MORTON have netted a bumper £10,000 youth academy sponsorship deal with two Inverclyde firms.

Greenock-based window manufacturer Blairs and glazing firm Saveheat have agreed to become the new principal sponsors of the Cappielow side’s youth set-up next season.

Saveheat will be the main shirt sponsor on the front of the strips with the Blairs logo on the back as well as on the shorts and socks.

Youth academy chief Warren Hawke hailed the sponsorship deal as a huge boost for the academy and praised businessman Alex Gray — who runs both firms — for his continued support.

He told the Tele: “We are delighted to have an involvement with two excellent local companies that share our vision of investment in the youth academy for the long term benefit of kids in the area and the success of the football club in years to come.

“To receive this amount of investment in the academy ensures that myself, as a director at the club in charge of the youth academy, we are able to continue to deliver a youth academy that Inverclyde will be proud of.”

Saveheat, which is also the main sponsor of Greenock Juniors, who are in the quarter-finals of the Euroscot Cup, is the brand name of the industry-leading glazing system used in all Blairs windows.

Mr Gray, who is the managing director of both companies, also recently joined the Morton board and has seen first-hand the stellar work on the go behind the scenes at Cappielow.

He said: “We are proud to be investing in the professionals of tomorrow.

“I’ve been really impressed with the youth academy since coming on board and I’ve been gobsmacked by the amount of good work that the Morton trust is doing in the community.

“From our own perspective we have a big foothold in Inverclyde — we are a big local employer and one of the last bastions of manufacturing in the area. Blairs has been on the go since 1913 and Morton since 1874 so it’s two stalwarts of the community working positively together.

“We’re a local company looking after local interests and we share that vision with the club and the work of the youth academy.”

The youth set-up has made huge strides in recent years and now has over 110 players across six teams from under-11s to under-17s.

It has also started to produce home-grown talent for the first team and Hawke says the new sponsorship deal will help the academy go from strength to strength.

He said: “Mark Russell, Thomas O’Ware, Thomas Orr - there’s numerous players starting to break through in the youth academy.

“There’s also the success of the under-17s squad this year. Now there’s nine players involved in the development squad next year, of which seven have full-time contracts.

“You can’t build a youth academy overnight. But we are now four years in and the strengths of each of the teams year on year is getting better.

“I believe that Alex during his time on the board so far has realised the potential of the academy moving forward and wants to support that with an excellent sponsorship package.”