Selston secure fourth title in six years to lift EMCL Championship

All have been achieved with Weston at the helm and this is the third that has resulted in promotion.

That means step five football for the first time in Selston’s history next season in either the Midland Football League Premier Division or the Northern Counties East League Premier Division.

The title was secured with a game to spare. While Selston were drawing 3-3 with Eastwood after a 4-1 win over Barrow, title rivals Newark Flowserve were losing 2-1 at West Bridgford.

Weston said the success was just reward for everyone at the club.

“It has to be remembered that we operate with no playing budget whatsoever, so to have come through the divisions like we have, with players who are so committed to the cause, is a great achievement,” he added.

“The satisfying thing for me is that the core of the squad have been with us since the Notts Senior League days. There are seven or eight who have stuck with us and they’ll now get the chance to perform at an even higher level — and I think they’re capable of doing so. The camaraderie here is something really special.”

Talking about his title wins, the manager said: “Every one has been fantastic, no matter what level we’re at. We were really disappointed to only finish fourth last year and used that as motivation.

“This time, we remained contenders and really got our heads down.”

Having made what looked a seamless transition from step seven to step six football just two years ago, the challenge is now to be competitive at step five.

As yet, Selston’s destination is unconfirmed with the Midland Football League Premier Division or the Northern Counties East League Premier Division being the options.

Given Selston’s location, both leagues would involve lots of travelling given how far west and north those leagues stretch respectively, and that will bring added challenges for the club.

Weston said: “It’s going to be very different and we’re going to have to factor in not only the financial aspect of the travelling involved but also the time element too given players will have to fit it all around work and so on.

“These are things we’ll look at over the summer, and it’s a problem we obviously want to have, but we have managed quite well this year when we’ve been stretched, thanks to having good quality depth in the squad.

“Whether we change how we operate on a budgetary level too is something we’ll have to look at if we want to be competitive, but there will be various ways we can do that and we want everybody to be equal.”