Graham, the Rotherham United super-fan ... Millers manager Paul Warne talks promotion and Neil Warnock and pays tribute to someone special in his column in last week's Advertiser

Graham is one of my favourite people in the world.

He is a Rotherham United super-fan who I allow into the training ground every single day.

I love him to bits and so do the players. He is a brilliant, genuine, funny bloke who is Millers-daft.

The lads all shake his hand every time they see him at Roundwood. He’s also there at all the away games when we get off the coach and he receives the same treatment then.

Graham, in the lads’ eyes, is the head of the supporters. He isn’t really but we’ve sort of made him it.

Without fans, you’re not a football club, you’re just a management team and a squad of players. Fans are the beating heart of Rotherham United. They’ll still be here long after us lot have gone.

Graham embodies all that. He is an amazing human being who enjoys his life and loves watching the team and spending time with the players.

When you’re a kid, you play football for fun. You play because you love it. When it turns into a job, it’s very easy, if you’re not careful, to take that fun element out of it.

Lower-league players live contract to contract. They’re thinking: ‘I know I can pay the bills for another three months but then I’m out. I need a two-year deal somewhere.’

It’s hard for players sometimes to appreciate the good that they do and the effect they can have on people’s lives.

Graham being there reminds our lads of that.

They don’t just play for themselves. They’re not narcissistic, egotistical arseholes, they understand the importance of football and how important it is to do their best for everyone.

Because he’s such a down-to-earth bloke and I can wind him up about needing to pluck his nose hair, Graham is at the forefront of the people outside our internal circle.

The lads don’t just shake his hand, they stop and chat to him. They can see how much he cares. They want to win for him and people like him.

He offers me words of encouragement when I leave the training ground and what he says means a lot to me. He’ll offer all the players who walk past him the same encouragement.

Those little bits add a lot to us and he is part of the reason why this group are special.

I got him to record a video of support that I played for the squad at the team hotel in Kent before we got on the team bus to go to the Gillingham game last Saturday when we clinched promotion.

He did two takes. He was nervous on the first one and wasn’t happy with it, then he absolutely nailed it at the second attempt. I showed the players both versions and, of course, the first one was their favourite!

A promotion and cup double in the same season is amazing for the town and we’ve done it for all the people who made the effort to back us; people like the man who’s always at the training ground or standing next to the team bus.

Graham, you’re an absolute ‘ledg’, Mate. Thank you for everything. Don’t ever stop turning up.

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A TEXT from our old gaffer, Neil Warnock, popped up on my phone within minutes of the final whistle at Gillingham last Saturday.

‘I’ve taught you all you know, Son,’ it said and it made me laugh. It was one of many highlights of a day I’ll never forget.

Winning automatic promotion is the biggest achievement of my career.

It’s the seventh time I’ve gone up as a player, fitness coach or manager and this one means the most.

I’m a boy from a small town in Norfolk so for my professional career to go as it has is amazing.

At the moment, my overriding emotion is one of relief. The feeling of satisfaction will come later.

I’ve had three seasons as a boss in League One and have managed to go up in all of them. I am proud of that feat but even more proud of all the players and staff who have made the hat-trick possible.

We put ourselves in a really good position this year, then we wobbled a bit and I feared the football gods might be against us, but the lads really rallied and we finished off the season very well.

My first promotion as a manager was pretty majestic because I’d been in the job for only 18 months. Going up at Wembley in the play-off was special.

The second one was pretty strange because the campaign was ended early because of the Covid pandemic and there were no fans to share it with.

This one feels very real.

The praise should go to the players and the people I have around me. I appreciate it’s my voice that’s heard because I’m the person who stands and talks to the press but I’m only a small part of a much bigger picture.

Richie Barker is an unbelievable coach — wasted in League One really — as are Matt Hamshaw and Andy Warrington. They dedicate their lives to this club.

We’ve had five or six players play 50-odd games, which is phenomenal. That’s credit to them and credit to the staff who keep them healthy.

That’s why I like to sign good human beings who want to play and do all they can to be fit and resilient. That’s been a big part of our success.

