Ed Sheeran has apologised to new Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim for interrupting his post-match interview following Sunday’s draw at Ipswich Town.
Sheeran, 33, said he had been intending to greet Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp and was unaware Amorim was being interviewed at the time, when the UK broadcaster cut to him mid-way through Amorim’s pitch-side discussion.
The singer-songwriter is a sponsor and minority shareholder of his hometown club Ipswich and was celebrating the newly-promoted side’s 1-1 draw against United.
He was criticised on social media following the incident but issued a statement to explain his interruption was an accident.
“Apologies if I offended Amorim yesterday, didn’t actually realise he was being interviewed at the time, was popping to say hi and bye to Jamie,” Sheeran wrote on social media. “Obvz feel a bit of a b****** but life goes on. Great game tho, congrats to all involved x”.
What happened?
(Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
After overseeing a 1-1 draw during his debut match in charge, Amorim was giving his first post-match interview to the Premier League’s primary UK broadcaster Sky Sports as United head coach.
The 39-year-old was asked by pundit Izzy Christiansen what had impressed him the most from his new players in training in the build-up to Sunday’s fixture and what he wanted to take forward from the game.
“You start discovering things: Garnacho can hold the ball between lines,” Amorim replied. “You can see that in the game because the game is always open. You try to find these things. Bruno Fernandes, he improved his game by playing near the ball, feeling the ball. He can give us sometimes the long pass. But you cannot put him there all the time, because he wants the long pass.
He concluded: “We try to find things about the players. We will need a lot of time, a lot of time to work out these things.”
As presenter Kelly Cates began to ask the next question, the camera panned out to Sheeran greeting Redknapp.
“Ed Sheeran has joined us,” Cates said. “Ed, we’re just speaking to Ruben Amorim, who may not want to talk to an Ipswich fan.”
“I don’t think he wants to speak to me. He doesn’t want to speak to me,” Sheeran said.
Ed Sheeran crashed Ruben Amorim’s first post-match interview 😂 pic.twitter.com/cTSMgyTE8w
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 24, 2024
Attempting to keep Sheeran’s appearance short and sweet, Cates said: “From an Ipswich point of view, it was almost perfect?”
“I loved it, I love being back in the Premier League,” Sheeran replied.
Redknapp then promised to speak to Sheeran later, who left the pitch-side desk and departed out of shot.
“Thanks very much Ed. Ruben, it’s an unpredictable when we’re pitch-side,” Cates explained, before resuming the post-match interview.
Sheeran was subsequently labelled “rude” and “disrespectful” on social media, and Sky also faced criticism following the incident.
Why was Sheeran at the game?
Sheeran grew up in Suffolk and is a boyhood Ipswich fan. He has been the club’s front-of-shirt sponsor since the 2021-22 season, with the club in League One. This was welcomed by supporters, the club having previously been sponsored by gambling company Magical Vegas and former owner Marcus Evans.
Ipswich have since enjoyed back-to-back promotions under Kieran McKenna and, in May, secured a return to the Premier League following a 22-year absence.
Sheeran designed the club’s third kit for the 2021-22 campaign and appeared in this season’s promotional video for the third strip.
In August, it was announced the four-time Grammy Award winner had bought a minority stake in the club, and he is regularly pictured at matches.
“I have lived in Suffolk since I was three years old and, while I travel the world and sometimes feel like an outsider in big cities, Suffolk and Ipswich have always made me feel part of the community and protected,” Sheeran said this summer.
TNT Sports featured an interview with Sheeran and Peter Crouch ahead of Ipswich’s opening match of the Premier League season against Liverpool, and he was pictured greeting the Sky Sports punditry team in the studio ahead of Sunday’s fixture against United.
Ipswich have won just one of their opening 12 games and are among the favourites for relegation this season, but came from a goal down inside the opening two minutes to secure a 1-1 draw against United.
(Top photo: Stephen Pond/Getty Images)