Notts County's promotion joy may still be headline news and the talk of the city - but the Magpies could face a quick jolt to reality before the start of the new season.
A huge part of the promotion campaign has centred around Macaulay Langstaff - the 42-goal record-breaking striker who has set the division alight.
He has quickly become English football's most coveted striker outside the Premier League – and County may face a battle to keep him.
At 26, Langstaff is in no rush to leave, and is relishing the chance to make his first League appearance in August.
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But County manager Luke Williams fears gilded predators will be paddling up the Trent to lure his goal machine away – and Langstaff, whose contract has two years to run, admits his future is uncertain.
The £50,000 snip from Gateshead, whose sudden advent as a prolific poacher echoes late developer Jamie Vardy's rapid rise, said: “Who knows what the summer holds? All I know is that a year ago, Notts gave me a three-year contract.
“They backed me, they put their money where their mouth is, they paid the money for me, they showed me the interest, they gave me the platform to do what I am doing.
“I genuinely love this club and I am so excited to see where this club can go. They have been unbelievable with me.
“A few years ago I was playing in the 11th tier. Did I think I was going to play full-time football? No. Did I think I was going to be a Football League player? Absolutely not.
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“I have never played in the Football League before – a lot of the lads have. I cannot put into words what it means to get there.”
Williams, whose team was a bag of nerves at Wembley but richly deserved to follow Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds' Wrexham back into the 92-club mainstream for their endless supply of drama, is realistic about County's chances of holding on to Langstaff.
He admitted: “We can fend off opponents that aren’t offering Macaulay a drastically improved, life-changing contract. We can survive those offers.
“But if it is an offer that is life-changing…now we sit and wait, anxiously anticipating offers coming in and to what level.”
Hollywood star quick to comment as Notts join Wrexham in EFL
Wrexham owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have congratulated Notts County on their return to the Football League.
The Hollywood duo, who took over at Wrexham in February 2021, have been vocal in their support of the Magpies after the two teams ran away at the top of the National League table in impressive fashion this season.
With only one team going up automatically, Wrexham took that honour with 111 points, leaving Notts to go through the play-offs despite recording 107 points of their own.
Notts manager explains Archie Mair decision after Wembley triumph
Notts County boss Luke Williams has insisted that his side have the quality to compete in the Football League after confirming their promotion with a penalty shootout victory over Chesterfield at Wembley.
The Magpies twice fell behind thanks to goals from Andrew Dallas and Armando Dobra - John Bostock equalising in normal time before Ruben Rodrigues sent the game to penalties.
In a huge roll of the dice, the Notts head coach opted to sub goalkeeper Sam Slocombe before the penalty shootout, the 34-year-old having never saved a spot-kick since arriving at Meadow Lane.
Notts exorcise demons of past to seal Football League promotion
As Notts County's squad of heroes danced away under the Wembley arch, grown men were in tears and strangers hugged one another as the colours of black and white swayed in unison.
Notts fans had arrived in their thousands in the capital armed with hope and expectation but marched back down Wembley Way knowing their status as the world's oldest Football League club had finally been restored.
In typical Notts fashion, they had to do it the hard way in this enthralling playoff final against Chesterfield, having trailed on two occasions to force a penalty shootout which saw Archie Mair prove to be the hero.
Forest send six-word message to Notts County
Nottingham Forest have congratulated Notts County on their promotion back to the EFL. A message of congratulations was passed from one bank of the Trent to the other, with Forest taking to Twitter after the full-time whistle in the capital.
And a few Forest supporters echoed what their club said, with one writing: "Well done Notts. Great game and thoroughly deserve to be back in the Football League."
