Why does Ed Sheeran have a shirt number at Ipswich?
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Ipswich Town's number 17 shirt is owned not by a registered player, but by singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran.
The lifelong Tractor Boys fan bought a 1.4% stake in the club in August 2024 and was their main shirt sponsor from 2021 until the current season.
Ipswich offered Sheeran a shirt number at the start of the 2021-22 season as a gesture of appreciation, with the number 17 signifying his date of birth: 17 February 1991.
The club have named Sheeran as their number 17 in every season since, with the exception of the 2024-25 campaign when Ipswich were in the Premier League.
Rule M.1. in the Premier League handbook states that squad numbers can only be allocated to members of a first-team squad.
However, Ipswich did not have a designated number 17 during their season back in the top-flight.
Ipswich say shirts with 'Sheeran 17' on the back have been comfortably their most popular shirts sold across the past four seasons.
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Other quirky shirt numbers
Ed Sheeran was the shirt sponsor of Ipswich Town during the 2024-25 season
Sheeran's shirt is not the first number quirk in recent football history.
In the late 1990s, Inter Milan striker Ivan Zamorano wore the shirt number 1+8, having lost the number nine to Ronaldo.
At the 1978 World Cup, Argentina midfielder Norberto Alonso wore the number one shirt because the national team's shirt numbers were decided in alphabetical order. First-choice goalkeeper Ubaldo Fillol wore the number five shirt.
While in his player-manager role at Barnet during the 2013-14 season, former Netherlands international midfielder Edgar Davids wore the number one shirt.
Former Mexico goalkeeper Jorge Campos, who also played as a striker, wore the number nine shirt throughout his career.
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