Promotion 'is just the first step'

Walsall chief executive Roy Whalley today repeated his challenge for the club to build on promotion by returning to The Championship to stay.The long-serving Saddlers director hailed the return to League One under Richard Money as a 'remarkable achievement'.

But he reiterated that the rebuilding job at Bescot is only half-done, and set a target of establishing the club back in the second tier of English football.

"It's my 21st season at the club and during that time I have now seen five promotions and five relegations," he said.

"There is no doubt that the two occasions on which we have won promotion to The Championship have been extra-special, but what Richard Money and the players have achieved in winning this promotion has been remarkable.

"You have to appreciate where the club was a year ago and the real sense of doom and gloom that there was around the place.

"Richard has walked in and turned the whole thing around in the space of a year with largely the same group of players.

"The players also deserve a lot of credit for their efforts.

"But as far as we're concerned this is just a step in the right direction.

"It's a great achievement but eventually we want to be back in The Championship and we want to establish the club there, which is why we are continuing to develop the infrastructure of the club."