Soccer league outlines sponsorship details
The Meath & District League announced sponsorship details at last week's club management meeting in Navan where team-of-the-month awards were also handed out. Meath clubs dominated the O'Neills Sportswear monthly awards with Duleek, Trim Celtic and Navan club OMP Utd all collecting €300 vouchers as recognition for their performances since the action kicked-off this season. "This is a great promotion for the MDL and the clubs and in the current economic climate it is a fantastic boost for a club to receive a voucher from O'Neills, I'm sure all the clubs will benefit," MDL secretary Gerry Gorman told the Meath Chronicle. O'Neills representative Ross Carrick presented the vouchers to Declan Jordan and Brian Brady of OMP Utd while popular MDL fixtures secretary Pat O'Brien accepted the voucher along with Brendan McKeown on behalf of Duleek. Trim Celtic were represented by club official John Kelly while the other winners were Louth clubs Boyne Harps and Quay Celtic. There was also good news for the MDL with details also announced of support for the Premier and Div 1 leagues. Nivea for Men will ease out any creases in the race for the Premier title with the champions guaranteed a set of playing gear. That will also be the prize for the Div 1 winners with O'Neills backing that grade. Currently Meath teams lead both grades with Trim Celtic at the top of the Premier League and OMP Utd in pole position in Div 1. "We are delighted to be able to announce these details and our PRO Justin Burke has worked hard to finalise the various sponsorship deals," stated Gorman. "O'Neills have also maintained their support for the Challenge Cup final, they will supply new playing gear for the finalists and they also supply footballs, this is really appreciated by the clubs and the MDL committee," added Gorman. The club management meeting was relatively low key with all the business conducted in less than 60 minutes. Delegates gave their support for a Euro 2012 fundraiser that will offer a car as a first prize with tickets to go on sale next month at €2 each. The matter was discussed briefly and there appeared to be unanimous approval for the promotion with all clubs pledging support. The change to a later kick-off time on a Sunday morning, 11.45 from the traditional 11.15, will be retained after delegates were reluctant to sanction a move back to the earlier time. The future of the representative football team was also discussed. There was no great enthusiasm from club delegates for the team and there was a suggestion that the MDL should consider not competing in the FAI's flagship junior football competition, the Oscar Traynor Trophy. The AGM will take place on Tuesday 29th May.