There won't be too much time for promotion celebrations in the Whitchurch Alport camp - they're already looking forward to the new season the North West Counties League Premier Division.

Manager Luke Goddard broke off from the on-pitch scenes of jubilation with his players after the final whistle to lay out his plans for the future.

"Planning for next season starts now," he said.

"We knew beforehand what we wanted to do whatever division we found ourselves in.

"We now need to make sure we keep the players who got us into the Premier Division, and to add quality to the squad to make sure we're competitive.

"We are not going into the Premier Division to make up the numbers, I can tell you that. We want to be competitive and challenge – we want to keep on climbing."

Goddard admitted Cammell Laird made it tough for the Reds – but that he had expected nothing less.

"We got out of the blocks early and blew them away," he said.

"Our plan was always to defend and catch them in the break.

"They made it tense at the end when we switched off and they scored, but even when they had a fair bit of the ball, they never really troubled Danny Read in goal or force him to make any saves.

"I thought we produced a magnificent performance – I'm very proud of the players.

"And what a crowd. It was a record attendance of 733 – it was brilliant. It just goes to show what special fans we have here, and what a special club this is."

And the team had a special message for media manager Martin Wild, who missed the match as he is still recovering in hospital - although he got to watch the action as a special video feed was set up.

The players paraded with the play-off trophy and sang Martin's name – he was absent, but not forgotten.