Travelling to Kent last Saturday meant an early start from Devon and a little trepidation about what was to come. Before boarding the bus there was all sorts of speculation about the team selection, all because of the fall-out from the post Plymouth match events. There was also the slight feeling of unease because of the so called rivalry between the two sets of fans.

It’s always been a bit weird to me that there should be any ill-feeling between Swindon Town and Gillingham. I was at the match when the apparent feud began. Can’t say it’s ever bothered me. I saw one report which described the Gills as Swindon’s arch rivals. Are you sure..?

Anyhoo, as Homer would say, the match itself turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. A second successive defeat and a below par performance. However, alls well that ended well, because of results elsewhere, the Town were promoted back to League One. It felt a little strange, if I’m honest, to be celebrating after a defeat. But I’ll take a loss if it leads to promotion any day. The mission this season was to get out of League Two. The club has achieved it and credit goes to everyone involved.

When the appointment of Paolo Di Canio was made, there were many who doubted it. Would it all end in tears..? Well those tears flowed a little at Priestfield, but for the right reasons. Interim Chairman Jeremy Wray was rightly applauded during the celebrations for his part in the success. It was a brave decision to appoint a rookie manager and one who might bring controversy to the County Ground.

As we wait for a title winning performance on Saturday, that decision has proven to be absolutely right. Those who had doubts, including me, have been proved wrong and we can come together and celebrate with a bumper crowd and a club on the up.

There have been all sorts of rumours this week about all sorts of things at the club. I’ve briefly looked at them and, quite frankly, got bored. I take the view that whatever happens in the summer happens.  No amount of fretting will change that, I have no control over decisions so lets enjoy the moment and look forward to next season.

So to Saturday. The weather has, quite frankly, been rubbish this week. Rain, Rain oh and more Rain. We’ve all heard the jokes about there being flood alerts while we have a drought situation and we need something to cheer us up. Lets sing, cheer and clap whatever happens, and get this title won. At the end we can hopefully remain in our seats and enjoy laps of honour and all the celebration that goes with winning a championship.

Before the game we get the chance to pay our respects to all the Town fans who are no longer with us. They’ll hopefully be watching events unfold on a celestial television somewhere. We salute you.