Ipswich CEO reveals Ed Sheeran helped club sign player before Taylor Swift concert

Sheeran fulfilled a "football fan's dream" in August when he purchased a minority stake in his hometown club which earned promotion to the top flight last season but he did not join their board.

However, Sheeran does have an executive box at the Portman Road Stadium and when he was told a prospective recruit was a big fan, he immediately came to their rescue to seal the deal.

"In the summer we were trying to persuade one particular player to join the football club and realised very quickly that he was an Ed Sheeran fan," Ashton said at a Soccerex event in Miami.

"Ed jumped on a Zoom call with him at the training ground just before he stepped on stage with Taylor Swift. Hopefully that was a key part of getting the player across the line.

"We've gone from the third tier of English football to the Premier League, but we haven't forgotten our roots and Ed's a key part of that, the work that we do in our local communities is central to us."

Although Ashton did not reveal who the player was, he added: "He's certainly scoring a few goals!"

Only two Ipswich players have scored more than one goal this season - Liam Delap, who was signed from Manchester City in July, and Sammie Szmodics who joined the club from Blackburn Rovers in August.

Sheeran had performed with Swift during her Eras Tour concert at Wembley Stadium a day before Ipswich announced the signing of Szmodics.

The Irish forward also posted a picture celebrating with Sheeran after his overhead kick goal against Tottenham Hotspur earlier this month gave Ipswich their first win of the season.