Chairman Thomas praises Brady and lauds 'unbelievable' players after 'special' promotion

Chairman Kelvin Thomas lauded the ‘unbelievable’ effort of players and staff and described Cobblers’ promotion to League One as ‘special’ after they sealed the deal against Tranmere Rovers on the final day of the season.

Town supporters had to endure a nerve-shredding afternoon at Prenton Park but Sam Hoskins’ superb early strike ultimately proved sufficient for the win they required to secure a top-three finish in League Two.

From what happened on the final day of last season, to injuries and setbacks galore, Cobblers have not done things the easy way but finally, on Monday, the demons of last season were put to bed and everyone could enjoy the moment.

"It’s a fantastic achievement and with everything we’ve been through over the last 12 months, these players and Jon (Brady) and the coaching staff have been unbelievable,” said Thomas.

"The fans were magnificent today and they’ve been like that all season. Hearing them sing and seeing all the pink shirts and I’m very happy for them and for everyone at the club.

"The challenges that this squad and this club have faced have been something else but they have come through them every time. We go away to Sutton, we lose players, our captain goes down and everyone thinks it’s over.

"But this group of players keep going and listening to those fans at the end was fantastic. We’re looking forward to next season but we’ll deal with that tomorrow. First we will be celebrating, don’t worry about that!

"The players deserve it. Every promotion is fantastic but this feels special because of what we’ve dealt with as a club. You go back to James Alger and what happened to him at the start of the season and we have suffered but we’ve come through it and we deserve a bit of luck.

"It was great that we came out against a proper club like Tranmere who picked a proper side and we’ve won the game. That’s how you want to do it.”