St Pat’s announce new single-club partnership with Orchard

ST PATRICK’S Athletic, today, announced a new long-term single-club partnership with near neighbours, Cherry Orchard.

The Orchard has already seen quite a number of its top players make the move to the Saints over the years and this new agreement is expected to reinforce that link.

Indeed the pathway to academy and League of Ireland football for both boys and girls in the Orchard is sure to be enhanced by this partnership with St Pat’s, who are also set to field a team in the Women’s Under 17 National League in 2023.

“We’re hoping the relationship that we have with the Orchard there now will help provide a pathway for the girls into League of Ireland football also” said St Pat’s Academy Director, Ger O’Brien.

“This is a single-link partnership whereas, previously, we would have had a multiple-link partnership, involving other clubs.

“We’ve been slotting all this into place for the past 12 months. There’ve been a lot of discussions, just making sure it’s right for both clubs” he told The Echo.

Delighted with the new partnership, Alan Mathews, St Pat’s Technical Director said “Cherry Orchard has a proven track record of developing players from grassroots football to international level, with a number of those players progressing through both the Cherry Orchard and St Patrick’s Athletic academies.

“We look forward to working very closely with the players and coaches of Cherry Orchard and supporting and developing the next generation of players.”

Echoing these sentiments, Stephen O’Brien, Cherry Orchard Underage Section Chairman said “To now have the advantage of a player pathway from Cherry Orchard FC into the professional National League academy structures at St Pat’s bodes very well for the future development of our players.

“The fact that St Patrick’s Athletic are allocating a full-time role to the partnership speaks volumes for the project moving forward.

“The quantity of young players, many of them teenagers, playing in the St Patrick’s Athletic first team and gaining professional contracts at a young age provides a true player pathway from underage football into our professional league.”