Lincoln United are back where they belong after promotion into step four, according to director of football Dave Frecklington.
The Whites earned a point that proved to be enough on the final day of the season, finishing the campaign in top spot and returning to the fourth rung of the English non-league pyramid after a two year spell away.
Frecklington, who is a former United manager, said: “We have been part of this football club for a long, long time. We are Lincoln lads and we want to put the football club back at step four.
“It has took us two years to do that. Obviously, we went close last year and Skegness beat us in the play-off semi-finals. And, now we’ve come here to win it at Skegness.”
With results elsewhere falling in Lincoln’s favour, their goalless draw at Skegness Town provided the singular point they needed to finish top of the UCL Premier Division North table.
“Twenty-three games unbeaten tells you everything that you need to know about the club, the management team and the players,” Frecklington said. “They have been on unbelievable form and to go on that sort of run is championship form.”
The United director of football said he was delighted with promotion and thanked the club’s volunteers, who have helped along the way
“What the volunteers do behind the scenes, this is for them. We employ to come and play football and manage the club, but we don’t employ those people that are there week in, week out, who make sure the football club runs in a way where we can allow this management team and players to achieve,” he said.
Lincoln went close last season with defeat in the play-offs after a second-place finish.
Manager Chris Funnell left the club and was replaced by the trio of Scott Hellewell, Paul Grimes and Jon Taylor, who led The Whites to a league title in their first season.
Frecklington said: “We had a great season last year, we got the football club and the city believing in it, and obviously there job this year was to win the league. And, they’ve done that first time of asking.”