Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper paid tribute to his players, the club’s supporters and chairman Martin Hellier as he tasted promotion at the first attempt with a 2-0 victory against Truro City.
The boss was soaked in champagne by his players as he gave a raft of interviews at the side of the pitch having watched the game from the stands at Gloucester City’s Tigerturf Stadium, part of a touchline ban for his recent FA charge for picking fault with a Hemel Hempstead player trying to break his son’s leg.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins after the match, he said: “It’s a fantastic achievement for the club, the owner came in and gave us a chance to put this remarkable team together and get a bit of soul and heart back in the club and we have done that. We have done that, the players have done that and it is a brilliant night for the football club and one we should enjoy.
“It feels so sweet. We proved everybody wrong and we went and we enjoyed the plastic and we look forward to next season now.”
Cooper has spoken on many occasions about the desire to remove the stain of last season’s relegation to regional football during a turbulent period at the club, and admitted he always wanted to stay on to try and guide them back at the first attempt.
Asked how he felt about his decision to stay, he said: “I am delighted, but I did not have too many options, to be honest! I just felt there was the nucleus of a good team and I wanted to get rid of that relegation or make it look better on my CV.”
Next up, Yeovil return to Huish Park with relegation-threatened Dartford coming to town on Saturday when the National League South trophy will be presented and the manager said he was looking forward to celebrating with the club’s supporters.
He said: “We hope to have the chairman there. He was not here tonight, he has gone away for a much deserved break, but I am buzzing for Saturday when we can have a party together with loads and loads of Yeovil fans and get that feel good factor back. We have to enjoy these moments before we start thinking about next year.
“It is amazing support, for the level we are at. It should be a great football club and we want to try and build that and make it great again.”
On the pitch on Thursday night, goals from strikers Rhys Murphy and Alex Fisher sealed the three points which clinched the title. But, the game was not without adversity with winger Jordan Stevens coming off after just nine minutes with a reoccurrence of a hamstring injury, before Murphy limped off seven minutes later.
Cooper added: “If you had asked me which one of the player would not have broken down, it would have been Murph (Rhys Murphy) because he has trained for two weeks, he’s played decent minutes and looked really strong and then he’s just pulled it. Then Jordan Stevens again, so we had to keep a substitution back just in case. It was not great for those boys but we got it done.“