Phoneix nights at born-again Macclesfield FC will always be gold dust for Robbie Savage after the first promotion of his career.
As darkness fell over Cheshire, and a joyous party broke out at the spruced-up Leasing.com stadium, director of football Savage gave thanks for the day he listened to owner Rob Smethurst's grand design to rebuild a club out of the ashes of Macclesfield Town.
Together they have made a Silkmen's purse out of Sav's ear.
Fellow phoenix clubs Aldershot and AFC Wimbledon have proved it is possible to rise from the ashes, and hopefully Bury will be next after Macclesfield's romp to the North West Counties League title in front of 4,602 fans.
It has not always been a smooth ride. Some of the jealousy aimed at Savage on social media has been borderline stalking, and last August he waded into the crowd to separate feuding fans at a heated derby with Congleton.
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But as he surveyed his domain from a touchline seat between the dugouts, at 47 he was finally able to enjoy a new phenomenon: Going up.
“When I woke up this morning, I realised I could be associated with a promotion-winning side for the first time,” said the Mirror Sport columnist.
“Although I've captained four Premier League clubs and played 39 times for my country, this is the biggest achievement of my career because there's so much more to running a football club than putting a team out on a Saturday. I've never had to work so hard in all my life.
“Only 18 months ago, there wasn't even a football club here – just an overgrown pitch, a stadium falling into disrepair and the shell of a business which had gone to the wall.
“We had no players, no manager, nothing. But thanks to Rob's investment, putting our trust in an inexperienced manager and a squad who were hungry and motivated, we haven't just won promotion.
“This is the day we gave a town its pride back. It's an unbelievable feeling.”
From the outset, Savage has been determined to run Macclesfield along professional lines, and before kick-off there were more cones on the pitch than the never-ending M6 contraflow.
For 45 minutes on Saturday, he cut an animated figure until former Crystal Palace, Leicester and Bolton midfielder Neil Danns, who turns 40 later this year, supplied the breakthrough with an instinctive finish steeped in Football League know-how.
James Berry-McNally's two lavish goals and Tom Clare's 20th goal of the season supplied the garnish as the born-again Silkmen and manager Danny Whitaker sealed promotion to the Northern Premier League.
Danns said: “I played in the last Bury team to win promotion before the club went out of existence, and I know how hard it is for supporters when their Saturday afternoons are taken away from them.
“Now it feels as if I've come full circle by helping Macclesfield to be reborn. I've had some good days in football, but this is as fulfilling as any of them.
“A lot of people ask why I'm still playing at my ripe old age, but I'm just a lad from humble beginnings, raised in Toxteth and trying to drain every last drop out of my career.”
Among the crowd was former Football League official Trevor Jones, one of the few referees never to book Savage in his pomp as a midfield nuisance.
Jones recalled snapping his Achilles tendon taking charge of a First Division game between West Brom and Watford in 1983, and the first person to put his head round the door of the medical room to wish him a speedy recovery was Elton John.
“I can see this ground from my house, and Robbie has not just revived a football club that went out of existence,” said Jones.
“When you see 270 kids, of all ages and backgrounds, training on the pitch every week, you begin to realise what he's done for the town. He doesn't get enough credit for it.”
