Staying up wi the bunnet!
Arbroath manager Dick Campbell reckons that keeping the Red Lichties in the Championship two seasons in a row is as great an achievement as any of the league titles he has delivered over his long career in the game.
The Angus side, who finished fifth in the curtailed 2019-2020 campaign after coming up from League One, secured their Championship place for another year on Friday evening.
The goalless draw with Morton at Gayfield was good enough to secure seventh place in the table.
Their opponents, however, must now face a perilous journey into the play-offs.
Campbell punched the air in delight at the final whistle, while outside the ground a group of exuberant fans lit up the night sky with a barrage of celebratory fireworks and flares.
The veteran Arbroath boss revelled in the moment, and revealed he remains as enthusiastic and passionate as ever about trying to lead the Angus side to more success in the future.
He said: “I’ve been in the game a long time and this is right up there with anything I’ve achieved.
“To keep this side in the Championship against full-time teams with far bigger budgets than us is incredible.
“Our target was to stay in the league and we’ve done that.
“We have retained our status as a part-time team in a full-time league for two seasons and that’s not easy.
“Nobody has done it for three seasons, so that’s our aim now.
“But there’s no reason why we
shouldn’t be challenging at the other end of the league.
“Every season you need to aim to be better and any player I sign has to be better than what we’ve got.
“But we have a great set of players and they deserved to achieve what they’ve done.
“They give everything for the club. ““It’s an amazing feeling and we’ve achieved this for the fans. The Arbroath fans will be smiling, but it’s a pity they haven’t been able to get in to watch for over a year now and we haven’t been able to get round the pubs to celebrate with them.
“Hopefully the pandemic will get sorted out and they’ll be back before too long.
“We’ll enjoy a wee break now and get back into training again ready for the new season in the summer.”
Morton boss Gus MacPherson was obviously disappointed his side couldn’t get the victory they needed to avoid being dragged into the play-offs, but knows where the problem lies.
He said: “The league table doesn’t lie. We scored 22 goals in 27 games and that’s a factor we need to look at.
“Our players are trying their best but it’s that final piece in the jigsaw, scoring goals, which is missing.
“Morton Football Club shouldn’t be in this position, but we are, and we’ll do our damndest to get out of it now.
“But we know it will be tough. We’ll be up against League One opposition and it won’t be at all easy. We have watched quite a few of the games recently, so we know the standard.
“We played East Fife in the Cup and that was a tough game. But it’s another opportunity to stay in the Championship, so we’ll have to go with it.”