Reaction from Spalding United skipper Nathan Stainfield after his side are crowned Northern Premier League champions
Lifting the league championship trophy meant so much to Spalding skipper Nathan Stainfield after a series of heartbreaks with the Tulips.
The club stalwart has been part of two Spalding sides who lost in play-off finals while also suffering back-to-back defeats in the Lincolnshire Senior Cup final.
Stainfield - who made his 300th appearance for the club earlier this season - was therefore delighted to finally land an elusive honour after his side were crowned Northern Premier League Midlands Division champions on Saturday with an emphatic 8-0 win over Coleshill.
He said: "I really can't tell you what it means to me.
"I've invested so much of myself as far as non-league football goes into this club and it means so much.
"I've had two play-off final defeats and two cup final defeats and I've never felt so sick going into a football match because I genuinely couldn't have taken another defeat.
"I don't usually suffer from nerves but it was a long week to get to the day.
"I was expecting it to be a tight, horrible game and I thought we would have to be patient and it would probably be a 1-0 or 2-1 sort of match.
"Once we started though, we were just relentless and I think we showed the class of champions."
Stainfield added: "Everyone was saying after we had lost the Bedworth game that the league was over and we were too far off the top but, I spoke to the gaffer, and I said we've got 11 games left and if can get 11 wins then we'll see where the land lies.
"We got 10 wins and a draw and that came in the dying seconds against Harborough.
"We have shown real mettle and we've gone and won it which is great."
The Tulips were also backed by a crowd of more than 1,700 as the home fans took advantage of the offer of free entry to get behind the title winners.
Stainfield commented: "It's brilliant for the community and it just shows what the new owners have done for the club.
"It means so much to everyone and this has made history for the club and I'm so proud to be part of it.
"It's been brilliant and the lads and management have been class.
"We've taken the knocks and we had a rough November period but we've stayed together and just kept plugging away.
"We kept everything in-house and it's been an absolute pleasure to be captain of this football club."
Stainfield was named Tulips Supporters Club player of the year and was also joint players’ player of the year with Glenn Walker as Spalding held their awards after Saturday’s game.
Lewis Hilliard was manager’s player of the year while Riley O’Sullivan was voted young player of the year.
James Clifton was top goalscorer while kitmen Rob and Ian Green were named clubmen of the year with groundsman Pete Clare picking up the volunteer of the year accolade.
