Nearly £700 raised for former Town 'signing' Ahmed after fire
A football player Ipswich Town 'signed' back in 2019 has lost his family home due to a fire - Credit: Archant
Nearly £700 has been raised after a fire devastated the home of Ipswich Town's former 'signing' Ahmed.
Towards the end of August, Ahmed's family home in Kapkoi, Kitale in Kenya was lost to a fire — destroying many of their possessions as a result.
The football club 'signed' Ahmed back in 2019 after he reached out to the club on Twitter.
Ahmed - real name Joseph Simiyu Muse Wabuge - was jokingly announced as an Ipswich Town following a Twitter plea in 2019. - Credit: Archant
Ahmed, whose real name is Joseph, tweeted the club saying: "Hello, am Kenyan 20 years old and I play LW/RW/CAM, please sign me and I promise to give my best and add more depth to the squad."
Town fans then jokingly urged the club to announce him as a new signing, which they did with a dramatic graphic.
A supporter even got the number 47 and Ahmed printed on the back of a Town shirt.
Now a fundraiser has been set up to raise £1,000 towards the costs of repairing the family's home by Jane Nuttney, a friend of Ahmed.
She said: "I have kept in touch with Ahmed since he appeared on the Ipswich Town Football Club Twitter timeline in 2019 and we have become friends.
"He is an exceptionally sweet, polite, funny and extremely bright boy, speaking five different languages and studying Bio-Statistics at JKUAT University in Nairobi.
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"He deserves to go far in life.
This is the pitch that Ahmed plays football on near his home in Kenya. Photo: Contributed - Credit: Archant
"I would really love to help in any way I can by raising money to help the family get new and or replacement materials to repair their home and start to piece their lives back together again."
In a 2019 interview with this newspaper Ahmed said: "My real name is Joseph Simiyu Muse Wabuge, I grew up a Muslim, and everyone still knows me as Ahmed, but my mother is Catholic and I changed my name when I was 10 years old.
Ahmed sent this picture to show how he and his friends make a football in Kenya. Photo: Contributed - Credit: Archant
"I am from a humble background. I grew up in a small village called Kapkoi.
"I have played football since I can remember. We make balls out of netting.
And here is the result - the homemade football that Ahmed uses. Photo: Contributed - Credit: Archant
"The playground is just sandy and rough. I bought my football boots for 600 Kenyan shillings, the equivalent of six dollars."
