MASKED RAID IS SUCCESS!

Blues fans hail CEO Ashton’s impact...

- Jon Couch

IT’S not often that a club’s chief executive becomes the subject of terrace banter between rival supporters, but then Mark Ashton is no ordinary CEO.

While rookie Irishman Kieran McKenna and his exciting brand of football have been credited with turning around the fortunes of Ipswich Town, Ashton’s role upstairs should not be underestimated.

And on his first return to Bristol City – the club Ashton left to join the Portman Road ranks under the new Gamechanger ownership in April 2021 – the travelling Tractor Boys, all 3,000 of them, were quick to acknowledge his contribution, too.

Fans chanted his name while some even donned face masks of the bearded supremo as Nathan Broadhead’s firsthalf winner ensured Ashton’s long-term project at Town took another step towards its end goal at the very home of the legacy he left behind.

Ashton proudly looked on from the directors’ box at Ashton Gate as Ipswich held their nerve to bag a tenth Championship win to move to within five points of leaders Leicester with a game in hand, and nine clear of Leeds in third.