The Coles Park club have big goals and reaching step three of the non-league pyramid is not the end of the journey

Haringey Borough boss Tom Loizou believes his players will love life in the Bostik Premier after they sealed promotion with a 3-1 victory against Canvey Island in Sunday’s Bostik North play-off final at Coles Park.

Mark Kirby, Ralston Gabriel and substitute Michael Ademiluyi netted in front of 809 spectators to send the north Londoners into step three of the non-league pyramid.

It is the first time Haringey have reached this level, but Loizou has been there before and knows exactly what to expect.

He said: “It will be nice to wake up on a Sunday morning and see where we are in the Premier table.

“I have been at this level before and higher and I know the players will love it, especially some of the places and stadiums we will visit.”

Haringey will not be in the Premier to make up the numbers though, and have already beaten several higher level opposition over the past year.

Borough stunned National League South outfit Welling United in the FA Cup during the 2017/18 season and also defeated Bostik Premier side Harrow Borough in the FA Trophy.

While those cup exploits were great memories, promotion was always the aim for Loizou and chairman Aki Achillea and although it wasn’t easy, on Sunday it was achieved.

A 2-0 win over Heybridge Swifts in the play-off semi-final on Wednesday (May 2) was following by an excellent second-half display to down Canvey.

But Loizou is dreaming of more, he said: “I came to this club 10 years ago and I’ve taken this on as a personal mission to turn it around and me and the chairman are halfway there now.

“Eventually we want to take Haringey Borough into Conference (National League) football.

“We have had a promotion every three years since I’ve been here and won something every two years, so it is onwards and upwards for the club.”

Although the scenes at full time on Sunday were of jubilation and joy, Loizou won’t allow himself to get too carried away just yet.

He began planning for next season even before Sunday’s play-off triumph and knows there is lots of work to do before he can enjoy some down time.

Loizou admitted: “I am already preparing for next season. I actually started making phone calls last week for players, so I won’t sit down until everything is in place.

“I won’t go away on holiday until all the things we need to get sorted for the new campaign are done.”