Ipswich Town's Ed Sheeran reveal sends social media into a frenzy | OneFootball

Ed Sheeran appears on Ipswich Town's squad number list taking the number 17.

Ipswich Town minority owner Ed Sheeran has taken the number 17 shirt for the club this season, sending social media into a frenzy.

The Tractor Boys will be confident they have a squad capable of making quick work of their return to the Championship in 2025/26, following their relegation from the Premier League last season.

In order to do so, they've been able to add a handful of new signings in the form of Ashley Young, Azor Matusiwa, Cedric Kipre and David Button respectively, but more new arrivals will surely be needed in the coming weeks.

Ipswich supporters will expect more signings claiming their new squad numbers at Portman Road between now and 1 September.

Ed Sheeran, whilst not pulling on a pair of boots for his boyhood club next season, is part of the squad, however.

Ed Sheeran announced as Ipswich number 17 for the 2025/26 season

The singer, songwriter and minority owner of Ipswich Town has taken the number 17 shirt for the upcoming 2025/26 Championship season, as confirmed via the official Ipswich Town X page, which has sent fans into a social media outburst.

Ipswich Town, via their club website, have confirmed that the Halifax-born singer has been included amongst their list of squad numbers for a second season.

The club's statement is that, "All other first-team players retain the same numbers they wore during the 2024/25 season, with Town minority owner Ed Sheeran once again given the club’s number 17 shirt."

With Ipswich being Sheeran's boyhood club, supporters have been reacting to the news following the club's announcement, with the club's X posts gaining millions of views and the comments section bringing phrases such as 'woke' and 'embarrassing' commonly being used to describe Ipswich's decision to include Sheeran in the list for a four out of the past five seasons.

The Ipswich Town website states, "With squad numbers confirmed, player printing is now available for supporters looking to add a name and number to their 2025/26 home and away shirts."

This has unsurprisingly led fans to question whether shirt printing of the non-player's name is possible.

Sheeran's Ipswich squad inclusion sends social media crazy

With Sheeran's inclusion in Ipswich Town's squad number announcement being somewhat up for debate on whether it's a genius publicity stunt or simply unjust, fans on X have certainly had their say.

The common narrative is that the pop star's inclusion is fairly cringey, with one fan commenting via X: "Can you please stop this endless pandering to Ed Sheeran... Yes he has sponsored us and is now a share holding but this is just getting pathetic now... Makes us a laughing stock!"

Another fan opted for a more jokey side by commenting, "Heard 17 won't play a lot this season because his legs don't work like they used to before', referring to the lyrics of Sheeran's hit song Thinking Out Loud.

"Fair play Ed, he's in the A team now," another humorously wrote in reference another of Sheeran's hits, The A Team.

"How many goals is your number 17 scoring this season lads?" another joked, whilst a different X user posed the question of: "When are we getting Taylor Swift 31?"

One fan was able to see Ipswich Town's line of thinking regarding handing Sheeran a shirt number, saying: "It's a nice marketing strategy to give a shirt to Ed Sheeran. Neutral fans might buy his jersey."

With Sheeran being a die-hard supporter of his beloved Ipswich Town, he has been the shirt sponsor of Ipswich Town since the 2021 season, which has now come to an end in the replacement of local firm Halo.

Sheeran has always had a keen involvement in the club since his investment and subsequent shirt sponsorship.

However, fans have commonly viewed the announcement as being slightly embarrassing for the club, who look likely to mount a resurgence back to the Premier League this upcoming season.