HAVING ESTABLISHED a strong link with the senior club game here over the past couple of years, Airtricity yesterday added their name to the elite Under-19 League the FAI hope will provide development opportunities for the best young players who don’t head to England.

“There is a lot of talent in this country, as there is in every country,” said Wim Koevermans, the association’s high performance director, as the new sponsorship was announced.

“But the question is: ‘What do you do with it? How do you nurture it?’ That is why this league is so important. Because it gives the best young players in the country the chance to play against each other, to challenge each other and to improve together.”

Paul Doolin, who manages the Irish under-19 team, acknowledges the majority of his players will continue to be drawn from the ranks of the Irish in Britain but he too sees the development of this league as a major step forward.

“When it was being launched, I think a lot of people had a little bit of apprehension about it because it was a change from the normal underage system. But I think, from the players’ point of view, it gives them an insight into professional football.

“It gives them an idea of going to the stadiums, because that is where a lot of the games are played. If they do go on to professional football, they are used to travelling and midweek games under lights. I think it will be a benefit to everybody – not just the international managers – but the clubs and the players.”

Koevermans, who said he would be delighted to stay on in his current position beyond the end of his contract in September, sees the next aim as establishing a national under-17 league, although he admitted a new round of talks with all of the interested parties, particularly the schoolboy clubs, will be required before the ambition can be realised.

Fran Gavin, meanwhile, said he is optimistic that every club will be in a position to start next season despite the difficulties with some, most prominently Bohemians.

“We’ve sat down with them and we will be doing a few more times. I think they’re more interested in stabilising the club now and in its survival. I think they might need to focus on that for a couple of years.”

SPANISH car manufacturer Seat, meanwhile, were last night confirmed as the new shirt sponsors of Shamrock Rovers, replacing Woodies DIY as Rovers’s primary backer on a two-year deal covering 2012 and 2013.