Don’t be surprised if you spot recording artists Chipmunk and Tinchy Stryder at forthcoming Town games because the pair are friends of Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and Lee Martin respectively.
Chipmunk — real name Jahmaal Noel Fyffe — and Emmanuel-Thomas first met as youngsters at Arsenal and the pair are regularly in contact. There was even talk of them teaming up for a record release but that has yet to happen.
It was during their time in the Wimbledon Academy that Stryder, then Kwasi Danquah III, and Martin got to know each other.
Stryder, whose roots are in Ghana, later featured in Leyton Orient’s youth team before turning to music full-time but another connection between the pair is that the singer supports Manchester United, the club from whom Ipswich signed Martin, and even has his own executive box at Old Trafford.
Martin said: "We know each other quite well and he was tweeting recently that he was trying to get in contact with me because he’d lost my number. There’s a funny story I could tell you but I won’t repeat it — sorry about that but it’s not for printing.
"We saw each other on a Saturday recently but after taking down my number he went and lost it. He was a good footballer back in our Wimbledon days but always a bit on the short side and he never really grew. All the lads had ability back then but it’s often about how you grow and develop.
"I was saying to him that he should come up and see us. I told him Chipmunk came and watched our games and we could start our own group. I’d be backing singer or dancer. He’s a good lad and I hope to see him at Portman Road one of these days.”