THERE was cause for celebration for a former Pickering Town junior and club vice-president as Oxford United won promotion to the Sky Bet Championship at Wembley Stadium.

Craig Short, now a first-team coach with the U’s, watched on as a brace from former Premier League striker Josh Murphy sealed a 2-0 triumph over Bolton Wanderers in the Sky Bet League One play-off final - ending their 25-year wait for a return to the second tier.

The 55-year-old attended Amotherby Primary School and Lady Lumley’s School in Pickering, and first linked up with the Pikes alongside brother Chris in the 1986-87 season.

A year later, the pair moved to Scarborough, with Craig turning out for Notts County, Derby, Everton, Blackburn Rovers and Sheffield United before retiring at the end of the 2006-07 campaign.

He made his first steps into coaching with Sheffield United’s sister club, Hungarian side Ferencvaros, where he spent a season before departing as he did not possess a UEFA Pro License.

Short then lasted six months in charge of Notts County before taking a break from football, later going on to have coaching stints at Blackburn and Derby before moving to Oxford in summer 2020.

There, he has spent two spells as caretaker manager - the most recent in November - in which he gave a debut to 15-year-old Leo Snowden, now the club’s youngest ever player.

Finishing fifth in the League One table, the U’s saw off Peterborough United - who ended one place and seven points above them - in their play-off semi-final.

And they started well underneath the famous arch, but it took a moment of magic from Murphy to break the deadlock just after the half hour as he saw his long-range strike deflect off Wanderers’ captain Ricardo Santos.

He doubled his, and his side’s, tally 11 minutes later after timing his run to perfection to slot home Ruben Rodrigues’ through ball.

Bolton, who had finished third, offered very little in response, failing to register a single shot on target as a second-half comeback never looked likely.