Sheeran spared McKenna’s blushes by leaving his guitar at home though. It was probably for the best because the Ipswich boss admits he’s “not very good” at karaoke.
“There were no sing-songs, but the players are delighted,” said McKenna. “They know this is a win to cherish, but they also know where we want to get to as a club – winning games in the Premier League – and we know this season that’s going to be a challenge.
“It’s been a big journey to get to this point.”
After failing to earn a swift return to the Premier League following relegation in 2002, Ipswich reached the Championship play-offs just once after 2005 and were relegated to League One in 2019.
“It’s a really significant moment and a day to cherish in the recent history of the club,” McKenna said.
“You look at the journey the club has been on in the past 22 years, the ups and downs, some heights but some depths as well.
“For the supporters to see their club win in the Premier League at a fantastic club like Tottenham, in a stadium like this against a team like that, it is a massive day for them.”
Ipswich failed to make the play-offs in their first two seasons in League One and were 12th in December 2021, when McKenna was named as Paul Cook’s successor.
In his first full season the Tractor Boys were promoted as runners-up and they repeated the feat in the Championship last season.
“For us who have been involved in the journey for the past couple of years, it’s a really significant day as well,” McKenna added.
“Everyone’s delighted but I know that pretty quickly we’ll all move on to the next thing.”