Taxi for Woody ... the promotion night was a bit of a blur! Rotherham United captain Richard Wood writes for the Advertiser

The lads had a great night out in Wickersley last Saturday night when we got back from Gillingham after winning promotion to the Championship.

It felt good to celebrate as a group after a momentous season in which we made Rotherham United history by going up and winning a cup.

A fair few beers were consumed, and it was nice that the management and staff were there as well, not just the players.

My T-shirt was soaked at one point. I’m not sure how that happened. I must have banged in to someone. My recollection of some of the evening is very cloudy!

It was an unbelievable day at Priestfield Stadium. I loved the celebrations at the end. I would rather have won promotion at home in front of a New York Stadium full house but that packed away end and the fact that it was a sunny day made things that little bit more special.

All those Rotherham United fans on that temporary terracing looked magnificent. They’d travelled in their numbers and they played a massive part in making the occasion what it was.

I don’t know what it is about a stand with no roof on but it adds something a bit extra to the spectacle. Maybe it was because it was so full.

During the match I had a few looks at it and there were all these banks of supporters in the sun ... it was just an amazing sight.

What a great way to finish the season. I was always confident during the game that we’d get the win we needed for promotion.

Gillingham were hurling long throws at us and getting the ball into the box but we were pretty much in control. We handled their threat well.

It was chaotic in the dressing room afterwards. Both my sons were in there and they got drenched in champagne along with everyone else. They loved it.

They are very lucky lads to be part of something like that. They’re at an age now where you can trust them to be okay and the gaffer is really good at granting access. The players are brilliant with them as well.

My missus and my dad had been with them in the crowd. I ran straight over to the four of them and into the stand at the final whistle and then took the boys down into the changing room with me.

The players were in there for a long time because Gillingham fans were on the pitch and I was glad when we could finally come back out. Fair play to our supporters for waiting. I bet loads of them missed trains.

I hope they thought it was worth it. It was good that we got to mix with them and tell them how much we appreciated their backing.

It was some debut for Georgie Kelly, wasn’t it? I’ve never seen anything like it. To come on and score the goal that took us up within ten minutes is fairy-tale stuff. He’ll never forget it. It was a great finish and the scenes afterwards ... there were arms, legs, players, fans everywhere!

I’ve watched the goal back so many times and I love how all the fans are pointing at Georgie and telling Chieo Ogbene to pass the ball to him. That was brilliant.

Was my headed ‘goal’ a few minutes before then offside? I think so. The referee was right to disallow it. I didn’t see a replay on the day but my boys showed me the footage the following morning.

I was just off, I reckon. It would have topped everything for me if it had been allowed to count.

This has been the favourite season of my career. We’ve done so many great things ... we’ve finished as runners-up and come close to winning the league, we’ve won the Papa John’s Trophy Final at Wembley, we’ve set a new club record for the number of clean sheets and we’ve gone on the longest unbeaten run in Rotherham history.

When we finished second and went up two years ago, it wasn’t the same. Covid was around and there were no fans. This time we got to share it with them.

It feels even sweeter because we had that wobble late in the season but managed to overcome it.

Every promotion contender in the division had a dip at some stage but ours came at a bad time.

It shows how much belief and character we’ve got that we put things right. In the last three matches of the campaign we were right back on it again. When the pressure was on, we delivered.

I’ll have a couple of weeks off now. It’s been a tough campaign and I’m feeling it a bit. I confidently predict that the Wickersley beers I had won’t be the last ones!

I’ve always been a Peroni man in the past but Madri is my tipple now. I hardly touched alcohol during the season and I’m ready to let my hair down a little bit.

The lads are all off for a little break in the sunshine now and I can’t wait for that. We’re flying to America tomorrow and I’d like to thank the chairman and the club for putting on the trip for us.

Viva Las Vegas. Viva the promoted Millers!

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I’M pleased the gaffer has paid a little tribute to super-fan Graham elsewhere in these Millers page and I’d just like to echo what he’s said.

Graham is there every day at training and all the players give him a fist pump. We see him at all the away games as well and the lads make time to go over and have a chat with him.

He’s part of the squad. That’s how it feels.

The gaffer got Graham to record a video of support that was shown to us on the morning of the Gillingham game.

Graham had two goes at it and we watched them both. Brilliant! He messed up the first one then nailed the second. We were all laughing.

He wasn’t comfortable being in front of the camera but he was willing to do it for us. That sums him up as a bloke. He means a lot to us.

The videos were a lovely touch and they had an impact on us. Training and matchdays wouldn’t be the same without our Graham.