Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper couldn’t help but be swept away by the emotion of the events he instigated.
Following their 1 – 0 Championship play-off final win over Huddersfield, Nottingham Forest are back in the Premier League.
The two-time European champions return to England’s top flight after 23 years away. Manager Steve Cooper was parachuted in in September, when Nottingham Forest were bottom of the league.
“I’m so glad everybody at the club gets to do their job in the Premier League,” said Steve Cooper.
“There’s no doubt we deserve to be promoted, the football we played, the games we’ve won, the attitude we’ve given. Every time we’ve had an average game we’ve recovered.”
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“I’m just really proud of everybody connected with the football club: it’s a magical football club, and we’ve just reminded the world of that. It isn’t about individuals, success is about the team, the football club.
“I knew it before I came but when I walked in the biggest thing that struck me is how proud people are of this football club.”
“It’s such a nostalgic, brilliant, massive club that everyone knows,” said Cooper.
“And I’m so delighted we can go to the Premier League and the supporters and everyone connected to the club can experience that. It’s been a brilliant season, the players have provided a fantastic attitude and culture, and the training ground is such a good laugh; there’s a real pride and togetherness.
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“It’s been brilliant to be a part of it from day one. It takes a group of men to get off the canvas and fight back, and that’s what they’ve done. Everyone’s probably looked down their nose at them where they were.
“They’ve fought back, and in a really attractive way. The first objective was to get out of the relegation zone. And there were times I was thinking we’re not making much progress here, and maybe we won’t get into the top 10.
“Then as soon as you get into the top 10, you think ‘right, top 10 now’, then you start hoping for top six. It was April that really put us in there for the play-offs. And we never gave up, we just kept playing.”
