Ed Sheeran-sponsored Ipswich Town home shirt outsells the likes of Premier League local rivals Norwich City to put Blues into top 20 in the country
Their start to the 2021/22 season may have not seen them fly to the top of the League One table so far but off the pitch Ipswich Town is a brand that is soaring past its rivals.
A report released by LovetheSales.com this month has once again ranked club's home shirt sales via online retailers to find how which kits are hot and which are not.
With not much to feel chirpy about with their team's start to the campaign so far, it will perhaps provide a boost to Ipswich fans to find out their Ed Sheeran-sponsored home shirt sales put them up inside the top 20 clubs in the country in 'The Football Shirt League Table 2021/22'.
And there is further comfort for the Blue army in learning their club's tops have been outselling East Anglian rivals Norwich City, back in the Premier League this season, by more than 25 per cent*.
While the Canaries sit 23rd in the table – an improvement on 14 places from the same period a year ago – Town have climbed 21 rungs, up to 17th of the 92 clubs.
The impact of Suffolk's global singer/songwriting superstar Sheeran, coupled with the excitement of new ownership is no doubt behind the club selling 156 per cent more shirts online than they did last summer.
Such has been the clamour for the Suffolk club's shirts that they are currently sold out with pre-orders having to be taken for manufacture by Adidas.
Other clubs Ipswich out-rank in the table include fellow Premier League outfits Burnley (28th), Watford (30th), Brighton (31st) and Southampton (32nd).
Town's kit is the fastest selling in League One, five places above Sunderland (22nd) and one above recently relegated Sheffield Wednesday (18th).
Chelsea – who saw a 50 per cent year-on-year increase in sales since winning the Champions League and finishing in the top four in May - have the number one selling new kit of the 2021/22 season. This comes despite being one of the six English clubs to announce plans to break away into a European Super League.
The report also shows that:
- Jack Grealish is currently the leading player with the most shirt sales
- Four of the 'SUPER 6' see a drop in shirt sales – costing £2.3m in lost revenue a month
- Shirt sales for 'Kane 9' drop by 91 per cent
- Man City's kit outsells Man United for the first time ever
Ipswich Town's own data shows the new home shirt is the club’s fastest-selling of the last 10 years, increasing a staggering 70 per cent.
"I want to thank the supporters for backing us," Town's CEO Mark Ashton told the club website last month.
"To have shirt sales up 70 per cent is fantastic and season ticket sales are going great as well.
"Our retail and ticket office staff are working around the clock to deal with the demand so I want to take this opportunity to thank them as well. It’s exciting times for the football club."
The club's head of retail operations, Paul Macro, said: "It’s been incredible. I haven’t seen a year like it. To put the figures into context, we’ve sold the majority of shirts on pre-order that during a normal season we’d expect to cover us until the end of the year."
But when asked if the Ed Sheeran factor has been the big difference, he said: "We have had an increase in international orders certainly but the vast majority of sales have still been to supporters who were already registered with us but hadn’t necessarily made a purchase in the last three or four years.
"The feeling around the club after the takeover; the summer signings, the Euros - it’s all combined to ignite the fanbase I think."
* Data is compiled from sales figures across 1,000 online retailers with LovetheSales.com saying they are restricted from publishing the numbers behind their tables. Specific data in relation to Ipswich Town has been provided to Suffolk News.
Read more: All the latest Ipswich Town news
Read more: All the latest news from Suffolk
