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'It means everything to me' - Kevin Clifton desperate to see his Scunthorpe United triumph in Promotion Final
For Scunthorpe United fans, seeing their club plummet down the football league ladder has been a painful experience, yet this weekend could see the club make their first step in turning the tide on what's been a disastrous decade for the Iron.
They were a Championship side less than fifteen years ago, but after suffering turmoil both on and off the pitch, Scunthorpe all too quickly found themselves in the sixth tier of English football.
Now, however, they have a chance to win promotion back to the National League on Sunday, when they host Chester in the National League North's Promotion Final.
One fan who's seen it all in those years - and was in fact a mascot for the first-ever game at Glanford Park - is star of stage and screen and Strictly Come Dancing champion Kevin Clifton.
Speaking exclusively to DAZN News, the die-hard Scunny fan can't contain his excitement for the clash with Chester and how much it would mean to see his team win promotion.
"This means everything to me," Clifton said.
"It basically means everything for us to get back up. I mean, it wasn't that long, it seems like five minutes ago we were in the Championship, and it's just been a nightmare of a decade, like it's just been awful.
"When we slipped out of the football league into the National League, I thought, god, we've really hit rock bottom now, you know? But, from where we were to slide down again, like I never thought we'd go as far down as this.
"So one, just to get back up , it will give us some momentum, but also like financially for the club, what we've been through. I think we really need this. We really need to get up again to start earning a bit more money again."
Andy Butler's side have home advantage in the final, thanks to the format of the play-offs in the National League North and host a Chester side who they beat on their patch 3-1 back in March. A 9,000-strong crowed is expected at Glanford Park and Clifton admits the atmosphere could be key for Scunthorpe.
"Getting the game at Glenford Park, that's what you play for with this system within the league," the star of Chicago said with the will of a fan who's counting down the hours until kick-off.
"Well, you try and finish first, and we almost did it. We just missed out. But if you're not going to first, normally it's like, well, you're in the playoffs, and the playoffs just comes down to toss up a coin sometimes.
"But with this system, it's like you play for second to try and get second so that you can get this home advantage.
"And obviously, we've got a massive support for this league. So we've just got to create an intimidating atmosphere.
"We've got to get right behind the boys and just make it a big, big day at Glanford Park."
Given his busy workload, Kevin hasn't managed to get to as many games as he'd have liked this season, but he'll be in attendance on Sunday, just hours before he's due on stage in Bristol and has a rallying cry for the team ahead of the final.
"We're all behind you. I'm gonna be there and I'm mad excited and basically I'm on stage again Monday night in Bristol, so there's a good chance I'm gonna completely lose my voice and be terrible on stage, so I apologise to anyone in Bristol on Monday night.
"But we're all there for you. There's a buzz in Scunthorpe right now, and everyone's behind the footy team. You've got this. You've totally got this. And we're all behind you."
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