I opened McHale & Co for business on the 2nd of April 2001, 25 years ago. That very same year we sponsored Bowdon RUFC for the first time.
A lot has changed in that time, and It’s been quite the rollercoaster growing from being a literal one-man band on day one, to now having over 150 colleagues with more to come.
Throughout all those changes and growth though we never stopped our support of the club, and the club has given us plentiful support, opportunities and fantastic nights in return.
This club has been a part of my life for as long as I’ve been about. I’m a local lad who went to St Ambrose, and so I was very familiar with the club and spent many days and nights there. When Dave Hargreave (RIP) - a true gentleman and club legend - asked me to take a page in the Match Day programme in 2001, I was thrilled to do so.
The club of course looked very different back then but in all the ways that matter, it was the same as it is today: full of the greatest, hardest-working people you could hope to meet. Nothing exemplifies that more than the tireless work that Dave Hargreave and Mark Fenby did in those days.
I recall the day back in 2003 that they recruited my brother-in-law, Martin Gallagher. It had been a long day in the bar, a long day spent enjoying the old clubhouse, when they asked him to play for them. That began Martin’s love of the club and his now over 20 years of service – both on and off the pitch. Ever since then McHale & Co has sponsored games and had an advert in the programme each year. Then in 2010 my eldest lad started with the u7’s and so I’ve become even more involved, and our sponsorship has ramped up considerably across these last 15 years until we became one of the club’s main sponsors.
Across these decades I have seen Bowdon RUFC go from strength to strength, and I believe the best is yet to come. The vision of our current Chairman Tom Fleming in building the new club house laid the foundation for Tony Bennet and Gareth Harris, allowing them to set an ambitious vision for the M&J section. It was only a few years old when I got involved, but this section has become the heart and soul of the club in my view and hopefully will be for a long time yet.
On a personal level I’m still involved with the coaching set-up for the Junior Colts where one of my younger sons plays. I’ve also been involved in organising tours, capital projects, fundraising, and I’ve held roles both running operations and as Head of Sponsorships. What I can say however is that the club has given me back more in terms of friendship, connections and support than I could ever give it. Not just the life-long mates and support for my kids, but some of the best that McHale & Co has to offer came through my coaching at the club: our Head of Personal Injury Nimish Patel and our Chief Operating Officer Grant Kerns.
What’s next then? Well as a business we are all-in for the future of Bowdon RUFC: supporting grass roots sport is now very much the McHale way, it’s in our DNA, so here’s to the next 25 years of collaboration between us and this incredible club.
