Joey Barton turned to Paul Coutts, two men who know how this sort of thing usually goes down, looked at 20-year-old James Connolly and said, “from our experience, lad, it’s going to be a long couple of days.”
As pandemonium erupted at the Mem, fans teeming onto the field to hoist their heroes into the air following a truly insane 7-0 victory over Scunthorpe United to seal promotion to League One, the party gradually swelled in the bowels of the West Stand.
As the players gradually made their way off the field, having been hugged, kissed, praised, patted and every physical exchange in between by strangers possible more times than in their entire existence, each one arrived inside the dressing room like turning up to the greatest house party of their young lives.
