Soccer Football - Premier League - Ipswich Town v Leicester City - Portman Road, Ipswich, Britain - November 2, 2024 Ipswich Town fans walk by a poster of singer Ed Sheeran outside the stadium before the match Action Images via Reuters/John Sibley/File Photo
(Reuters) - Ed Sheeran can now add player recruitment to his glittering achievements after Ipswich Town CEO Mark Ashton revealed the British singer helped the Premier League club bring in a new signing -- just before he was due to perform with Taylor Swift.
Sheeran, 33, 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.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)
