An Ipswich Town fan said the club’s recent success had helped him while he grieved the loss of his Blues-supporting father.

David Moore, 33, travelled from his home in Hull to watch the Tractor Boys kick-off their Premier League campaign against Liverpool on Saturday.

Despite the 0-2 defeat, Mr Moore said he was “bursting with pride” and their back-to-back promotions from League One to the Premier League brought him “pleasure, even in defeat”.

“When my first son was due to be born, I wasn’t sure whether to bring him up as an Ipswich fan… I don’t think we realised how much would change,” Mr Moore said.

In 2021, about three weeks after the season had finished, he told BBC Radio Suffolk he was so low he did not know if his son should follow in his footsteps.

On Saturday, he spoke to the station again and told listeners he now has two sons – and both were “decked out in Ipswich kits and had been supporters since their births”.

But Mr Moore’s father, who was the one who encouraged him to support the team, was not there to see their first match back in the top flight.

“In grief you have a lot of dark moments, but it has been the opposite and that is down to the football club,” he said.

“The club has been great after losing my dad, my hero – it has given me so many happy moments in that time.

“In dark times, football can bring a lot of light.

“This club has done that for me and I’m sure it has for so many others.”