"This isn’t the end, this is the beginning," Bristol Rovers CEO Tom Gorringe said on the pitch after Joey Barton's Gas produced a promotion miracle on the final day of the League Two season.
After thrashing Scunthorpe United 7-0 at the Mem on Saturday to snatch third place from the grasp of Northampton Town on goals scored, Gorringe insisted Rovers' journey under Barton is only just getting started.
Cider can in hand and trying to process a "ludicrous" day in the history of the football club, Gorringe may have been forgiven for thinking only about the here and now, but instead, he is laser-focused on the summer and beyond for the Gas
"We’ve never been talking about getting promoted out of League Two so we can play in League One," he told Bristol Live. "We want to play in the Championship at least and see where we go.
"Next season we’ll be prepped and ready to compete at the top end of League One and see where it gets us.
"We’ll obviously have a busy summer and lots of work to do to get a team that can compete like the team we’ve got now and hopefully we can do that and have another one of these nights in a year’s time."
Gorringe worked at Portsmouth, Cardiff City and Brighton & Hove Albion earlier in his career, but he believes the culture that has been created at The Quarters and the offices of the Mem exceeds them all.
"It’s taken us time to get going but it’s an unbelievable group we’ve got here," he said. The culture we’ve got in the building, the staff, the quality of the people have all been unbelievable.
"I’ve never worked anywhere – and I’ve been at sides that got promoted to the Premier League before – where there is such a unity and such a team spirit and everybody is pulling in the same direction. There is a real team spirit here. The ground staff and all the staff have been in the dressing room celebrating, along with the first team and that’s what this football club is about.
"We set the bar quite high, we said this is the standard that is expected at this football club and we were quite brutal in seeing that through initially, but we’re seeing the fruits of that today.
"Earlier, we still had four goals to get promoted, but everyone upstairs was saying ‘It’s only four goals’, and obviously that’s not a normal conversation to be having but there was a real confidence and belief that we could score the goals we needed to get promoted. That’s come over months and months of us all working together and pulling in the same direction. We believe we’ve got the best team in the league and I think that’s true.
"The fans are in the fanzone, singing Hey Jude and that’s what it’s all about. I’m just really proud. We’ve got some great people here and they’ve been working hard and today is all for them.
"Today isn’t about any individual, this is about the team. Not just the first team but the support staff and everybody who works at the Mem. Everybody has been unbelievable, particularly for the last six months and today is for them."
Since being promoted to chief executive in November after the departure of Martyn Starnes, Gorringe has worked closely with Barton and he was full of praise for the job the manager has done.
He said: "I don’t think he’s ruffled too many feathers, I just think he has said ‘This is the standard we accept at this football club and this is what we need to be successful'. He’s been proven right in that.
"He’s done an unbelievable job, Joe. He’s worked incredibly hard and he’s not the brash, bravado character people make him out to be. He genuinely cares what people think and he wants to be successful.
"I’m so glad for him that he has been because he’s had some tough times this season and today he’s got his just rewards.
"He’s worked really hard and he’s supported by a brilliant team. All the staff of the first team are unbelievable. You go down there yesterday and it’s like a party atmosphere."
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