St Patrick's Athletic announce groundbreaking partnership with Pieta House

St Patrick's Athletic have announced a groundbreaking partnership with mental health charity Pieta House that will see the organisation's logo displayed in place of a sponsor on the club's shirts.

The deal, which runs until the end of the current season, will also see Pieta House provide counselling and workshops to all of the club's sides from under-15 level through to senior level.

Squad kits will display the Pieta House logo and contact details prominently and €20 from the sale of each shirt will go directly to the charity - €10 each from the club and from manufacturer Umbro.

"I'm really excited by the developments in this partnership,” said Saints manager Liam Buckley.

“Everyone knows the great work that Pieta House do in raising awareness around talking about mental health, so to have their staff work with our underage teams is a real boost to our up and coming stars."

Pieta House CEO Brian Higgins added: "We are very grateful to St Pat's for choosing to support Pieta House by displaying our logo on their jerseys.

“Partnerships of this kind are essential to raise awareness of suicide and self-harm in our communities, and to make our vision - a world where suicide, self-harm, and stigma have been replaced by hope, self-care and acceptance - a reality.

"It is so important to have male role models promoting wellness - physical, mental, and emotional - and challenging accepted masculine norms that place so much pressure on our men.

“In football, teamwork is everything, and the strength of the team is in its support of each individual.

“These jerseys illustrate how that support carries on off the pitch, and have the potential to bring some very important conversations out into the open."

The Saints will wear the new jerseys for the first time during Friday night's visit of Bray Wanderers to Richmond Park (kick-off 7.45pm).