HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN!
Chesterfield delight as they return to the League
NOTHING summed up Chesterfield’s barnstorming return to the Football League better than the lyrics of the players’ walk-out music. ‘Sun is shining in the sky, there ain’t a cloud in sight… it’s stopped raining, everybody’s in the play… and don’t you know, it’s a beautiful new day.’
Unlike ELO’s 1977 hit Mr Blue Sky, there have been few blue skies shining down on this club in the last decade, with back-to-back relegations followed by six seasons in the abyss of non-league. But finally it is a beautiful new day in Derbyshire.
Strong winds meant blue skies were more metaphoric than literal but the corks could eventually be popped to toast a stellar season for Paul Cook’s men. In truth, those champagne bottles have been on ice since long before Christmas.
The Spireites devastatingly missed out on promotion last year when pipped by Notts County in a play-off final penalty shoot-out — but they have not looked back. Cook was gracious at Wembley that day, noting the better team won. Now there is no doubting his side’s supremacy.
Chesterfield had dropped points in five of the previous eight games and missed chances to be crowned champions on trips to Oldham and Halifax. That blip put Wrexham’s record points tally last season out of reach but this team is clearly one of the greatest at this level.
Cook is the mastermind. This the 57-year-old’s fourth promotion as a boss — one in his previous stint here to go with Portsmouth and Wigan — plus two as a player at Burnley and Accrington.
The Scouser dedicated the win to his late father, saying: ‘I lost my dad about two years ago and it would have been his birthday today. I’m delighted, I really am, delighted for the supporters.
‘When I returned to Chesterfield two-and-a-bit years ago, I didn’t realise how tough a league this was. I can’t thank the players and staff enough, it’s such a team effort. But the players take all the plaudits tonight.’
The game started in a cagey and even way that made it clear both would have turned down a draw, whether to win the league or to gain a valuable point in the relegation fight. But it reverted to the theme of Chesterfield’s season: total domination.
Captain Jamie Grimes opened the scoring with a thumping header. The 33-year-old defender, who has played for 14 clubs during a journeyman career, doubled his tally for this match and the season in the second half.
That was Chesterfield’s third of the day and 100th of the season after a dazzling solo run that deserved a goal from Albanian youth international Armando Dobra. Before that, the usually calm Cook nearly lost his half-time brew when celebrating a fine strike from Liam Mandeville just after the break.
‘It’s not about my leadership, we’ve got 10 or 11 leaders in there,’ said skipper Grimes. ‘It’s a whole season’s work. We’ve worked so hard and made sacrifices. It’s time to enjoy it. The manager makes you feel like you’re 10 feet tall.’
Fans sang ‘we’ve got our club back’ as National League staffers got to work on carving Chesterfield’s name on the trophy. It would be unfair not to also namecheck those upstairs, such as chairman Mike Goodwin and CEO John Croot, as vital protagonists to this success.
Croot was a programme seller as a kid and attended school across the road from the old Saltergate Stadium. He has twice saved the Spireites from financial ruin, once in 2001 and again in 2020, and it feels the only way is up for this fan-owned club.
But planning for next year can wait. A weekend of partying started not long after the final whistle, with those heroic players heading to join jubilant fans for a night on the tiles by the famous crooked spire in town.
As they have done all season, most will follow the lead of serial promotion winner Cook, who swiftly ended his press conference by saying: ‘I’ll be vanishing now for a couple of bottles of Peroni, thank you very much.’ He deserves more than a couple.