Suffolk pop superstar Ed Sheeran has spoken about how he came to be the new shirt sponsor for his beloved Ipswich Town - and his hopes for the Blues next season.
The club revealed earlier this month that Framlingham's Sheeran, a long-time Town fan, will sponsor the men's and women's first team kits for 2021/22.
The logo to be printed on the shirts includes the symbols +, x and % - the titles of Sheeran's first three albums - as well as minus and equals symbols, above the word 'tour'.
And, speaking to BBC Radio One ahead of his performance on their 'Big Weekend', the 30-year-old singing sensation explained how the partnership came about.
He said: "I just enquired, and I was like 'Do you guys need a sponsor?' And they were like 'Yeah, for sure.'
"So it's been a cool process. It must have been around the end of the Divide tour, because we'd done the shirts with them.
"For the last Divide gig in Ipswich, I did an Ipswich Town kit with Divide on, and it must have been then that I asked.
"It's been a long process. It's been a long, long process."
The news was met with an almost overwhelmingly positive reaction from Town fans and the wider footballing community, with Sheeran suggesting that could be because of the much-maligned and now scrapped plans for a European Super League.
He said: "I think the positive reaction stems from the negative reaction of the European Super League.
"I think that it's like a polar opposite of like really, really rich people that own the team and kind of monetise the team and then just like people who love a team and want to see a team do well, I think."
Of his hopes for Town next season, Sheeran added: "They have new owners, I think a good attitude, they've got a great new manager and next season we could be promoted, we'll see."
And Sheeran also revealed there are perks about being Town's sponsor.
“I do get a box but I have pushed the box back until after the tour," he said. "I’ve got a tour, I haven’t announced the tour yet, but the tour goes on for a while. I was going to have a box and not be able to see any games, so I’ve pushed the box to after the tour.
“I get a player tracksuit with my initials on, I get one of them. I saw the contract and you get given a load of shirts. I think it’s usually companies that do it so they have shirts for all their company’s [personnel], signed footballs if you want signed footballs.
“There’s all stuff like that. I don’t think I’m going to take them up on everything, but definitely the player tracksuit.
“I’ve got three schoolmates that are mad Ipswich Town fans, I want to get them in the tracksuits. We’re talking about doing away days in them, going to like Fleetwood and rocking up.”
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