Ian Holloway praised his Crystal Palace heroes and Kevin Phillips in particular after the veteran striker fired the Eagles into the Barclays Premier League at Wembley.
Phillips’ extra-time penalty earned Palace a 1-0 win over Watford and promotion from the npower Championship in a game where £120 million was at stake.
Now Holloway, who led Blackpool to the Premier League with victory in the 2010 play-off final, will seek to mastermind top-flight survival at Selhurst Park.
Rather than be too concerned about the recruitment possibilities from the enhanced revenue, Holloway focused on his playing group.
“How much you spend on your group isn’t always what gives you,” Holloway said. “It’s what’s inside their hearts and how much they work for you.
“I’ve been very fortunate that both teams that have done it for me, I was privileged to have worked with them. To me they’re Palace heroes.”
With leading goalscorer Glen Murray injured, Phillips stepped up in his fourth play-off final to send Palace back to the top flight, with former Dundee goalkeeper Julian Speroni playing his part in the Wembley victory.
The 39-year-old striker, on loan from Blackpool, had suffered play-off final heartache for Sunderland, West Brom and Blackpool, but had his manager’s backing.
“If I had to put everything I own on someone smacking it in the net, then I’d put it on Kev,” Holloway said.
Phillips’ decisive strike came in the 105th minute after £15m Manchester United-bound winger Wilfred Zaha was brought down by Marco Cassetti.
Gianfranco Zola plans to remain at Watford despite their near miss.
The Italian said: “This game doesn’t take anything away from our season. It’s been a very good season. It’s a very unfortunate thing we didn’t play our best game. They played better and they deserved to win the game.”