Montrose fans are recovering from their biggest party in more than 20 years after the Gable Endies pulled off the great escape.
Paul Hegarty’s men overturned a one-goal deficit to win the second leg of the pyramid play-off 3-1 against Brora Rangers on Saturday to retain their league status.
More than 2,000 fans turned out at Links Park and they partied on the pitch with the players at full-time before the festivities continued well into the night.
Such celebrations had not been seen in the Angus town since the club gained promotion to the first division in 1991 under co-managers Doug Rougvie and Chic McLelland.
Saturday’s game was the biggest in the club’s history and defeat would have consigned Montrose to the Highland League under the new pyramid system.
Graham Christieson, chairman of the Montrose Supporters’ Club, has been following the club for 30 years and he summed up the emotions of the fans.
“What a day!” he said. “I am extremely relieved and what a worldy goal to win it from Woody. We’ve retained our SPFL status and it feels great.Click here for a full photo gallery“We should also mention Brora’s travelling support for helping to create such a good atmosphere.”
The kick-off was delayed for 15 minutes to allow the large home support entry as huge queues backed up along Wellington Street.
Montrose Lib Dem councillor David May and Angus North and Mearns SNP MSP Nigel Don were among those cheering on the Gable Endies.
Mr May said: “It was a very tense match, especially after Brora scored, but I am delighted at the result.
“It would have been inconceivable to the people in the town that we would not be having top-flight football next season after such a long history which goes back to 1879.”
Mr Don said the result was “just reward for good honest endeavour”, adding: “I was delighted to see Montrose come through a tough competitive game under conditions which made it difficult to demonstrate any skill advantage.
“Credit too to the 2,000-plus fans who turned up to watch. This result is really good news for the town.”
Montrose blogger Gable End Graffiti told The Courier the “sheer passion and desire we showed as fans showed everyone this should be a league club”.
He added: “This awful experience must be taken as a motivator for the next season and the ones stretching out into the future.”
This season, for the first time, teams from the Highland and Lowland leagues had the chance to gain promotion into the divisions above.
Chairman Derek Sim said the club did not want to be the first to lose in the pyramid play-off and pledged they would do everything to ensure they never find themselves in such a position again.
Mr Sim said the club’s future would have been secure, whatever Saturday’s outcome, but he believes league reconstruction must be looked at by the SPFL again at the end of next season.
He said: “The premiership is not happy with 12 teams and they are looking at 14 to 16 Championship teams, so I think you would have three top-flight leagues.
“Whether there is regionalisation after that is something that also has to be looked at because people don’t understand the travel costs involved and you are talking about part-time clubs.
“Asking teams from the Highland League to potentially go down to Berwick on a Tuesday night, you are looking at a seven-hour journey.
“How can that set-up possibly help attract fans or even players to the game?”