Stephen McGinn took himself for a saunter on Friday morning - because he knew that evening would be anything but a stroll in the park.
The Kilmarnock midfielder wasn’t wrong. Ninety nerve-ridden minutes began with expectation, moved onto angst and frustration before ending with euphoria.
The 33-year-old has walked the walk in the Championship before - having captained St Mirren to the title in 2017 and battling the drop while on loan at Morton last season.
But he insists nothing has come close to the roller coaster of emotions that ended with him skipping round a frenzied Rugby Park as champion.
Blair Alston’s last gasp winner made it 2-1 and blew the top off the stadium as Killie sealed their return to the top flight despite having trailed 1-0 at half-time to James Craigen’s opener.
McGinn said: “When you dream of winning the title, it’s always with a last-minute goal.
“When we did, this place was absolutely rocking.
“At half-time, the manager was the calmest man in the stadium.
“We were all fighting with each other, but he came and said: ‘Look, you don’t get this far just to give it away, so let’s see the real Killie in the second half.’
“It felt like we really stepped it up and the way it finished was special.
“It was a horrendous build-up to Friday night. I went for an hour’s walk in the morning to try and clear my head. Maybe being older and having more experience makes those times worse, because you’re thinking more.”
McGinn is out of contract in the summer but would love to stick around for another crack at the top flight.
The midfielder returned north from spells with Watford, Sheffield United and Wycombe to St Mirren in 2017 before also turning out for Hibs and Killie.
And McGinn said: “I came back from England to reinvigorate myself and it has been everything I wanted it to be.
“Now, when you get to this age, you don’t know how many more games like these you’ll get to play in.
“I’m out of contract in the summer, so we’ll have to see what happens next. I can’t thank Derek McInnes enough for how he’s been with me.
“I’d absolutely love another crack at the Premiership under him.”
Killie had called for their fans to roar their side on to a title party. And 10,000 Ayrshire locals responded.
McGinn reckons it was a throwback to the Steve Clarke era when Killie finished third.
He said: “Seeing so many Killie fans when we ran out was amazing.
“I remember coming here with St Mirren during the Stevie Clarke era and you could feel the togetherness and the force.
“That was back on Friday night and the same backing next season would mean the world.”
