Ian Bermingham might be hanging up his boots at the end of the season - but the St Patrick’s Athletic legend is staying on at Richmond Park.
Bermingham has been appointed Football Partnership Manager at the League of Ireland side, a newly created full-time role with responsibility for the relationship between St Pat’s and Cherry Orchard.
It will see the 33-year-old develop and implement football strategies and player pathways between the two clubs, and oversee on-field coaching.
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Bermingham said: “I'm delighted with this new role, it's something that I'm really excited about and I'm looking forward to getting going.
“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.”
The full-back is St Pat’s all-time record appearance holder, having played 452 times for the Saints.
St Pat's Academy Director Ger O'Brien added: “It's fantastic news that Bermo has agreed to stay on at the club in this capacity.
“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.
“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.”
And Cherry Orchard Underage Section Chairman Stephen O'Brien said: “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.”
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