ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC legend Ian Bermingham is staying on at the club as Football Partnership Manager.
It was announced last month that the Saints’ record appearance maker would depart at the end of the season, ending a remarkable 13-year playing spell with the Inchicore club.
But Bermingham is now taking on a newly-created, full-time role, which will see him responsible for managing the football partnership between Pat’s and Cherry Orchard FC on a daily basis.
The 33-year-old Ballyfermot native will begin the new post with immediate effect.
“I’m delighted with this new role, it’s something that I’m really excited about and I’m looking forward to getting going,” Bermingham said.
“It’s brilliant that I am going to continue my relationship with St Patrick’s Athletic, both St Pat’s and Cherry Orchard are local to me and hopefully we can play a big part in the development of the boys and girls at Cherry Orchard and into the St Pat’s Academy.
“There are a lot of people in the background who are going to be working very hard to make this partnership as successful as possible over the next number of years.”
“It’s fantastic news that Bermo has agreed to stay on at the club in this capacity,” St Pat’s Academy Director Ger O’Brien noted.
“He’s had an unbelievable career as a player and has achieved fantastic success on the pitch, it was an honour to play with him and I’m looking forward to working with him in a different role now.
🚨 We are delighted to announce @IanBermo as our new Football Partnership Manager
— St Patrick's Athletic FC (@stpatsfc) October 5, 2022
Ian will begin this newly created, full-time role with immediate effect & will be responsible for managing our football partnership with @CherryOrchardFC ⚽️
Read more on our website ⬇️#StPatsFC
“This Football Partnership Manager role is something that we’ve been speaking to Ian about for the last couple of weeks, and it’s being led right from the top of the club in Garrett Kelleher, the Owner and Chairman, who wants to keep real St Pat’s people involved with the club and this is the perfect opportunity to do that.
“Ian is from Ballyfermot and lives in the area, everybody knows him and he has young family members involved in Cherry Orchard, we are delighted that he has agreed to take the role and hopefully he will have a lot of success with it.”
Cherry Orchard Underage Section Chairman Stephen O’Brien added: “Everyone at Cherry Orchard is delighted with the appointment of Ian. His hunger and desire to embrace the transition from a successful playing career into a coaching career was so evident in our recent meetings.
“The appointment embodies all of the core values for the partnership between the clubs and the fact that we have created a full-time role like this bodes well for the future. Bermo is from the area, he knows the club very well and this is fantastic news for us and it’s very exciting times for the partnership.”
In announcing this new appointment, Pat’s expressed its interest to field a team in the EA SPORTS Women’s National U17 League from the 2023 season onwards.
