Fireworks, Sweet Caroline and Duff-dance following historic Cheltenham Town promotion

For the first time in their 134-year history, Cheltenham Town are going up automatically as a Football League club.

Next season, they will be playing in the third tier of English football for the first time since 2009.

Their one-all-draw against Carlisle at Whaddon Road was enough to see them over the line.

It’s not the first time Cheltenham Town manager Michael Duff has created promotion-history at the club.

As a player in 1999, he scored the goal which sent them into the English Football League for the first time.

He said:

“It probably won’t sink in yet but it is an unbelievable achievement for everybody at the football club. To have broken history in terms of automatic promotion, points record after the disappointment of last year and to do it during a pandemic where all of the fixtures are condensed and there are no supporters to drive you on.

“I’m unbelievably thankful to the board for not sacking me after my first 10 games. One of the reasons I took the job, I thought I might get given a chance.

“Did I honestly think I would get Cheltenham promoted, no, because I didn’t think the infrastructure or the budget would allow it.

“But I thought they might give me a chance to learn my job, develop some players and sell some on.

“I think we would have got promoted last year, obviously we broke a record that you don’t want in the play offs, but they have backed it up this year.”

Attention now turns to winning the League Two title:

“The deal was done 10 days ago, we don’t want to be limping over the line.

“We could have lost the last three matches and gone up but that would have left a sour taste in the mouth.

“The players have bought in, promotions are great but you don’t want to fall over the line. They will be training Thursday morning we can assure you of that.”