I don’t think anyone can complain that we’ve gone up, although MK Dons gave us a right run for our money and ruined six weeks of my life by closing a big points gap and pushing us all the way.

It’s a pity we didn’t top things off with the title. If we’d hung on for a win in the penultimate match, at Sunderland, we possibly would have done, but it was not to be. I’m not complaining. The runners-up spot isn’t too shabby. Wigan Athletic pipped us by two points and are worthy champions.

For the lads to do what they did on the final day at Priestfield Stadium is literally priceless.

It is something that will connect them for the rest of their lives and I love the feeling that I have been a part of that for them.

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MORE and more I realise I have very little say on affairs at Warne Acres.

My son, Mack, was always going to go to our last-day clash at Gillingham, but I wasn’t keen for my wife, Rachel, and daughter, Riley, to be there.

I never enjoy them coming to games as I worry about them if it isn’t a nice ending.

Had it all gone wrong and we hadn’t gone up, my son could have handled his dad getting absolutely smoked by fans — I think he actually enjoys it, truth be told — but it’s different for my daughter.

I don’t think a daughter should have to listen to people abusing her father. I hope that doesn’t come across as sexist; it’s a ‘protective dad’ kind of thing.

Mack is 18 and has passed his driving test. He drove down to Kent with two of his mates

My brother was also there, plus two of my old friends from Norwich and an university pal I hadn’t seen for a few years.

I wanted my missus to stay at home and look after our dog. It’s a long way to Gillingham and back and I had an issue with Chief being on his own all day.

So I put my foot down and really discouraged her and Riley from travelling.

Were both of them at Priestfield Stadium to see us win promotion? Of course they were.

Many thanks to my best mate in the village, by the way.

Chief said he had a great day at his place.

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WHAT an away following that was at Gillingham.

To have more than 2,250 Millers there was humbling.

Kent is a fricking long way to go, especially after the Easter holidays when everyone has been spending their money.

I hope the fans have enjoyed the season for what it is. There have been many ups and one or two downs.

No team want to win every game 3-0 and canter to the title, do they? Where’s the fun in that? It’s much more enjoyable having no fingernails left, surely!!

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NO rest for the wicked.

Promoted on Saturday, back at work on Tuesday.

The management and lads had a lively Saturday night in Wickersley when we got back from Gillingham then I was out in Sheffield on Sunday with the staff and our wives.

Bank-holiday Monday was an afternoon at the pub and then footy on TV and since then I’ve been at our Roundwood training base. There’s a lot to sort out in regards to contract negotiations, recruitment and the retained list.

TIME flies, doesn’t it?

It was 21 years ago last week that I was part of the Rotherham United team that famously clinched promotion from League One at a packed Millmoor.

It wasn’t called League One back then, of course, it was the old Division Two.

Brentford were the opponents and Alan Lee scored that goal late on to secure a 2-1 win, take us up and send the ground bonkers.

I remember Al turning and shanking his shot from the edge of the box. When he hit it I thought: ‘What is he doing?’ The next second, the ball was nestling in the bottom of the net.

Normally I have very little recall of matches I played in but this one has stayed clear in my mind.

A couple of minutes before the end, I was speaking to a couple of the lads and saying: ‘When the final whistle blows we’re going to have to get off sharpish because if not the fans are going to strip us naked.’

I knew that shirts, shorts, pants, shin-pads and socks would all be in danger.

I said to Stewart Talbot, who’d scored our first goal, that when time was virtually up we needed to keep the ball in the bottom corner by the away end for an easy exit when it was all over

The ref blew and I legged it up the tunnel for health and safety reasons! Then I had to wait on my own for forever because the gaffer, Ronnie Moore, and the lads were milking the arse out of it.

Ronnie was the worst of the lot. He was being carried around and baptising kids and all sorts.

Me? I was showered and changed by the time most of the other players got back to the dressing room.

At the time, I lived on Moorgate Road near Rotherham District General Hospital and I was home relaxing before 6pm.

I look back now and regret my disappearing act as I no doubt missed out on some great scenes.

The plus side, I suppose, was that I managed to keep all my kit!