There is little doubt that superstar Ed Sheeran has his mind on Ipswich Town when he is not touring the world. His old school chum, known to his mates as ‘The Professor’, says that Ed has other grandiose plans that might reach fruition later this year.
One of the ideas he has considered is to reward in some way the travelling faithful. One idea mooted was to give them all a one-off drinks voucher to the value of 10 quid. It might not seem like a lot but on average over 1,000 town fans travel to away matches, and that would amount to at least 10,000 pounds! Another idea he proposed apparently was to pay something towards travel costs, but it is more complicated than they first anticipated so this idea might be shelved. The third possibility was to hand out programmes at half-price for one home game in the season but of course, this would not just benefit the away following. Personally, I think he has already done more than enough! Norwich have Delia Smith and Stephen Fry but we have a new talent!
He is one of the greatest advertisements for Ipswich Town, whether he is in the stands watching – or simply helping to design the black-out third kit, which he has worn in concert. CEO Mark Ashton speaking last night at the Fans Forum said he was delighted with the sales so far. “The third kit – the black kit, we did 5,500 sales in 48 hours. Incredible. Just incredible!” Ashton went on the thank Ed for his continued support and sponsorships. “I think if you’re Manchester United, Chelsea, Real Madrid, you can’t buy that kind of exposure. It just takes it to a whole different level and we’re just so grateful for his humility, his humbleness, his support of his hometown club.”
Sheeran also said that when he can find the time he would like to watch Town a lot more. Writing, touring and producing music is a very time-consuming process, and he is currently playing catch-up after that demoralising Covid pandemic. His friend said that when things normalise we can expect to see a lot more of Ed at Portman Road!
Ed Sheeran is an unusual phenomenon in the music world. Incredibly popular but a genuinely well-grounded guy. Musically not really my cup of tea! My tastes run from Iron Maiden and the Dandy Warhols to Fats Waller and the classical music greats.
But who cares what I think. We are very lucky to have Ed on board at ITFC.
I have felt for some time that Town’s brand of football is better suited to the Championship than to League 1. So when we go up we will stay up and then push on to the Premire League.
Given the ongoing development of Portman Road, I wonder what the plan is to boost our existing capacity of just under 30000. It used to be 38000 and I think that would be a good figure to get back to. What are your thoughts Frank? Would 38000 be too big or too small for us or just about right?
Thanks, Richard. I would think 40,000 would be more than adequate. Our record attendance of 38,010 was for a sixth round FA Cup match against Leeds United on the 8th of March 1975. Another 2,000 would be about where we want to be as we rise through the league pyramid.