Ed Sheeran has marked 10 years since the release of his debut album + by sharing a photo of himself at the World's End pub in Finsbury Park, taken just after signing his first publishing deal.

He said that everything that has happened since that moment in the Stroud Green Road boozer has been "way beyond my wildest dreams”.

The singer, 30, shot to fame in 2011 with the launch of The A Team, the lead song on his first album, which was released in September that year.

Sharing a photo of himself from that time on Instagram, he wrote: “This is me 2011 in the World's End pub up in Finsbury Park, just after signing my publishing deal.

“I lived all over London back then, wherever anyone would have me, but Finsbury is where I’d spend most of my evenings coz of the open mic nights there run by my mates.

Islington Gazette: Ed Sheeran arriving at the GQ Men of the Year Awards at the Tate Modern in London on September 1, 2021Ed Sheeran arriving at the GQ Men of the Year Awards at the Tate Modern in London on September 1, 2021 (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

“I first moved up in 2008 and on my first night got inspired to write my song The City, which was the first song written and recorded for my debut album + (or Plus if you use Google).

“It’s been 10 years since the release of +, today is the day it came out.

“I’ve been making music for a very long time but I guess your major label debut counts as the start in the industry, so I’m officially a decade in as of now.

“All I ever wanted was to have a gold album and to sell out Shepherd’s Bush empire, I never thought my career would go past that to be honest, and if I got that, I’d be chuffed.

“When + came out, it went gold in the first week and I played to a sold out Shepherd’s Bush three weeks later.

“Ever since then everything that has come my way has been an added bonus, it’s been an incredible journey so far, and way beyond my wildest dreams.

“Happy birthday +, and thank you to everyone keeping it alive, it’s not my album anymore it’s yours, and I’m honoured for it to be so many moments and memories for so many people x.”

Islington Gazette: Ed Sheeran arriving at the GQ Men of the Year Awards at the Tate Modern in London on September 1, 2021Ed Sheeran arriving at the GQ Men of the Year Awards at the Tate Modern in London on September 1, 2021 (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

Sheeran is one of the world’s best-selling music artists and in 2019, the Official Charts Company named him artist of the decade.

Sheeran’s second studio album, x, won album of the year at the 2015 Brit Awards, and his single Thinking Out Loud won two Grammys.