Morecambe boss Derek Adams was celebrating at full-time despite seeing his side 'narrowly' beaten 1-0 by Sunderland on the final day of the season. Nathan Broadhead's first half strike at the Mazuma Stadium gave the Black Cats the win they needed to book a place in the play-offs.
And while a defeat meant that Morecambe's relegation fate was no longer in their own hands, Gillingham's 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Rotherham consigned the Gills to League Two and ensured that the Shrimps survived. "It was a difficult game for both sides because they knew if they won the match they would have got themselves into the position they wanted to be," said Adams.
"Unfortunately for us, we lost a poor goal to start with but other results on the day have gone our way. Over the season, we have picked up enough points to keep ourselves in League One and that's where this football club wanted to be, having gained promotion last season to get ourselves into this situation.
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"It's fantastic for the supporters, the players, the board of directors, and the owners, to have another season [in League One]. Financially, it is huge. We can all see that.
"The differences between League One and League Two, the venues you go to, the teams you play against, are massive. You only have to look now at Derby County coming down to League One - there's a lot of big teams in this division.
"Sunderland narrowly beat us 1-0 over the game and they are pushing from a play-off position to try to get into the Championship. We're celebrating that we have stayed in League One, which is great, and over the afternoon it was a fantastic afternoon, a beautiful sunny day, and everybody here was here to enjoy themselves, and the end result was perfect for us."
Adams returned to Morecambe at the end of February for a second spell in charge of the Lancashire club, having left the club last summer after leading the Shrimps to promotion to League One via the play-offs. When he was reappointed, Morecambe were 21st in the table and two points from safety, but 13 games later they finished 19th - two points and two places above the drop zone.
Adams said: "I came here before when we were going out of the Football League. It was more difficult this time because I had less games to do it in, I only had 13 matches, and we had to pick up enough points between then and the end of the season.
"We've had a squad that has been bare and we have had to rely on a small number of players to get us over the line, and they have done it very well."
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