Town director of sales Rosie Richardson believes Ed Sheeran’s sponsorship of the Blues will resonate with supporters and help increase the club’s global reach, the pop star’s one-year deal having been revealed this morning.
Sheeran, 30, will have a currently unexplained logo - probably relating to an upcoming greatest hits tour - on the front of the Town men’s and women’s first-team shirts for the season ahead.
"It’s phenomenal, isn’t it?” Richardson said at a press conference ahead of the announcement. "We are so delighted that Ed is supporting the club in this way.
"He’s a huge, huge fan, he attends games as often as he can home and away and to have his support in this manner is phenomenal.
"He is a worldwide superstar but ultimately, he’s local and he’s huge fan of Ipswich Town Football Club.”
She says talks with Sheeran have been ongoing for some time: "Ed and I and his management team have collaborated and worked on various different projects over the years and we’ve been talking about this for a little while,” she added.
"I’m just absolutely delighted that we can make the announcement today because, as you can imagine, it’s been the best-kept secret for some time.” She says the move isn’t linked to the recent takeover: "Not related to that in any way. I’ve been working on this for a little while but I’ve been working with Ed and his management team for some time over many years. "Back in 2019, the Divide logo was featured on the shirts for his concert tour which concluded in Ipswich and it looked so good, so here we are now!” Given Sheeran’s profile, his logo’s presence on Town’s shirts will increase the club’s profile in the new owners’ US as well as elsewhere across the globe. "He is a worldwide superstar and clearly Ipswich has quite a strong support base across the water as well. A lovely link there.” She added: "We’re creating new history, I guess. In years gone by we’ve had lots of local organisations that have adorned the front of the shirts, so to have Ed’s brand appear it means a whole lot of love towards the club from him and everybody associated with it. "And I think as well this will resonate with supporters. Everybody seems to be a huge, huge fan of Ed. Ed is a huge fan of Ipswich Town, so there’s an evident synergy there.” Richardson confirmed that the deal as it stands is for 2021/22 but could potentially be extended: "Initially it’s a one-season agreement, so we’ll see what the future holds.” Quizzed on the finances involved, she added: "It’s a significant investment, certainly the monies associated with it will just contribute towards the running of the club.” Regarding the meaning of the logo which will appear on the shirts, Richardson said: "That’s something for Ed to reveal in due course, so watch out for any announcements from Ed later in the year.” She says Sheeran is delighted with the deal: "This is another way in which he is able to show his support for the club and the local community and what it means to him. "He comes to as many games as he’s able to, schedules permitting. He’s here at home games, he attends the away games when he’s able to as well. "It was great to be able to work with him back in 2019 when his Divide logo adorned the front of the shirts, so to have this as a permanent feature for the new season, the 2021/22 season, is just brilliant.” Sheeran has yet to have any dialogue with the club’s new US owners but Richardson expects that that will be something which happens in due course. "He will do, I’m sure of that,” she continued. "Certainly, this is something which has been ongoing prior to the takeover, so I think in time, there will be lots of chats.” Asked whether Sheeran has asked about staging a Portman Road concert, something he has previously expressed an interest in, she responded: "Watch this space!” Will the logo be seen elsewhere around the ground once 2021/22 gets under way? "Primarily on the shirts. "Traditionally we have a pre-order scheme generally in operation so the hope is to allow for that pre-order to begin towards the end of May and early June. "I can’t reveal too much on the look of the shirt. All I can tell you is to bear with us and all will be revealed towards the end of May/early June.” While Sheeran will sponsor the senior sides, other organisations’ names will appear on the academy team’s shirts. "We have an U23s shirt sponsor, C-Net Training, and Britton Group is the U18s sponsor,” she said. "And then we have various category sponsors for all the scholar teams as well, so those will continue.” Richardson believes the new sponsor will go down a storm with everyone linked to the club: "Everybody associated with the club, all of the staff, but I think also the supporters will be really pleased and thrilled with who we have on the front of our shirts this season.”What to read next:
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If you saw the match, please give us your player ratings and a mini match report.
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