CITY chief executive Ryan Sparks has had to wait for City to enjoy success in his time. Here he sums up, in his own words, what Saturday’s promotion-winning party meant.
“I couldn’t really put it into words when it was happening. That’s probably still where I am and I need a bit of time to digest it all.
“You’re walking across the pitch at the end of the game and having a moment on your own. I had a few minutes to step back and watch the celebrations of the players, the manager and the thousands and thousands of our supporters in the stands.
“That moment was of pure elation for them to share and enjoy. I just wanted to be there and behold it.
“I casted my mind back to a few moments that tested us as a football club and certainly tested me as a person. The post-match scenes, and what came after the goal went in, were something I had dreamt of for a long time. It felt like rewatching your favourite movie.
“To have all the players and all the staff who have made the club tick, together, on the pitch was special.
“I look back to what I came into, a club that had lost its way. It was drifting and sat in the relegation zone, potentially heading towards the National League. The unity was gone. We were in a tough spot.
“What we have built is, in my opinion, a very together, united club packed full of some of the most talented, caring and determined people in football.
“This was a great moment for those people. They have gone to the well week in, week out and watched a team win, lose, draw, come up short, almost get there and faced the consequences.
“To have the staff on the pitch was massive for me, personally. There wasn’t one member of staff not there.
“I had Mick (Doyle), the groundsman, basically crying his eyes out in my arms. That is what it is all about. Raw emotion. Mick saw 2013, saw relegation, saw us on the brink and knows what this means.
“I’ve been asked a number of times in this job, ‘why do you do it’?
“The triumphs in football are few and far between. Look at a league table and the probability tells you that you’ve got a slim chance of winning and a bigger one of losing out or falling short.
“Only a few clubs can taste success and we did on Saturday. And that’s why you do it.
“To have the people that I’ve done it with alongside me, stood with my wife, on that pitch was something I will never forget.
“For my health, winning at Doncaster would have been better. For my emotional wealth, this was the one.
“The only thing you could have done to help was tell me in advance that was going to happen!
“It was a scrappy performance against a team that came to frustrate. There was clearly a view from the opposition that they wanted to spoil the party and they played like that.
“We struggled to break them down. When the chances late on from Jack (Shepherd) and Antoni (Sarcevic) didn’t find the net, you’re starting to think about the play-offs.
“It would have been another hurdle for us to overcome and we would have had to reset the clock.
“Clearly, when planning, we had to have hypothetical conversations about the permutations and where we may end up. But we only had eyes for automatic promotion.
“Antoni scored what was probably the worst and the best goal of his career, all at the same time, and we laughed about it afterwards.
“I can see the ball right now rolling into the net. It felt like it was crawling.
“When it rolled over the line, there were bodies flying everywhere. I don’t really know what happened.
“I looked straight at the lino (assistant referee) because I just wanted to be sure. Thankfully, he kept his flag down and chaos ensued.
“What followed were scenes that some people wait a lifetime for. We have the best fanbase in English football and it was really special to see our supporters being able to celebrate such a moment.
“They have stuck with us through thick and thin and have only witnessed one automatic promotion since 1985. This, above anyone else, is for them.
“I spoke to fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, who said they had been coming for years and years and what they felt together will live with them forever.
“You realise in those moments the monumental impact of what we have done. It’s going to take some time to take stock.
“It isn’t about money or fame or fortune; it’s about people’s lives. I didn’t really know what it felt like to have the best day in your life but I probably had it on Saturday.
“There was a great moment when Michael Shackleton, our commercial manager, came running across the pitch. We looked at each other and both knew what we were going to say.
“Do you remember that night at Grimsby when (Lee) Novak scored the overhead kick and Levi (Sutton) won it from 25 yards out? We got in the car wearing masks in the height of Covid and we hugged each other.
“I was a little bit emotional back then, as well! I turned to him and said, ‘you know what, I think we’re going to stay up’.
“We both discussed that on the pitch on Saturday because that was the marker, the starting point.
“This is a huge oil tanker, it’s not a speedboat. It takes some turning and we’ve done that in the last couple of years.
“We probably should have gone up in 2023, losing at Carlisle in that manner was hard to take not withstanding missing out on the play-offs by a point last season. But we got the tanker turned round. It has gathered speed – and it is very difficult to slow oil tankers down in the middle of the ocean.
“The work hasn’t finished but we’ve taken a huge step into our exciting future.
“There are times I remember personally, that were very difficult. I was concerned during the Covid season that we were in big trouble, but we found a way.
“And now we can look forward to League One football returning to Valley Parade, which is a wonderful reward for our incredible, steadfast and loyal supporters who have backed us brilliantly.”
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