Revealed: How a FaceTime call with part-owner Ed Sheeran before his gig with Taylor Swift convinced Liam Delap to sign for Ipswich
Ipswich Town chairman Mark Ashton has revealed how part-owner and popstar Ed Sheeran played a significant role in convincing Liam Delap to join the club last summer.
The Tractor Boys had just secured promotion back to the Premier League for the first time in 22 years after an incredible season under Kieran McKenna but needed to add firepower up front.
They set their sights on Delap after he had thrived on loan at Hull City, but Ashton admitted the battle for his signature was a fierce one.
Ashton has now explained how he needed to pull a trump card out of the bag, and he chose to get Sheeran involved to get the deal over the line.
Speaking on the Men in Blazers podcast while sat alongside Sheeran, Ashton said: ‘I remember we were at the training ground one evening and we were talking to this player and we were talking about the club, and Ed got brought up, about his involvement with the club, he was going to be on the shirt, he was going to be a shareholder etc. And this player started talking about how much he loved Ed.
‘So we just chanced it and we called Ed to see whether he’d pick up. We FaceTimed him, and if I get this correctly, you answered and you were two minutes away from going on stage with Taylor Swift. We were like “this can’t be real!”
Ipswich chairman Mark Ashton (right) has recalled phoning Ed Sheeran in a bid to get him to convince Liam Delap to join the club
Sheeran took the call just minutes before he was going on stage with Taylor Swift, and Delap signed on the dotted line
Delap has thrived at Ipswich, scoring 10 Premier League goals this season
‘And, I’d say less than a minute later, the player’s name was on a piece of paper and we were all done. Thanks for that, mate!’
Sheeran is a lifelong Ipswich fan after growing up in Suffolk, and he has been the club’s shirt sponsor since 2021.
He also became a minority owner in 2024, and has been seen at matches on multiple occasions this season.
After the club won promotion last year, Sheeran partied with the players at a local sports bar, and has spoken fondly of bonding with the team, while admitting he gets more nervous watching them than performing alongside global superstars like Swift.
‘It’s quite nice for me, though, to know the players on a personal level as well,’ he explained.
‘We got promoted last year, took them to a local sports bar called Chinny’s that I would go and watch the Ipswich games at. And bringing all of them there, you get to know them as people. The wins you feel, the losses you feel, the draws you feel. You’re really in it and part of it which as a football fan is great.
‘Ipswich games get my nerves up way more because it’s an unknown every single week. This is the thing about the Prem, it doesn’t matter who the team is, there’s no easy game in the Prem.’
After being convinced by Sheeran to join, Delap has starred at Ipswich this season, scoring 10 goals in 28 league appearances.
Despite this, Ipswich are nine points from safety and facing an uphill task to stay in the top flight.
Sheeran may have to work his magic again to keep Delap at Portman Road if Ipswich go down, with several clubs expected to show interest in the 22-year-old striker this summer.
