A youth football team is celebrating after a local company opened the ‘Dor’ for them to carry on competing for the next two years.

Runcorn Linnets JFC’s under 16s Sunday Blue team were on the verge of folding despite competing for trophies on all fronts before the coronavirus forced grassroots football to come to a premature end last season.

With the players having outgrown their kit and with the coaches struggling to find a sponsor willing to fund a new one due to the far-reaching economic impact of the global pandemic, it was looking like the anti-climactic 2019/20 campaign would prove to be the team’s last.

Dormex Containers Ltd came to the rescue at the 11th hour and, thanks to the Sutton Weaver-based packaging company’s donation, the team can continue to compete against the top sides in Chester and Runcorn.

Manager David Lawrenson said: “The team plays in the Chester and District Junior Football League Premier Division.

“We were challenging for the title and had reached the semi-finals of the leagues’ Knockout Cup when the country was forced to go into lockdown.

“We had also reached the semi-finals of the coveted Cheshire Cup.

“The lads were all hugely frustrated when it was confirmed that the 2019/20 grassroots football season had joined the many victims of Covid-19, but as the weeks progressed the bigger frustration for us coaches was our inability to find a new sponsor for the team.

“With us playing 11-a-side football and the players all being in adult sizes, a new kit doesn’t come cheap, and with the effects of the coronavirus having hit most businesses hard we thought that we would never be able to get the required amount of money.

“A long list of companies said that they were unable to help us, but just as we were contemplating a heartbreaking decision to fold the team Dormex Containers Ltd came to the rescue.

“I can’t thank the company enough for answering our SOS call and agreeing to sponsor the team for the next two years.

“Without the company’s support a talented group of boys wouldn’t be able to continue playing the sport that they love on Sunday afternoons.

“We will wear the Dormex Containers Ltd logo with pride.”

The team played in their new kit for the first time in a pre-season friendly against Merseyside team Glenavon on Sunday.

Kevin Murphy, Managing Director at Dormex Containers Ltd, said: “We have certainly not been immune from the financial impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, but Runcorn Linnets is our local team and we have always helped the club and local people whenever and wherever we can.

“We are delighted to have been able to give Linnets’ talented under 16s Sunday Blue team the money they needed to continue their footballing journey, and we wish them the best of luck for the coming season and beyond.”

For more information about Dormex Containers Ltd visit www.dormex.co.uk.