LIVING IT UP
Glory win at Firhill clinches top-flight place for the Lions Hopkin praises his miracle men after fairytale season
Livingston are back amongst the Scottish football elite after completing a sensational campaign with promotion to the Premiership.
The Lions return to the top flight for the first time since 2006 after they produced the perfect ending to a scarcely believable footballing fairytale with victory over Partick Thistle in the Premiership play-off final.
David Hopkin’s miracle men got the better of the Maryhill outfit over two legs, with the club’s all-time record appearance holder Keaghan Jacobs being the fitting hero with goals in both legs. It marks a second consecutive promotion for the team, having lifted the League One trophy last term – becoming just the third team in the last 30 years to secure back-to-back promotions from the third tier.
A delighted Hopkin admitted he never envisaged leading his side to the Premiership at the start of the campaign, saying: “I couldn’t possibly have thought I’d be here with the team getting into the Premiership.
“To be fair, I think this was the hardest way you could get there but we’ve managed to do it.
“I have to praise the staff and the players because they all work hard every day. They deserve it, but none of them could have thought we’d be going to the Premiership at the start of the season.”
Hopkin was a play-off hero as a player himself, netting a late winner at Wembley to f i re Crystal Palace into the top flight and confessed that guiding the Lions – who had the third lowest budget in the Championship – to the top division beats even that moment.
He said: “As Loving it Happy boss David Hopkin a player, you can do something to change it on the pitch but as a manager you just have to sit there and watch it. “I had total trust in my players to be honest and it’s eclipsed anything I ever did as a player. “I ’ ve been here for two seasons and got two promotions. It ’ s been fantastic.”