The Evening Star is making the most of the town’s fervour over its football club’s success – by feeding the readers’ appetite for more football-related stories.

The interest generated by Ipswich Town’s successful Premiership run – and now their guaranteed place in European football next season – is worth millions to the local economy.

And the feelgood factor is rubbing off on the newspaper group too.

Editor Nigel Pickover said: “It is worth around £70m to the town in terms of the boost to local business.

“The Suffolk Division of ECNG is performing the best in the group because of this feelgood factor that the football club has brought us.”

The Star’s website yesterday revealed a telling list of headlines:

• Play ‘Spot The Tractor Boy';
• “New sponsor announced for Ipwsich Town”;
• “Ban shame of Town legend’s football thug son”;
• “Love in the North Stand”; as well as
• Download Tractor Boys wallpaper;
• Order your Tractor Boys Song for Europe CD; and
• See how the new Portman Road stand will look.

And it’s reaping dividends.

The new Spot the Tractor Boy contest, being run both in print and on the Internet, is proving a hit worldwide.

Season ticket holder Nigel said: “We’re getting reaction from all over the world on this. In the paper we’re carrying pictures of an empty ploughed field, and readers have to mark where they think the Tractor Boy is. Online you’ve got to go to the site and click on the Tractor Boy logo – when you find it.

“It’s proving to be the biggest competition we’ve run online.”

But perhaps the pièce de resistance for this successful football season will be latest addition to the Star’s coverage, due to be revealed today.

It’s a telephone ring-tone: “One-nil to the Tractor Boys.”

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