Bohemian FC is delighted to confirm a three-year extension to our long-standing partnership with Des Kelly Interiors as the club’s main sponsor which is now agreed until the end of the 2028 season, a continuation of a relationship that now spans six decades.
The renewed arrangement will see the Des Kelly Interiors name continue to be proudly displayed on the Bohs men’s teams home kit as well as adorning the jerseys of the club’s boys academy teams, extending their commitment to the wider Bohemian family.
That commitment has included the significant investment in installing the Des Kelly Interiors Non-Corporate Box at Dalymount Park – providing a unique matchday experience to community groups, volunteers and others who have contributed to our club – as well as extensive assistance in the redevelopment of the our Oscar Traynor Centre training and academy base.
Bohemian FC Chief Commercial Officer Daniel Lambert said: “We are delighted to be in a position today to announce the extension of our partnership with Des Kelly Interiors, which will continue our relationship to the end of the 2028 season.
“The Kellys have been proud supporters and sponsors of our going right back to the 1970s, and Des Kelly is a name synonymous with both Bohemians as a club and Dalymount Park as a stadium.
“That relationship was first built by Des himself, working closely alongside people at Bohs, in particular Lynn O’Neill – both of whom became great friends and helped build a partnership that has stood the test of time.
“It’s now nearly ten years since Des sadly passed away, but his sons and daughters have continued his legacy, emulating him in becoming the most dedicated of supporters of our club.
“It is so rare in sport to have a commercial partner that is local, family-owned and so dedicated to have continued their relationship with a club for over 50 years.
“When we look back at old photos of Dalymount – something so many fans will be doing this year as we play our last season here before the stadium is developed – you will see signage in the 1970s where Des Kelly is front and centre.
“So to still have Des Kelly’s name adorned around the stadium is a testament to the relationship between the club and the Kelly family.
“In recent years the massive growth of our merchandising operation was made possible by their goodwill in permitting us to use away and third kits to launch kits that sell around the world, and have raised hundreds of thousands for charitable causes.
“As a club we are privileged to have that because the Kellys are so much more than just a sponsor or a name on the front of our shirt – they are true club and community partners who buy into everything our club is about.
“Much of that goes unseen: At all times when we go to the Kelly family for assistance, whether that be improvements to our dressing rooms, bars, installing the Non-Corporate Box or, more recently, with all the development work at the Oscar Traynor Centre, they have always gone above and beyond in doing all they can to help.
“You could not ask for better people to deal with, so we are really delighted that this relationship will continue.”
Greg Kelly said: “Our dad would be very proud of us. He opened his first store at Cross Guns Bridge in Phibsborough in 1970, and he was a supporter of the club from then on.
“For us to be able to continue that legacy means so much to all of the family. We were particularly proud to see our dad’s name at the Aviva Stadium for the opening game of the season again this year. He would have loved to have seen all of that, so it means a lot to us.
“The extension of the partnership is extra important for us over the next few years. We want to show our support to the club for the period Bohs are out of Dalymount, because we all know that period is going to bring challenges, ahead of what promises to be an exciting new era when the stadium is rebuilt.
“So as a family and a company, we’re all in: From the men’s team right down to the boys academy and all of the community teams of young boys and girls, because that’s what we are all about – we’re a family-run business, Bohs are a fan-owned club so it’s a win-win partnership for everyone.”
