Stockport boss Dave Challinor cherished “the best feeling ever” after his League Two champions were presented with their trophy following a 4-2 win against Accrington in their final home game.
County, who sealed the title earlier this week, collected the trophy after two goals from Kyle Wootton and further strikes by Connor Lemonheigh-Evans and Antoni Sarcevic saw them chalk up an eighth straight win.
And Challinor, who now has two titles as Stockport manager, said: “It’s finally started to sink in, this is the best feeling ever in terms of picking up the trophy and being able to celebrate with friends, family and supporters.
“It was always going to be a strange day because we wanted to win and we started fantastically, then we had a flat 30 minutes but in the second half we’ve won that game which makes today extra special.
“It’s been a great effort, a real team effort. Everyone’s worked so hard to get this fantastic trophy.
“People will say what’s the secret of your success but it isn’t much of a secret, it’s good players, it’s being able to get those players, being organised, having good staff and having the backing of people behind the scenes that ultimately are very aligned in what you want to achieve.
“All of us have had amazing support from our families to allow us to work in the manner that we do and today, and the last couple of weeks, make it all the more special because you get a reward at the end of it.
“So many people go through what we go through and don’t have the fortune of days like today so we’ll absolutely treasure it and enjoy it and we’ll be better as a result of it.
“I’ve now got plenty of time out of the country in front of me and plenty of work to do for next year, and it’ll be an opportunity to reflect and enjoy what we’ve done.”
Accrington manager John Doolan admitted his side had been beaten by deserving champions, but felt there are better times to come from his young squad in the future.
Stanley had levelled through Shaun Whalley in the first half and had given themselves a chance late on when Jack Nolan made it 3-2 but conceding goals at crucial times – Stockport’s second just before half time and Sarcevic’s late in the day – had proved costly.
“It was a great response from the lads to come here and play against a top side with top players and to compete against them and to score two goals away from home is fantastic,” said Doolan.
“We’ve got to keep going, these are young lads and they’re learning from it so it’s a learning experience and I’m learning on the job too so fair play to them, they didn’t give up. We made some changes so I can’t ask for any more.
“We went behind so once again it wasn’t a great start from us but we responded and we scored a very good goal against the champions. You could say they were in party mode but we were here to compete and to try to get the three points and the lads didn’t give up – that’s what I’m looking for.”
