Mark Whatley put Arbroath’s League Two title triumph down to self-belief, writes Roddy Mackenzie.
Forfar led the table from August 20 until the penultimate Saturday of the season – 11 points clear at one stage – but the Arbroath skipper always felt they could be caught.
The 1-1 draw at Stirling Albion coupled with Forfar’s 4-2 home defeat by Annan, sparked the celebrations.
Martin Scott had headed Dick Campbell’s men in front after just five minutes, but Steven Doris hit the post with a penalty before half-time and there were some anxious moments after the interval.
Stirling equalised 14 minutes from time when Blair Henderson scored from the spot and the home side finished strongly.
Annan allowed the party to begin at Forthbank and there were jubilant scenes as 1,200 travelling fans celebrated in the sunshine as the silverware was delivered by helicopter and presented by SPFL Chief Executive Neil Doncaster.
“This is the best day of my career,” said Whatley, “I’ve had other good moments, but this tops the lot by a mile.
“You are defined as a player by the trophies you win and we have a great squad and management team here.
“I felt we were fairly in control in the first half and if we had scored the penalty that would have killed it but that’s what happens sometimes.
“I didn’t think it was a penalty for them, but they got it and when it went 1-1 there was a bit of nerves because you weren’t always sure what the score was at Forfar but when anything changed that brilliant travelling support let you know!
“We always believed in ourselves and felt that we could keep closing the gap. At the end of the day, you play 36 games and whoever finishes top deserves it.”
“It took us a while to get going, and we maybe dropped some points when we shouldn’t have, but we got stronger as we went on and coming into the last few weeks you could see that we really meant business.”
David Verlaque hit an injury-time winner as Berwick Rangers beat Edinburgh City 3-2 and Cowdenbeath go into the league play-off with Lowland League champions East Kilbride after their 0-0 draw at Elgin City, the home side missing out on the promotion play-offs.
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