When Delia Smith saw that a seven-year-old Norwich City fan had sent his ideas for next season’s kit to the club, she wrote and thanked him for the ‘beautiful designs’.

As he had gone to the trouble to sketch the distinctive designs - which even included a reworking of the classic Canaries badge - she also replied with a handwritten note to him.

And William Jarvis was absolutely stunned to receive the letter from the club’s joint majority shareholder herself.

Ms Smith commended him on his sketched ideas for the home, away and goalkeepers’ kits, and said she had passed them on to colleagues at the club.

“Thank you so much for your beautiful designs,” she wrote. “You really do have a great gift so one day you might become an artist or designer. I have passed them to Stephen Balmer-Walters who is in charge of our shop.”

The note is signed off “OTBC”.

William, of Suffield Way, in King’s Lynn, said: “They are cool new designs that I had thought of for next season. I’ve made loads of different designs but I only sent a few of my favourites to the club. My designs have more detail and slightly different colours, which are much brighter.”

He said he enjoyed drawing football badges, and from there developed to designing new kits.

His proposed home kit shares some similarities with the current “half and half” design, with echoes of the well-remembered Asics kit, from 1989-1992 – long before William was born.

His mother Pamela said: “It was so lovely for Delia Smith to take the time to write back to William. It made our Canary-mad boy’s day – his face was a picture when he received it.”

Have you ever written to a celebrity and received a reply?

Email louise.hepburn@archant.co.uk