WARRINGTON Town chairman Toby Macormac says this season’s promotion is ‘just the start’ for his club as they bid to rise through the leagues.

Saturday’s 6-1 win over Prescot Cables in front of more than 1,400 people – their 32nd win from 40 games this season – sealed the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League First Division North title for the Yellows.

It means the club will start next season at the highest level in their history and Macormac says it was the first step on ‘a really big journey’.

“This is a really historic moment for the club, we have been waiting for it for a long time but now it has arrived it really is fantastic,” he said.

“This could be the start of something really big for the club, we will be facing some new teams this year and hopefully getting some new fans along the way.

“This is the first step in what will hopefully be a really big journey for us.”

Town never looked back once captain and top scorer Ciaran Kilheeney put them ahead in the 13th minute, with further first-half goals from Scott Metcalfe, Gerard Kinsella and Chris Gahgan rendering the game effectively over by half time.

A stunning free-kick from Rob Doran gave Prescot a glimmer of hope after the break, but further goals from Daniel O’Donnell and Kilheeney meant Town clinched promotion in stunning style.

It comes as the first step in the chairman’s ambitious plan to reach the Football League by the year 2020, which will require another three promotions in the upcoming four seasons.

Macormac says negotiations to keep the successful squad together have already begun and hopes many of Saturday’s bumper crowd will return to Cantilever Park when the new season begins in August.

“We want to build on it next season but today was special, fantastic support from nearly 1500 people coming down to watch us and hopefully they will come back and watch us every week next year,” he said.

“The players have been different class, they kept their minds on the job and once we got one everything just fell into place.

“We’ll be entering re-negotiations this week with some of our players, we want to keep as much of this squad together as we can for next season and they can contribute to another historic season.”

Manager Stuart Mellish, who took over when Shaun Reid parted company with the club in February, echoed the sentiments of his chairman, saying planning for next season had already started and that a couple of signings for next season are close to being finalised.

“We’ve got a couple of deals almost done already, obviously I can’t say too much at the minute but we’ve been watching games for the past four or five weeks with the realisation that hopefully we’ll get promotion and we can improve the squad a little bit,” he said.

“The chairman is right behind us, we’ve got a “2020 Vision” project and we’re on target for that so we’ve got to stay professional and keep working hard for it.”

  •  See this week's Warrington Guardian for an eight-page Town pull-out