Northampton Town joint-managers Lou Barry and Josh Oldfield have described winning the East Midlands Women’s Regional Football League Premier Division title as a reward for years of hard work.
The Cobblers secured promotion with a well-deserved 2-0 win at home to promotion challengers Lincoln United on Sunday.
Barry praised his side’s mentality, saying: “It’s unbelievable to think how long we’ve worked for this.
“The group have stayed focussed over the last few years and they deserve everything.
“We’ve had difficult moments this season and it’s not all been pretty, but they’ve bounced back consistently.
“They’ve proved they’re the best team in the league and I’m so happy for them.”
Possession was even throughout the 90 minutes, but almost all the opportunities came the Cobblers’ way.
“I think it was a perfect performance in a tight game,” Oldfield added.
“We did everything we needed to in possession and everything we did out of possession was outstanding.
“Ultimately, you know you’re going to create and take chances when you’ve got the quality we’ve got in forward areas.”
Northampton will compete in the FA Women’s National League Division One Midlands, the fourth tier, next season.
Oldfield says he is already getting ready for the new campaign.
“Our preparations have started and we think the group we’ve got are ready,” he said.
“We’d like to be competitive at the top of the next league and they’re more than capable of that.
“We want to push again and get as high as we can.”
The Cobblers have two fixtures remaining this season, the first at Spencer Community Trust FC against Leicester City Ladies on Thursday, the second away to Notts County the following week.
Barry’s side are still unbeaten in the league, and he is challenging them to complete an ‘invincible’ campaign.
“We never stop and ending the season unbeaten is our target now,” he said.
“To finish any season unbeaten is an unbelievable achievement.
“We’ve got two difficult midweek games left, but we can go into those games with slightly less pressure on us.”