hard, nobody gives an inch. Nobody's going to give us respect that we've just been relegated from the Premier League. They are going to come for us. Kieran and I have talked about that. Both on and off the pitch, we have to be ready for that.
"Right now, we need to take a deep breath and we need to move again, but we need to move as one. The fan base has been unbelievable. The comments I get when I meet people, the letters we receive, the way the fans have been with the players, home and away, has blown us all away. We've all found that quite emotional. Next season, Portman Road's got to be a fortress again."
This season we saw differing fortunes for the three teams who'd just dropped down into the Championship. Burnley finished second with 100 points to go straight back up, Sheffield United finished third on 90 points and went on to lose the Play-Off Final, while Luton suffered a successive relegation.
Mark Ashton says he's been overwhelmed by the continued backing shown by supporters during a difficult season.Mark Ashton says he's been overwhelmed by the continued backing shown by supporters during a difficult season. (Image: Ross Halls)
So what is Ipswich's thought process going into 2025/26? Gunning for the title? Have to be top-two contenders? Just get promoted any which way?
"Listen, every single season, I want the ultimate," replies Ashton. "One, I need us to be the very best versions of ourselves every single day, and that goes without saying.
"But my ultimate plan, my ultimate desire, is for this football club to be in the Premier League again as quickly as possible. It is as simple as that. We can't hide away from that.
“When I came here my obsession was ‘I'm taking this League One football club, I'm giving it back to its fan base, I'm going to give it back to its community, I'm going to rebuild it in breakneck speed and get it into the Premier League’. That was what I woke up and thought about every single morning. It was an obsession.
“My vision now has to realign. I want to get this amazing football club back up and I want to keep it up. It's not a huge change, but it's a subtle change in my obsession. Get up, keep us up.
“Projects at the stadium are done now, the training ground will be built, the academy will be Cat One, recruitment will be more filled with knowledge and more effective, the club will naturally be bigger and stronger.
“We have to take our learnings. We need to be more effective and more ready if we go up again."