‘Bottles of Peroni!’: It can only be emotional former Portsmouth boss on rise again with Fratton, Ipswich Town and Wigan Athletic favourites

Paul Cook is on the way up again as he marked his return to the Football League - with a Peroni-drenched title win!

The man who guided Pompey to the League Two title in 2017 delivered the fourth championship of his management career on Saturday, as Chesterfield won the National League crown.

Boreham Wood, with former Gosport keeper Nathan Ashmore in goal, were defeated 3-0 at the SMH Stadium, as the Spireites were confirmed as champions with five games remaining.

Two goals from Jamie Grimes and a Liam Mandeville finish got the party started, with Cook’s men now 21 points clear of Barnet at the top of the table.

And it was a win tinged with Pompey influences, with midfielder Tom Naylor and winger Michael Jacobs both in the Chesterfield starting XI at the weekend.

Naylor has bagged a very impressive 12 goals this term - including the winner against his old side in the FA Cup last November.

Meanwhile, Jacobs has registered six goals from 41 appearances, after a Fratton stay where defeat rarely arrived when he featured amid injury issues.

And popular Fratton schemer, Gary Roberts, was at Cook’s side with the former Ipswich and Wigan man his first-team coach.

Pompey fans can look back fondly on Cook bringing glory back to Fratton Park, after the fall down the league amid the club’s well-documented travails.

The Scouser orchestrated that success off the back of an entertaining brand of football and throwback team spirit, in the period of community ownership.

It was an emotional victory for Cook, arriving on his father’s birthday two years on from his death.

No doubt his memory was to the fore, while those who know the former Pompey boss will not be surprised to know this was a victory toasted with an Italian influence.

In an interview with TNT Sport after the win, Cook said: ‘I lost my dad two-and-a-half years ago and it’s his birthday today.

'I am delighted, I really am, I am delighted for the supporters.

‘When I came back two-and-a-bit years ago, I didn’t realise how tough a league it was.

‘It has been amazing. I can’t thank the players, the staff, enough. It has been great. It has been such a team effort.

‘I’m absolutely delighted. It’s good players, good staff and good character. I can’t thank the players, the staff, the board and the chairman (enough).

‘But most of all it’s the players. Without the players there are no good coaches. 

‘My staff have been outstanding all year, but the players take all the plaudits. I will be vanishing now for a couple of bottles of Peroni!’