IRVINE Meadow boss Jamie McKim says that an "unbelievable effort" has led to his side being crowned league champions.
The North Ayrshire outfit claimed the WoSFL First Division crown on Saturday following a 4-1 win against Gartcairn.
Coupled with St Roch's dropping points, it gave McKim's men an unassailable lead atop the standings with three games still to be played.
Speaking to Medda TV, the boss said: “I spoke to the boys weeks ago about the amount of people that go through their footballing careers and don’t win anything.
“We embraced, from the start of the season, that this was what we wanted to achieve. We’ve got here now.
“I had full faith in the squad. With the momentum we were gathering early I knew we would be up there or roundabout.
“It’s the result of the hard work of the boys, the background team, everyone together. I think it’s no less than we deserve.
“I’m delighted and really proud of the effort from everybody.”
McKim also looked to highlight the progress made by his side in just 12 months.
This time last season, Meadow battled back from the brink to ensure they avoided relegation from the First Division on the final day of the campaign.
McKim added: “When we set out at the start of the season, we aimed to win the league, but I think that’s easy to say – I think everybody in football should be aiming to win the league before the season starts.
“The absolute minimum we said was we wanted to be promoted in those top three places and give it the best go we can at winning the league. I thought we were capable of that.
“To be here, with three games to go, league champions after having to survive from relegation on the last day of last year – I think it speaks volumes of the work that has been done here.
“When you look at that journey over the course of a year, it’s an unbelievable effort.”
The boss says that the journey is not over yet with further targets still attainable for his Meadow side who sit on 67 points with three matches left to play.
McKim said: “Now, there’s a refocus, the best champions in this league over the course of the years has been 73 points.
“Our target now is to beat that and be the best now. We have the opportunity but we need to go and take near enough maximum points to do that.
“We don’t want to let up, we want to make sure that we finish in style – we have a motivation to do that.
“It’s not a case of we win the league, we’re champions and we can sit back and relax. The boys know what the ambition is, we’ve achieved part of it, let’s go do the next bit.”
Next up for Meadow is a trip to face Lanark United on Saturday, May 9.
Trophy day will be the final match of the season at Meadow Park against Kilbirnie Ladeside on Saturday, May 16.
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