Whyte's of Stamullen and Broadleas Farms were announced as the new joint sponsors of the St. Patrick's club in Stamullen this week.

The East Meath club unveiled new jerseys carrying the names of both sponsors at their state of the art playing facilities in Stamullen.

Broadleas Farms supply potatoes for Tayto and is owned by former player Ivan Curran, whose father, the late Jimmy Curran, won an All Ireland title with Mayo in 1951 and was one of the stalwarts of St. Patricks in the club's early days.

"My father was involved a lifetime in the club," said Ivan at the sponsorship launch. "My uncle is still involved as vice president and the family has always had a relationship with the Pat's. I played for the club all my life and I've been involved all my life so when the opportunity came to support them, I couldn't turn it down. We've rebranded our company recently to Broadleas Farm and sponsoring St. Pats senior team is a very good fit for us. It's an ideal way of getting the Broadleas name out there but, more importantly, it's a way of giving something back to the club where I spent most of my life playing and training. I played all of my life over in the old pitch and enjoyed every minute of it. But now, the facilities the club have here... they're a credit to everyone. The club has become the heart of the community and people of all ages, from all walks of life, are using the facilities and that's what it's all about. If the young kids coming into the club get as much enjoyment out of them as we did in the old facilities it will be great."

Brendan Battersby of Whyte's Bar and Lounge echoed Curran's sentiments when he said, "This is a fantastic spot. The club has grown into the hub of the community and they've given Whyte's great support over the years and now we want to give them the same support in return. Myself and Ivan are going to be here for the next three years as sponsors but we're not just throwing a cheque in and forgetting about the team. We'll watch them all year. We'll help them out in whatever way we can. We realise the senior team is in a bit of a transition year, with some young lads coming through and some older lads retiring, but we believe they can develop into a serious team in the next year or two and we hope to see a bit of silverware for our efforts. They have a good panel, good management and probably the best facilities in the country, so it's up to the players now."

Two of those older players have already hung up their boots but former Meath duo Cormac Sullivan and Ronan Kierans are not just walking away from the senior team just yet. Instead, they will take over joint management duties for 2014.

"I'm really excited about it," said Kierans, who won an O'Byrne Cup with Meath in his heyday. "It's great that when you finish playing football, you can still be involved with the team and it's great to have the support of people like Brendan and Ivan behind us. Ivan was a member of the senior team for years. He has a wealth of experience and is an important member of the community while Brendan and Whyte's have always been involved in a positive way with the team. Brendan and Ivan really want us to do well and we're grateful for every bit of assistance they can give us."

For former Meath goalkeeper and All-Star Sullivan the challenge of managing his former teammates is an interesting one and one he is relishing.

"I played most of the season with the lads last year, as did Ronan," he says. "We lasted as long as we could really, but the game is getting younger and quicker. You have to realise yourself that your time is up on the pitch and it's time to move on. When the club offered us the chance to manage the senior team, we both realised it was a great opportunity to stay involved, so we jumped at the chance. It's early days yet. We've only played a couple of matches so far but we have a good blend of youth and older, more experienced lads. It's a transitional period for the team really. There is a good batch of guys in their mid 30s that are coming towards the end but there's also a lot of young lads coming through. We won the U21 title last year which is a great boost to the senior panel and a lot of those players will be breaking through this year. Myself and Ronan have an advantage in that we know most of the panel. We've seen it from the other side of the fence I suppose, and we're looking forward to the season ahead. We now have the best facilities around. We have the backing of Whyte's and Broadleas Farms going forward. We don't want for anything. It might take us a little while to get up and running but we hope we can do them justice." Tweet

Most Read Stories