Emotional Needham Market boss Kevin Horlock proud of side after Bloomfields outfit secure promotion

‘Championes, championes, ole ole ole’ bellowed out of the Needham Market clubhouse after the Marketmen secured promotion to Step 2 for the first time in their history.

A teary-eyed Kevin Horlock sat down with the celebrations echoing around Bloomfields. The former Manchester City midfielder, who had previously been in charge of Needham’s academy, was appointed as manager in 2019. On his first day as the new boss, he said: “I have always had a strong affinity with Needham Market and when the opportunity arose to return it was one I could not turn down.”

That strong affinity with the club has grown even greater over the past eight months – particularly the last few hours.

After back-to-back abandoned seasons, and then 12th and 17th-placed finishes, Horlock’s side have sealed the Pitching In Southern League Premier Central title, courtesy of a 3-1 victory over Royston Town.

“I’ve been part of promotion-winning teams in my career and we had good players, like we have good players here, but we have something different,” he said.

“I can’t really explain it but, this group, I knew they had it. The consistency they’ve shown has been incredible.

“When the final whistle went, I was just emotional. I’m quite an emotional person. I tried to be a bit of a hard-nut when I was playing and have that aura about me but I’m a softy at heart. It brought a tear to my eye I must admit.

“They’re unbelievable players in their own right, but they’re good people as well, that culture is something we have always tried to create. You see lads who are injured involved, lads who are on loan involved, lads who are not playing involved, we’ve hopefully created an environment for them to listen, learn and get better.

“It’s all about them, this isn’t about me or the management staff. Yes, we’ve driven them, but all the credit goes to the players.”

Both crowd and players alike ran onto the pitch at the sound of the full-time whistle and shared a special moment together on the Bloomfields pitch, as ‘We are the champions’ blared out over the speakers.

An emotional Horlock, who watched on as his players celebrated their incredible achievement, was dragged over to join in the party, before being lifted into the air by his squad.

“It feels unbelievable. It’s been a long season, we’ve been really consistent but once you get in touching distance, you start dreaming and believing. To get over the line at home, in the way we did, it rounds off a really fantastic season,” he said.

“The lads, what a group. What a group to manage. I’m very lucky to be manager of this group of players.

“I felt really emotional. I know how much hard work has gone into it. Obviously, I’ve been here a number of years now and we’ve not performed as well in the league, created history in the cup competitions which is nice, and that gifts everyone a day out, but to win the league is something different.

“It’s something we focused on at the start of the season, something we were aware of. Did I think we would win the league with games to spare? Probably not. But I knew this group had something, they had something different.

“You’ve got to dream big and I knew what I had in the dressing room.”