United front was key,
ALFIE May has relished a chance to prove the doubters wrong this season after helping fire Cheltenham Town to win their first League Two title.
The former Doncaster Rovers forward top-scored with nine league goals and 13 in total this term, including a memorable strike to put the Robins ahead against Manchester City for 22 minutes in the FA Cup fourth round.
He netted their third in Saturday’s 4-1 home victory over Harrogate Town to secure top spot and cap an historic year for the club.
“I saw some comments on social media and they just made me even more determined to go out there and give more to prove the doubters wrong,” May said.
“We are often called ‘little old Cheltenham’ but we are the best team in the league and finishing top is magnificent.
“We wanted to achieve it after the upset of the play-offs last season and we’ve done it, so we can enjoy it now.”
It is the second promotion of May’s professional career, having helped Doncaster make the same step up in 2016/17, but they finished third.
“I’ve only been in the game full-time for four years and if you’d have offered me two promotions on the CV in that time, I’d have snapped your hand off,” he said.
“For me, it’s massive and it means a lot to have played a big part in the season, with the gaffer (Michael Duff) trusting me.
“I am not happy with my goals total and you always want more, but I am buzzing to be champions and it’s a great start to my professional career.”
May was at Doncaster with current
Robins team mates Matty Blair and Andy Williams and he praised the unity in the dressing room at Cheltenham.
“When I joined Donny, I’d never been in a better changing room, but this group has some real leaders and experience,” he said.
“Toze (Ben Tozer) is a massive leader, who has been superb. He wants to win every single game and has so much
passion for it. I’ve tried to take some of that on and lead from the front because I am 27 now, so it’s trying to use that experience even though I’m still fairly new to professional football.
“To have been promoted twice is just amazing and I am now looking forward to switching off and enjoying time with my family for the next four or five weeks.”