TAKE a bow, Mr Karl Fuller.

This week's column puts the spotlight on a good deed that has snowballed into something special, capturing the imagination of fellow supporters, players and the Ipswich Town hierarchy.

As you may be aware, there will be hundreds of extra fans at Portman Road on Friday night thanks to the thoughtfulness of superfan Karl.

The Clacton-based season-ticket holder had a brainwave ahead of Town's home match against West Bromwich Albion.

He used social media to offer two tickets to someone who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford to go.

That alone would have been a lovely, generous gesture.

However, the concept spread like wildfire.

Other supporters swiftly joined him, with a whopping total of £2,500 being donated, and even the players themselves got involved by supplying 20 tickets via skipper Luke Chambers.

An ex-player also contributed and then Ipswich generously announced they would match the number of donations, swelling the total number of tickets being dished out to 860.

They are being handed to charities (Volunteering Matters, Ormiston Families, Impact Project, Suffolk Refugee Support, Inspire Suffolk Prince's Trust, Suffolk Family Carers, The Mix Stowmarket, 4yp and Porch Project Hadleigh) and schools (Northgate and Farlingaye), while the club will offer the same number of seats to the four charities they are primarily working with this season - East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH), Suffolk Mind, Samaritans and The Elena Baltacha Foundation.

Absolutely superb and well done again to the man who got the ball rolling, Karl.

The idea has been a staggering success and he deserves great credit and respect.

Karl and I go way back, to my early years doing this job at the start of the 2000s.

He was heavily involved at FC Clacton and submitted match reports for the Clacton Gazette.

His passion for writing and sports journalism was clear to see and I'm so pleased he's forged a name for himself in the local media.

It doesn't surprise me in the least that he's gone on to write an excellent, well-read and respected weekly newspaper column on Town.

He always had a flair and way with words, not to mention being something of master when it comes to stats and data.

His love and dedication to Ipswich has always shone through but he was also a serial award-winner as programme editor at Clacton (I always remember him referring to Ipswich as his wife and the Seasiders as his mistress - an analogy I loved).

He's a consummate pro and while I'm delighted he's been given a platform for his writing talents, I'm pleased his ticket idea has also taken off so spectacularly.

Karl has every reason to feel proud and humbled and hopefully the lucky beneficiaries witness something equally special on Friday night.